Taste of Freedom
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester
Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Hannah, Kevin Tran, Garth Fitzgerald IV
Rating: G
Summary: Ninety-seven years after nuclear war destroyed the Earth, 100 juvenile delinquents are sent back to Earth to see if it is survivable. In order to secure himself a place on the shuttle to Earth, Dean Winchester had to commit a terrible crime, but he will do whatever it takes to protect his younger brother.
Author's Note: written for the SPN Pairing Bingo Amnesty Round, but I will probably be expanding on it and adding more chapters!
One moment Sam was sitting alone in his cell, the next he was being fitted with some sort of bracelet and being ushered onto a ship containing the other juvenile delinquents by armed guards. He knew what was happening - they were being sent to the ground. Seventeen years of being locked up, either in a closet or a cell, had made Sam good at one thing in particular: listening. No one was sure if the ground was survivable, which was why they were sending down the delinquents. They were expendable. Sam looked around at his fellow inmates and couldn’t help but wonder what they’d done to get themselves locked up. A few of them were infamous, like Castiel, the spacewalker, who’d used up an entire month’s air supply so he could take one of the Ark’s space suits for a joyride.
As they prepared to launch, Sam couldn’t help thinking about his older brother. He’d always had Dean to count on, but now he was being sent on this wild journey alone. Being locked up, he should’ve been used to being alone, but at least on the Ark Dean could come and visit whenever it was possible. Now he’d never see his brother again, he’d never hear him calling him-
“Sammy!” A familiar voice called, barely audible above the sound of the doors of the drop ship closing.
“Dean?” Sam wanted to get up, to go to his brother, but the ship was shuddering and threatening to launch at any moment. Sam tightened his grip on the bottom of his seat and screwed his eyes shut, preparing to be shot towards Earth.
The ship shook violently as it entered Earth’s atmosphere. The heat was almost unbearable, but before Sam knew it, the ship had stilled. He was among the first to move, unbuckling himself and running across the ship to throw himself into his brother’s arms. “Dean, what are you doing here?” Sam asked. “How did you-”
“You didn’t think I was gonna let you leave without me, didya Sammy?” Dean replied, ruffling his long hair.
“Awe, is it my turn next?” A guy behind Sam taunted, holding out his arms as if he wanted a hug.
“Shut up,” Dean snapped, eyes full of fire. “He’s my brother.”
A buss of confusion went through the crowd that had gathered around the door of the drop ship. No one on the Ark had a brother. No one on the Ark was allowed to have a brother.
Everyone held their breath as Dean pressed the button to open the doors of the ship. No one knew what would be out there, they didn’t even know if they’d survive or not. When Sam took a breath it was painless, when he looked at his hands and saw nothing but his smooth skin, he took a tentative step forwards, starting down the ramp towards the ground. He stopped just before the metal ended, looking down at the soft brown dirt in front of him. One hesitant step later and he was the first person on the ground in 97 years.
Sam couldn’t stop the grin that broke out on his face as he fell to his knees and onto the ground, only acutely aware that everyone was watching him. After 17 years of being locked up, this was freedom like he’d never experienced before and it was glorious. He laughed. It came from deep within. It was a laugh of disbelief, of wonder, a laugh that somehow managed to capture everything he was feeling in that moment.
Others began to follow him down the ramp. Hoots and hollers filled the air as more and more people had their first taste of the ground. There was a warm hand on his shoulder and Sam looked up to see his brother grinning down at him. Sam could’ve sworn there were tears in his eyes.
It was like nothing Sam had ever imagined. The sun was so warm. The air was fresh, it hadn’t been recycled over and over and over again. He could feel the gentle fingers of the wind running through his hair and the sounds of nature around him. The ground wasn’t just survivable, it was liveable. They’d spent so long living in a floating metal tube when they could’ve been living here.
“How did you get onto the ship?” Sam asked Dean again, genuinely curious.
“I made a deal with someone,” Dean shrugged. “If I did what he wanted, he’d get me onto the ship.”
“What did you do?” Sam’s brows furrowed, concerned at what his brother might have done to get himself down here.
“Nothing, Sammy. Don’t worry about it.”
“Dean,” Sam said warningly. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t want to do it, but I had to,” was Dean’s response.
“Okay, what did you do?” Sam repeated.
“I…” Dean’s voice dropped, “I killed the Chancellor.”
“You what?” Sam whispered harshly. “Dean-”
“I had to!” Dean cut him off. “It was the only way I could get on that ship. Sammy, I swore I’d protect you!”
“So you killed someone?” Sam asked incredulously. “I can’t believe you, Dean,” he said before he turned and stalked off.
He walked through the swarms of kids and overheard a girl he thought was named Hannah saying, “We need to find Mount Weather. It’s the only way we’re going to survive the ground.”
“Mount Weather?” Sam couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Didn’t you listen to the Chancellor’s message?” Hannah sounded completely exasperated.
“Sorry,” Sam replied, doing his best to sound pleasant. “I was a little distracted by the fact that my brother was on the ship.”
Hannah sighed, “It’s an old military bunker that should have survived the war. If it did, there will be supplies and everything we need to survive this place.
“Okay, so when do we leave?” a tall, gawky-looking boy asked.
“As soon as possible,” Hannah answered curtly before going to try to recruit more people to accompany them.
“I’m Garth,” the boy introduced himself when Hannah left. “This is Kevin,” he pointed at the shorter boy that was standing beside him.
“I’m Sam.” There was a moment of awkward silence between them that Sam finally broke by asking, “So, what did you two get locked up for?”
“Well,” Kevin answered, “our recreational activities weren’t exactly legal…”
“And then we got caught,” Garth supplied.
“So, you guys got busted for drinking?”
“Yeah,” Garth nodded. “And selling. Kevin makes the best moonshine,” he nudged the smaller boy with a grin.
Sam turned around when he heard Hannah yelling over the crowd of rambunctious teens. “We need to find Mount Weather!” she shouted. “It’s the only way we’re going to survive! We need to leave right now!”
“Why don’t you just go yourself?” Dean heckled. “Bring us back whatever supplies you find,” he scoffed.
Hannah stomped back to where Kevin, Garth, and Sam stood waiting. “You guys are coming, right?” she asked desperately.
“Of course,” Sam said as the other two nodded. He wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to see more of the ground. They started out in the direction that the map indicated when suddenly Dean grabbed Sam’s arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Dean demanded.
“Mount Weather,” Sam said simply. “Hannah’s right, we need to find more supplies.” He pulled his arm free from Dean’s grasp. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” he told his brother before hurrying after the others.
“Just… don’t be stupid!” Dean called after him, shaking his head.
As they walked through the trees, Sam couldn’t help but marvel at how tall they were. Whenever he’d tried to imagine what it’d be like on the ground, he thought of it as being dilapidated and crumbling. He’d never thought it’d recover from the war, he never thought that nature would reclaim what was naturally hers. He smiled when he saw birds fluttering overhead and felt his heart swell with their delicate song. He was so distracted by everything around him that he walked straight into Kevin, not noticing that they’d stopped moving.
“Shh… look,” Kevin whispered, pointing through the trees and into a clearing. An animal… a deer, if Sam remembered correctly, was standing in the center of it, its head down, grazing peacefully. Sam had never seen anything so magnificent, and he never thought he’d get the chance. It was so beautiful…
That is, until it turned to face them. There was another head growing out of its body, this one bloodied and deformed, obviously a side effect of the radiation from the war. Hannah screamed when she saw it and the deer darted away, back into the cover of the trees.
Shaken after their encounter with the deer, they continued on their way, crunching through the thick underbrush. They stopped when the ground changed and they found themselves on a rocky riverbank. Water.
Without thinking, Sam walked into the river, feeling the cool water soaking through the bottom of his jeans and into his socks and shoes. He didn’t care though, just kept walking, deeper and deeper. He wasn’t sure how deep the river was, and he didn’t actually know how to swim, so he probably should have listened to Hannah when she called for him to come back. Instead, he dropped down, dunking his head underneath the water, feeling it wash over him. He exhaled and smiled at the bubbles that escaped his nose. If this was what freedom felt like, boy was he missing out. He popped back up above the surface of the glassy river, laughing at the relieved looks on his friends’ faces. “You guys, come in!” he yelled with a grin.
Garth and Kevin splashed into the water eagerly as Sam leaned back, letting himself float on top of the clear water. Hannah was more careful, slow and uncertain, but she eventually joined them, laying back and relaxing in the splendor of the river.
Sam couldn’t believe where he was. He was out of a cell. He was on the ground. He was swimming. He was free.
Pairing: Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester
Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Hannah, Kevin Tran, Garth Fitzgerald IV
Rating: G
Summary: Ninety-seven years after nuclear war destroyed the Earth, 100 juvenile delinquents are sent back to Earth to see if it is survivable. In order to secure himself a place on the shuttle to Earth, Dean Winchester had to commit a terrible crime, but he will do whatever it takes to protect his younger brother.
Author's Note: written for the SPN Pairing Bingo Amnesty Round, but I will probably be expanding on it and adding more chapters!
One moment Sam was sitting alone in his cell, the next he was being fitted with some sort of bracelet and being ushered onto a ship containing the other juvenile delinquents by armed guards. He knew what was happening - they were being sent to the ground. Seventeen years of being locked up, either in a closet or a cell, had made Sam good at one thing in particular: listening. No one was sure if the ground was survivable, which was why they were sending down the delinquents. They were expendable. Sam looked around at his fellow inmates and couldn’t help but wonder what they’d done to get themselves locked up. A few of them were infamous, like Castiel, the spacewalker, who’d used up an entire month’s air supply so he could take one of the Ark’s space suits for a joyride.
As they prepared to launch, Sam couldn’t help thinking about his older brother. He’d always had Dean to count on, but now he was being sent on this wild journey alone. Being locked up, he should’ve been used to being alone, but at least on the Ark Dean could come and visit whenever it was possible. Now he’d never see his brother again, he’d never hear him calling him-
“Sammy!” A familiar voice called, barely audible above the sound of the doors of the drop ship closing.
“Dean?” Sam wanted to get up, to go to his brother, but the ship was shuddering and threatening to launch at any moment. Sam tightened his grip on the bottom of his seat and screwed his eyes shut, preparing to be shot towards Earth.
The ship shook violently as it entered Earth’s atmosphere. The heat was almost unbearable, but before Sam knew it, the ship had stilled. He was among the first to move, unbuckling himself and running across the ship to throw himself into his brother’s arms. “Dean, what are you doing here?” Sam asked. “How did you-”
“You didn’t think I was gonna let you leave without me, didya Sammy?” Dean replied, ruffling his long hair.
“Awe, is it my turn next?” A guy behind Sam taunted, holding out his arms as if he wanted a hug.
“Shut up,” Dean snapped, eyes full of fire. “He’s my brother.”
A buss of confusion went through the crowd that had gathered around the door of the drop ship. No one on the Ark had a brother. No one on the Ark was allowed to have a brother.
Everyone held their breath as Dean pressed the button to open the doors of the ship. No one knew what would be out there, they didn’t even know if they’d survive or not. When Sam took a breath it was painless, when he looked at his hands and saw nothing but his smooth skin, he took a tentative step forwards, starting down the ramp towards the ground. He stopped just before the metal ended, looking down at the soft brown dirt in front of him. One hesitant step later and he was the first person on the ground in 97 years.
Sam couldn’t stop the grin that broke out on his face as he fell to his knees and onto the ground, only acutely aware that everyone was watching him. After 17 years of being locked up, this was freedom like he’d never experienced before and it was glorious. He laughed. It came from deep within. It was a laugh of disbelief, of wonder, a laugh that somehow managed to capture everything he was feeling in that moment.
Others began to follow him down the ramp. Hoots and hollers filled the air as more and more people had their first taste of the ground. There was a warm hand on his shoulder and Sam looked up to see his brother grinning down at him. Sam could’ve sworn there were tears in his eyes.
It was like nothing Sam had ever imagined. The sun was so warm. The air was fresh, it hadn’t been recycled over and over and over again. He could feel the gentle fingers of the wind running through his hair and the sounds of nature around him. The ground wasn’t just survivable, it was liveable. They’d spent so long living in a floating metal tube when they could’ve been living here.
“How did you get onto the ship?” Sam asked Dean again, genuinely curious.
“I made a deal with someone,” Dean shrugged. “If I did what he wanted, he’d get me onto the ship.”
“What did you do?” Sam’s brows furrowed, concerned at what his brother might have done to get himself down here.
“Nothing, Sammy. Don’t worry about it.”
“Dean,” Sam said warningly. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t want to do it, but I had to,” was Dean’s response.
“Okay, what did you do?” Sam repeated.
“I…” Dean’s voice dropped, “I killed the Chancellor.”
“You what?” Sam whispered harshly. “Dean-”
“I had to!” Dean cut him off. “It was the only way I could get on that ship. Sammy, I swore I’d protect you!”
“So you killed someone?” Sam asked incredulously. “I can’t believe you, Dean,” he said before he turned and stalked off.
He walked through the swarms of kids and overheard a girl he thought was named Hannah saying, “We need to find Mount Weather. It’s the only way we’re going to survive the ground.”
“Mount Weather?” Sam couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Didn’t you listen to the Chancellor’s message?” Hannah sounded completely exasperated.
“Sorry,” Sam replied, doing his best to sound pleasant. “I was a little distracted by the fact that my brother was on the ship.”
Hannah sighed, “It’s an old military bunker that should have survived the war. If it did, there will be supplies and everything we need to survive this place.
“Okay, so when do we leave?” a tall, gawky-looking boy asked.
“As soon as possible,” Hannah answered curtly before going to try to recruit more people to accompany them.
“I’m Garth,” the boy introduced himself when Hannah left. “This is Kevin,” he pointed at the shorter boy that was standing beside him.
“I’m Sam.” There was a moment of awkward silence between them that Sam finally broke by asking, “So, what did you two get locked up for?”
“Well,” Kevin answered, “our recreational activities weren’t exactly legal…”
“And then we got caught,” Garth supplied.
“So, you guys got busted for drinking?”
“Yeah,” Garth nodded. “And selling. Kevin makes the best moonshine,” he nudged the smaller boy with a grin.
Sam turned around when he heard Hannah yelling over the crowd of rambunctious teens. “We need to find Mount Weather!” she shouted. “It’s the only way we’re going to survive! We need to leave right now!”
“Why don’t you just go yourself?” Dean heckled. “Bring us back whatever supplies you find,” he scoffed.
Hannah stomped back to where Kevin, Garth, and Sam stood waiting. “You guys are coming, right?” she asked desperately.
“Of course,” Sam said as the other two nodded. He wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to see more of the ground. They started out in the direction that the map indicated when suddenly Dean grabbed Sam’s arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Dean demanded.
“Mount Weather,” Sam said simply. “Hannah’s right, we need to find more supplies.” He pulled his arm free from Dean’s grasp. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” he told his brother before hurrying after the others.
“Just… don’t be stupid!” Dean called after him, shaking his head.
As they walked through the trees, Sam couldn’t help but marvel at how tall they were. Whenever he’d tried to imagine what it’d be like on the ground, he thought of it as being dilapidated and crumbling. He’d never thought it’d recover from the war, he never thought that nature would reclaim what was naturally hers. He smiled when he saw birds fluttering overhead and felt his heart swell with their delicate song. He was so distracted by everything around him that he walked straight into Kevin, not noticing that they’d stopped moving.
“Shh… look,” Kevin whispered, pointing through the trees and into a clearing. An animal… a deer, if Sam remembered correctly, was standing in the center of it, its head down, grazing peacefully. Sam had never seen anything so magnificent, and he never thought he’d get the chance. It was so beautiful…
That is, until it turned to face them. There was another head growing out of its body, this one bloodied and deformed, obviously a side effect of the radiation from the war. Hannah screamed when she saw it and the deer darted away, back into the cover of the trees.
Shaken after their encounter with the deer, they continued on their way, crunching through the thick underbrush. They stopped when the ground changed and they found themselves on a rocky riverbank. Water.
Without thinking, Sam walked into the river, feeling the cool water soaking through the bottom of his jeans and into his socks and shoes. He didn’t care though, just kept walking, deeper and deeper. He wasn’t sure how deep the river was, and he didn’t actually know how to swim, so he probably should have listened to Hannah when she called for him to come back. Instead, he dropped down, dunking his head underneath the water, feeling it wash over him. He exhaled and smiled at the bubbles that escaped his nose. If this was what freedom felt like, boy was he missing out. He popped back up above the surface of the glassy river, laughing at the relieved looks on his friends’ faces. “You guys, come in!” he yelled with a grin.
Garth and Kevin splashed into the water eagerly as Sam leaned back, letting himself float on top of the clear water. Hannah was more careful, slow and uncertain, but she eventually joined them, laying back and relaxing in the splendor of the river.
Sam couldn’t believe where he was. He was out of a cell. He was on the ground. He was swimming. He was free.