Fic: In the Gap (1/1)
Title: In the Gap
Rating: R (language, some blood 'n guts)
Word count: 1450
Summary: Sam feels, and John never quite gets it.
Author’s Note: Part of a (yet to be named) ‘verse in which Sam is deaf and Dean is an awesome brother and sometimes John isn’t the best (but God love him, he tries). Preseries with Sam around 16 and Dean around 20.
---
“Hunt’s six hours north of here,” Dad is saying as Dean sits at the motel’s small table interpreting for Sam, who is playing with a loose thread on Dean’s shirt and not paying any attention whatsoever to what he’s saying. Sam has always been a touchy kid. He was born into a silent world where the things and people surrounding him had no names and everything was big and scary. All he knew was Dad and Dean so he latched onto them with all he had, until Dad told him he was too big for that now and it was time to start being a man (he was 6). Sam didn’t get it back then of course, because Dad never really took to sign and Sam wasn’t old enough to know how to read lips so he’d stand at Dad’s feet and reach and reach and reach. Dad held his ground and always said no (kid's gotta learn sooner or later), and then Dean was all that was left to comfort his crying and scared brother. He didn’t mind if Sammy touched him, as long as the kid stopped crying and looking at him with those eyes.
“We leave first thing in the morning. Make sure you’ve got everything packed tonight so all we have to do in the morning is load up and head out.”
Sam’s still not paying attention. This kid. Dean signs everything anyway, then says, “Yes sir,” and Sam salutes and John frowns and well, that’s the end of that.
---
Twenty-four hours later they’re in the middle of a forest and the trees are so thick they’re blocking out almost all of the light from the moon. Sam has one hand on his gun and the other gripping the back of Dean’s shirt (the kid always gets antsy when there’s low visibility and he needs something to keep him anchored and that thing is normally Dean). They’re supposed to be on watch while Dad digs up the bones of some guy who had been murdered and buried out here years ago. Said guy isn’t too happy about it, because one minute it’s just the three of them and the next the guy’s spirit is standing right in front of Dean and something is set on fire in his abdomen and then he’s on the ground. Sam immediately fires off a round of salt and the spirit disappears, but not before the damage is done.
Sam drops to his knees and he’s signing, 'Where?' but it’s too dark for either of them to really see so he puts his hands on Dean’s chest and starts feeling. He gets to his abdomen and freezes. There’s a gash across his stomach that’s at least six inches long and who knows how deep and in one swift motion Sam rips his shirt off and presses it against the wound. Dean screams and, feeling his whole body seize up, Sam reaches out to find Dean’s palm and start signing reassurances into it. Then the spirit appears right behind him and it’s a fucking ghost so Sam doesn’t feel it or see it until it’s picking him up and throwing him into a tree.
Dean hears the thud of the impact and he wants to scream out Sam’s name but all of the air from his lungs is gone and he feels like he’s on fire. The spirit is inching closer and closer to Dean now and he’s reaching for his stomach and fuck.
One last gunshot rings out and Dean sees the sky light up for a moment and then everything goes silent.
Next thing he knows, someone is slapping his cheek and telling him to open his eyes and what the fuck, they are open so stop slapping me.
“Dean, you gotta open your eyes, son. Stay with me.” Dad. Dad is here and he’s talking in that voice so this must be bad. “Dean, open your eyes.”
Someone grips his shirt up near his chest in a way that only Sam ever does and Dean opens his eyes because shit, Sam.
“That’s good, Dean. Keep your eyes open. We’re gonna get you out of here but I need you to stay with me.”
Dean opens his mouth to say yes sir like he always does but blood bubbles up in his throat and he’s choking. Dad quickly reaches out and shoves his head to the side and Dean just opens his mouth and lets the blood and bile and spit run out the side. Sam’s eyes go wide and he’s still clinging onto his shirt and he starts signing stay stay stay because Dean better not fucking die. Not now. Not ever. Sam is quickly going into panic mode and Dad is trying to get him out of the way so he can figure out a way to lift Dean but Sam won’t let go and he won’t stop signing stay and Dad finally just grips Sam’s face and roughly pulls it towards him. “Hold yourself the fuck together and get out of the way,” he shouts and it sounds so harsh but Dean is dying and he doesn’t have time to deal with Sam right now too.
Apparently, Sam doesn’t have time to deal with Dad right now either because he jerks his head away and then he’s grabbing Dean’s arm and pressing it against his chest and he’s signing 'Stay.'
Dean feels Sam’s heart beneath his fingers and he wants to feel it forever, but then Dad is putting pressure on the gash across his abdomen and everything goes black again.
---
Dean wakes up in the hospital. He manages to open his eyes halfway and everything is blurry as fuck, but he can make out two figures in the room and one of them is Sammy because he’d be able to recognize him anywhere.
Then he hears Dad’s voice say, “Sam, you can’t ever pull a stunt like that again. When I tell you to move, you move.”
Well isn’t this just perfect.
Sam goes wild, hands flying and breaths puffing out so hard Dean can hear them over all the machines he’s hooked up to and Dad is saying, “Slow down. I can’t understand you when you get like this.” Which was probably the worst possible thing to say at that point because really, whose fault is that?
“Stop,” Dean tries to say, but Dad is already yelling again and his whisper gets lost in the chaos so Dean closes his eyes again.
---
When he wakes up again, Sam has pulled a chair up right next to his bed and is playing with his hand and Dad is gone. Dean feels like crying and then he is and he can’t stop.
Sam stands up, starts to sign but sees that Dean’s eyes are closed so he opens and closes his mouth a few times until he finally asks, “Hurt?” in that voice that's all Sam and Dean nods ever so slightly because he’s still crying and he’s starting to choke on his breaths and it’s pulling at his stitches and fuck.
“Stay,” Sam says, and leaves to go find a nurse. He’s back in less than a minute and the nurse pushes more drugs into his system and Sam holds his hand and plays with his fingers and Dean’s still crying but he feels safe.
---
Dean stays in the hospital for almost a week before the doctors think he's strong enough to go home.
Dad starts researching the next hunt just a few hours after they get Dean back to the motel and Sam refuses to talk to him and Dean is too tired to play interpreter so the two just don't communicate and there's nothing new under the sun. Dad stays at the table and Dean stays in the bed and Sam stays next to him, legs crossed and fingers messing with his sleeves. Kid hasn’t stopped fidgeting since they got here and he’s slouching in a way that can’t feel good (his ribs are bruised as fuck, kid got thrown into a fucking tree).
'Sammy,' Dean signs, because Dad’s got his back turned and he doesn’t want him to hear. He motions for Sam to come closer. 'Come here. It’s okay.'
Sam shakes his head and glances over at Dad. 'I just get in the way. I don't want to hurt you.'
'Sam. It’s okay. I’m okay. Come here.'
Sam hesitates and Dean can tell he’s still shaken up but he scoots closer anyway, and then he’s resting his head up against Dean’s chest like he always does and suddenly Dean doesn’t hurt so much.
Dad glances up from the papers scattered across the table and sees them and he’s got that frown on his face again but Dean just closes his eyes because right now he needs this just as much as Sam, and brings a hand to rest on Sam back, traces shapes with his fingers into Sam’s hoodie until he feels Sam start to relax.
Then he sleeps.
end.
Rating: R (language, some blood 'n guts)
Word count: 1450
Summary: Sam feels, and John never quite gets it.
Author’s Note: Part of a (yet to be named) ‘verse in which Sam is deaf and Dean is an awesome brother and sometimes John isn’t the best (but God love him, he tries). Preseries with Sam around 16 and Dean around 20.
---
“Hunt’s six hours north of here,” Dad is saying as Dean sits at the motel’s small table interpreting for Sam, who is playing with a loose thread on Dean’s shirt and not paying any attention whatsoever to what he’s saying. Sam has always been a touchy kid. He was born into a silent world where the things and people surrounding him had no names and everything was big and scary. All he knew was Dad and Dean so he latched onto them with all he had, until Dad told him he was too big for that now and it was time to start being a man (he was 6). Sam didn’t get it back then of course, because Dad never really took to sign and Sam wasn’t old enough to know how to read lips so he’d stand at Dad’s feet and reach and reach and reach. Dad held his ground and always said no (kid's gotta learn sooner or later), and then Dean was all that was left to comfort his crying and scared brother. He didn’t mind if Sammy touched him, as long as the kid stopped crying and looking at him with those eyes.
“We leave first thing in the morning. Make sure you’ve got everything packed tonight so all we have to do in the morning is load up and head out.”
Sam’s still not paying attention. This kid. Dean signs everything anyway, then says, “Yes sir,” and Sam salutes and John frowns and well, that’s the end of that.
---
Twenty-four hours later they’re in the middle of a forest and the trees are so thick they’re blocking out almost all of the light from the moon. Sam has one hand on his gun and the other gripping the back of Dean’s shirt (the kid always gets antsy when there’s low visibility and he needs something to keep him anchored and that thing is normally Dean). They’re supposed to be on watch while Dad digs up the bones of some guy who had been murdered and buried out here years ago. Said guy isn’t too happy about it, because one minute it’s just the three of them and the next the guy’s spirit is standing right in front of Dean and something is set on fire in his abdomen and then he’s on the ground. Sam immediately fires off a round of salt and the spirit disappears, but not before the damage is done.
Sam drops to his knees and he’s signing, 'Where?' but it’s too dark for either of them to really see so he puts his hands on Dean’s chest and starts feeling. He gets to his abdomen and freezes. There’s a gash across his stomach that’s at least six inches long and who knows how deep and in one swift motion Sam rips his shirt off and presses it against the wound. Dean screams and, feeling his whole body seize up, Sam reaches out to find Dean’s palm and start signing reassurances into it. Then the spirit appears right behind him and it’s a fucking ghost so Sam doesn’t feel it or see it until it’s picking him up and throwing him into a tree.
Dean hears the thud of the impact and he wants to scream out Sam’s name but all of the air from his lungs is gone and he feels like he’s on fire. The spirit is inching closer and closer to Dean now and he’s reaching for his stomach and fuck.
One last gunshot rings out and Dean sees the sky light up for a moment and then everything goes silent.
Next thing he knows, someone is slapping his cheek and telling him to open his eyes and what the fuck, they are open so stop slapping me.
“Dean, you gotta open your eyes, son. Stay with me.” Dad. Dad is here and he’s talking in that voice so this must be bad. “Dean, open your eyes.”
Someone grips his shirt up near his chest in a way that only Sam ever does and Dean opens his eyes because shit, Sam.
“That’s good, Dean. Keep your eyes open. We’re gonna get you out of here but I need you to stay with me.”
Dean opens his mouth to say yes sir like he always does but blood bubbles up in his throat and he’s choking. Dad quickly reaches out and shoves his head to the side and Dean just opens his mouth and lets the blood and bile and spit run out the side. Sam’s eyes go wide and he’s still clinging onto his shirt and he starts signing stay stay stay because Dean better not fucking die. Not now. Not ever. Sam is quickly going into panic mode and Dad is trying to get him out of the way so he can figure out a way to lift Dean but Sam won’t let go and he won’t stop signing stay and Dad finally just grips Sam’s face and roughly pulls it towards him. “Hold yourself the fuck together and get out of the way,” he shouts and it sounds so harsh but Dean is dying and he doesn’t have time to deal with Sam right now too.
Apparently, Sam doesn’t have time to deal with Dad right now either because he jerks his head away and then he’s grabbing Dean’s arm and pressing it against his chest and he’s signing 'Stay.'
Dean feels Sam’s heart beneath his fingers and he wants to feel it forever, but then Dad is putting pressure on the gash across his abdomen and everything goes black again.
---
Dean wakes up in the hospital. He manages to open his eyes halfway and everything is blurry as fuck, but he can make out two figures in the room and one of them is Sammy because he’d be able to recognize him anywhere.
Then he hears Dad’s voice say, “Sam, you can’t ever pull a stunt like that again. When I tell you to move, you move.”
Well isn’t this just perfect.
Sam goes wild, hands flying and breaths puffing out so hard Dean can hear them over all the machines he’s hooked up to and Dad is saying, “Slow down. I can’t understand you when you get like this.” Which was probably the worst possible thing to say at that point because really, whose fault is that?
“Stop,” Dean tries to say, but Dad is already yelling again and his whisper gets lost in the chaos so Dean closes his eyes again.
---
When he wakes up again, Sam has pulled a chair up right next to his bed and is playing with his hand and Dad is gone. Dean feels like crying and then he is and he can’t stop.
Sam stands up, starts to sign but sees that Dean’s eyes are closed so he opens and closes his mouth a few times until he finally asks, “Hurt?” in that voice that's all Sam and Dean nods ever so slightly because he’s still crying and he’s starting to choke on his breaths and it’s pulling at his stitches and fuck.
“Stay,” Sam says, and leaves to go find a nurse. He’s back in less than a minute and the nurse pushes more drugs into his system and Sam holds his hand and plays with his fingers and Dean’s still crying but he feels safe.
---
Dean stays in the hospital for almost a week before the doctors think he's strong enough to go home.
Dad starts researching the next hunt just a few hours after they get Dean back to the motel and Sam refuses to talk to him and Dean is too tired to play interpreter so the two just don't communicate and there's nothing new under the sun. Dad stays at the table and Dean stays in the bed and Sam stays next to him, legs crossed and fingers messing with his sleeves. Kid hasn’t stopped fidgeting since they got here and he’s slouching in a way that can’t feel good (his ribs are bruised as fuck, kid got thrown into a fucking tree).
'Sammy,' Dean signs, because Dad’s got his back turned and he doesn’t want him to hear. He motions for Sam to come closer. 'Come here. It’s okay.'
Sam shakes his head and glances over at Dad. 'I just get in the way. I don't want to hurt you.'
'Sam. It’s okay. I’m okay. Come here.'
Sam hesitates and Dean can tell he’s still shaken up but he scoots closer anyway, and then he’s resting his head up against Dean’s chest like he always does and suddenly Dean doesn’t hurt so much.
Dad glances up from the papers scattered across the table and sees them and he’s got that frown on his face again but Dean just closes his eyes because right now he needs this just as much as Sam, and brings a hand to rest on Sam back, traces shapes with his fingers into Sam’s hoodie until he feels Sam start to relax.
Then he sleeps.
end.