Title: Rain
Author: Natasha
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Don't own Dean. Don't own Sam. Own Chase and Nina.
Time: Ummmm eight years pre-pilot or so?
A/N: So when I saw the pilot over the summer, I started coming up with my own... virtual series thing. Series of fic set in the style of a tv show season. Anyway, plans fell through so I started back at the beginning. How the characters started out, how they got to where they are now. Chase was the major character I made up. She's just a little younger than Sam in this fic.
Anyway, quick backstory:
John Winchester got a call from Nina Harrison. She was really good friends with Mary through High School and college. Nina's sister and brother-in-law are part of this cult and they have their young daughter, Chase, with them. Bad stuff is going down of the mystical kind, Nina calls the Winchesters, they come in and save the day. This takes place a couple days afterwards.
Rain was spattering in a constant thrum against the windshield, the Impala's wipers squeaking as it labored to push the offending droplets away. Light that filtered in was dappled; gray and it was too hot and too cold in the confines of the car at the same time.
Sam leaned his head against his fist, staring out the window at the sopping landscape as Dean sped down the road towards who knew where. The radio wasn't blaring Back in Black at its loudest, or some ancient Sabbath song. Dean was in brood form.
A heavy sigh and Sam turned to look at Dean, who'd made a small sound that sounded like a sniffle if Sam knew any better. "Dean-"
A grunt as the car turned onto the Interstate.
The already present guilt inside of him intensified and Sam didn't know whether to be angry or mad. He was already guilt ridden and the past week hadn't helped at all; in fact it made it that much worse. "Why are we leaving?" Sam asked his brother hollowly, the words said by someone he didn't know. Was that his voice? That scratchy, lost sound his?
Dean spared no glance. "Got work to do."
"We're just leaving her there," he shot back, turning away to stare back out the window, drawing in a calming breath. "She's there all by herself-"
"Nina's with her." Dean said succinctly. There was that suspicious sniffle sound again. It was that small sniffle sound that kept Sam from lashing out at his brother; from pulling the emergency break and trudging back to the psych ward at Lawrence Memorial by himself. "She'll be fine."
The image of a pale, bruised and cut upon little girl in the thin hospital gown and too long, too tangled brown hair floated into his mind and Sam kicked the dashboard in a fit of anger. He felt Dean's scowl, his angry 'Hey!' and the car was steered to the emergency lane and jerked into park. Sam looked at his brother defiantly. Sure, he wasn't as tall as Dean yet but he was getting there. Sure he didn't have the 'Winchester Glower' mastered like Dean but he could still do the sullen, 14 year old glare.
"We left her all alone there without anyone to protect her," Sam explained softly before his brother could rip into him about properly treating the car.
Dean visibly sagged, protests vanished and the only sound in the car was the cadence of rain and Sam's own small sniffles of guilt. How could they just leave her there by herself in that scary hospital? She'd been through so much. Sam grimaced bitterly at the memory of Dean carrying her out of the woods, both of them covered in her blood. A lump formed in Sam's throat as he remembered both of them trying to keep her awake until the ambulances arrived. The air had been filled with yells and gunfire and the sound of the police chopper flying above them like Hell's Angel.
Sam turned to look at Dean who had reached out to grip his brother's shoulder. The grasp tightened and Sam could see Dean's eyes shining a little in the dim, speckled light. "The girl-"
"Chase," Sam said quickly. Dean looked at him oddly. "Her name's Chase."
A nod and Dean continued. "She's gonna be fine. The doctors are gonna make sure she gets better and before you know it, she'll be just fine and you two can hang out all you want whenever we pass through."
Sam felt the little ball of hope inside him push past the guilt and he looked at Dean hopefully. If Dean said they would pass through the town again, they would. Dean was smart and had never lied to him. Not about the important things so why would he lie now? "We should get her something," He said slowly, carefully asking to see if Dean was in with him or not. Dad was waiting for them in Arizona. Maybe he could get her a nice necklace from a gift shop…
The grip on his shoulder tightened and Sam looked discreetly away as Dean rubbed his eyes. "We'll get her something real nice. Promise."
