Chapter One: Dead To the World
Life is a cheap thing beside a man's work- Ernest Hemingway
Dean glanced down at his brother lying on the motel bed and then checked his watch.
Sam had been sleeping for exactly seven minutes and thirty-two seconds.
The older Winchester smiled. It was very rare these days for his sibling to get even a few minutes of uninterrupted rest ever since his nightmares and hallucinations had become more frequent and worse.
Dean sat down on the end of his bed and grabbed a worn paperback novel the previous guest had left in the drawer beside the Gideon Bible. Mouth curling up to one side at the sight of the hunk on the front cover dressed in a black leather jacket, dark shades, big gun over his shoulder and big bike between his legs, Dean started reading; a quiet activity that wouldn't wake his brother unnecessarily.
The hunter had barely finished the first page when a sudden loud bang startled him- the sound of a car backfiring on the road beyond the motel- and he instantly looked to his brother.
Sam, now awake sat up and raked his bangs back from his brow with one hand.
"Go back to sleep," Dean said, "You weren't even asleep ten minutes."
The younger Winchester shook his head, trying to surreptitiously peer over his shoulder.
"What are seeing?" Dean asked instantly.
"Nothing," his brother muttered and stood.
Lucifer was lying on his side on the bed, a smile on his face, "Aw Sammy, I thought you wanted to take a nap."
"I need to get some fresh air," the younger Winchester said and picked up his jacket from on top of his duffle bag.
"You sure?" Dean asked, his expression worried.
"Yeah," Sam muttered, "Just… Just give me a few minutes, okay?"
Dean nodded, "Okay, stay close by. And bring your phone."
"I will," Sam promised and slipped his jacket on, wincing at the pain in his right shoulder from where the Leviathan had bitten him. Patting one of the pockets he confirmed his cell phone was inside.
Taking a deep breath, Sam pulled open the door to the motel room and stepped outside.
After closing the door he remained where he was on the sidewalk, not sure where he wanted to go. He wasn't about to stroll down the sidewalk, especially not with Lucifer tagging along, when he spotted the wooded area behind the motel. Although not much of an outdoorsman, he had joined a hiking club back in college if only to help keep physically fit and he didn't really mind the woods, as long as he wasn't hunting wendigos or werewolves or anything like that.
Stepping off the sidewalk, Sam quickly crossed the parking lot, head down and hands stuffed into his pockets.
Once in the woods, the sounds of civilization- cars, sirens, and human voices- dropped away and the only noises were the rustling of leaves, the chirping of birds and the clicking of insects.
"How long are you going to ignore me this time, Sammy?" Lucifer asked, matching the young man's pace as he walked.
The hunter stared straight ahead, refusing to give his companion the satisfaction of an answer.
"Sam, don't ignore me."
Sam still didn't answer.
"You know I don't like to be ignored."
The hunter picked up his pace, knowing he wouldn't be able to outrun the hallucination but he didn't care.
"Sam," Lucifer said, warningly.
The hunter began to run, not even looking where he was going, he didn't care, he just needed to get away.
Tree branches whipped at his face, roots threatened to trip him, but Sam didn't stop until his lungs were heaving for air and his heart was pounding. Sweat was beaded on his face, dripping off his chin.
Sam closed his eyes and leaned over, trying to catch his breath.
"Sam."
Of course he hadn't been able to outrun Lucifer.
Opening his eyes, the hunter wiped his face with his sleeve, his eyes widening at the sight of blood smeared across his jacket.
"It's not real," he muttered, "It's not real."
"Sam," Lucifer's voice repeated, now from right behind him, "I told you not to ignore me."
The hunter turned around to face the Devil and frowned when he saw nothing.
Sam counted to five in his head and when nothing happened he relaxed a little and started heading back the way he had come, relieved that Lucifer was gone again for the time being.
SPN
Dean looked up and couldn't help the smile that crossed his face when the door opened and his brother stepped inside.
"How was the walk?" he asked and Sam shrugged, slipping his jacket off and dropping it onto his duffel.
"I was thinking about dinner," Dean continued, "Did you want anything?"
"Whatever you get, Dean," Sam replied and sat down on the edge of his bed.
Reaching up, the younger man rubbed at his right shoulder.
"Do you want something? I think we still have Tylenol 3's."
Sam shook his head, "I'll be fine."
"Okay," Dean muttered, "Chinese sound good?"
The younger Winchester nodded, "Sure."
As the older hunter started dialing the number of a Chinese restaurant nearby, Sam sighed and glanced around the room, spotting the paperback on his brother's bed, laying open so Dean wouldn't lose his page. Reaching out, Sam picked up the book and smirked at the picture on the cover.
"Maximum Conquest?" Sam asked, "What is this?"
Dean turned to his brother, "Hey! Don't lose my page, okay?"
The younger Winchester smiled and put the book back where he'd found it.
Once Dean was finished ordering the food he sat down on the end his bed and turned on the television.
"Food should be here in half-an-hour," Dean said as he channel surfed.
The brothers lapsed into silence as they watched the television, both lost in his own thoughts.
W
"Sammy-" Dean began but was interrupted by a knock at the door.
Standing, the elder Winchester met the delivery guy and paid for the food.
"Thanks," Dean said.
"You have a good night," the guy- an elderly Chinese man who spoke perfect English- said and dipped his head.
"You too," the hunter muttered and closed and locked the door; dumping the brown paper bag the food came in onto his bed.
Sitting down, Dean began pulling out Styrofoam containers.
"How much food did you get?" Sam asked.
"There's nothing wrong with leftovers," Dean replied, "Besides, I feel like I could eat a horse."
Grabbing a plastic fork from the inside of the bag, the elder Winchester picked up a container of Lo Mein noodles and began noisily slurping them up.
"Sam," Dean said, noodles hanging from his mouth, "You've gotta eat something. There's beef and broccoli, Spring rolls, hell, I even got something with tofu in it just for you. Have something, man."
The young Winchester reached out and picked up the container of beef and broccoli and a fork.
Dean knew Sam didn't feel much like eating most of the time but he had an idea that not eating only made the nightmares and hallucinations worse if only because his brother didn't have the strength needed to fight them.
After a few minutes passed, Dean spoke again.
"This is good, right?" he said and Sam nodded, spearing a broccoli floret on his fork.
The brothers ate their food in silence for a few minutes before Dean turned to the television and found a re-run of 'COPS' for them to watch. Both Sam and Dean relaxed a bit and allowed themselves to be drawn into the show, forgetting their problems if only for a short time.
SPN
"This is so good, Dave," JJ complimented Rossi and the older Agent smiled.
"Thank you," he said.
"We need to come here for dinner more often," Morgan announced as he put a piece of Rossi's Chicken Parmesan into his mouth and chewed with exaggerated glee.
The team was taking a rare and well-deserved break, relaxing in Rossi's backyard while the weather remained nice. It had been a challenging week and the cases difficult but now with the chance to refresh themselves, the team felt as though they'd be able to go back into the BAU on Monday recharged and ready to apply themselves to their work again.
"Have some more wine," Rossi said and poured more of the alcohol into JJ's glass.
"Okay," she shook her head, laughing, placing her hand over her glass, "That's enough."
"You can hit me up," Morgan told Rossi, reaching out his wineglass to the senior agent.
"You're pretty quiet, Reid. Is everything all right?" Prentiss asked the young doctor and the agent nodded.
"No, it's not," Morgan argued, "You're not thinking about Lamb are you?"
Agent Hotchner looked up and frowned.
"You shouldn't listen to him, Kid," Morgan told his young friend, "He's just an asshole."
Reid sighed, picking at his chicken restlessly.
"Reid," Hotchner drew the younger agent's attention to him, "What Lamb's can be considered harassment. You should go to Strauss if it's really getting to you."
The doctor shook his head, "I'm okay, really."
"Well if you won't go to Strauss," Penelope Garcia interrupted, "I will. No one picks on my team members."
"No, really," Reid insisted, "It was just a stupid comment."
"Okay, Kid," Morgan muttered, his thoughts now turning to Agent Carter Lamb.
"I can't believe he hasn't been called into Strauss' office for workplace harassment before," JJ said, shaking her head.
"That's because he's hardly ever at Quantico," Prentiss told her, "He's always out with his team on cases."
"And I thought we barely got to see our desks," Rossi snorted, "I hear he does his paperwork on the go and mails it to Quantico."
JJ raised an eyebrow and took a sip of wine.
"He thinks he untouchable just because he has a great track record," Morgan said, "Thinks that makes him hot shit."
"Maybe it's a good thing he's rarely at Quantico," Penelope added, "That man gives me the heebie-jeebies."
"Even more so than Agent Valente?" Rossi asked.
"Who's still AWOL," Morgan said, "Has anyone heard from him at all?"
Hotchner shook his head.
"Weird," JJ commented, "It's like he just disappeared."
"You don't think it has anything to do with… you know who, do you?" Penelope asked.
"If Sam and Dean knew about him, I'm sure they'd let us know," Morgan told her.
After a moment's silence, Rossi spoke up again.
"Who's ready for some Tiramisu?"
"Oh Dave, you didn't have to make dessert too," JJ said but the older agent just smiled, "I enjoy cooking. And I enjoy cooking for all of you. It's not often we can share a meal so why not take advantage of it while we can?"
While the senior agent went inside to get the dessert, his teammates talked about anything but work, knowing that all too soon they would be back on a case.
SPN
"No… No… Please…"
Dean woke up instantly at the sound of his brother's voice and rolled over, stood up and crossed the short distance to his brother's bed.
"Sam," he reached out and put a gentle hand on his sibling's shoulder, "Sammy."
"No… Please… Not again…"
"SAM," Dean said with more force and his brother flinched.
"C'mon Sammy, wake up man," Dean shook his sibling's shoulder slightly and breathed a sigh of relief when Sam's eyes opened.
Sitting up, the younger Winchester took a moment to gather his bearings.
"You with me?" Dean asked and Sam nodded, "Yeah… Yeah, I'm okay now."
"Wanna watch some TV?" Dean asked.
His brother glanced at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand between the two beds, "It's the middle of the night."
The older Winchester shrugged, "So? You feel like going back to sleep?"
Sam shook his head, "No… I don't think I can."
"So we might as well entertain ourselves," Dean said and grabbed the remote and turned on the television.
"With what? Infomercials?" Sam yawned.
Dean smiled, "Didn't you once say it was riveting TV?"
Sam smirked and sat back against the headboard of his bed, gazing at the television as though he were afraid to look anywhere else in the room.
Dean sighed and lay down on his back, fascinated by a woman who claimed this new kitchen gadget she was holding could cook foods without heat.
SPN
"You're here early," JJ said to Reid as she set her purse down on desk.
"I had some paperwork I needed to catch up on," the young doctor said.
"Don't we all?" the blonde commented and smiled.
"I was going to get a coffee; do you want one?" JJ asked.
"Please," Reid nodded before turning his attention back to the pile of paperwork he'd been avoiding.
W
Reid looked up as Agent Lamb walked into the bullpen, a smug look on his face. The man always looked as though he had just won a jackpot and was going to have fun making others watch him spend it. Penelope thought he looked and sounded like the actor Christian Slater but Reid didn't know whom that was. All he knew what the moment he'd started at the BAU, Agent Lamb had had something against him. He hadn't even done anything to the man and Lamb was always nearby it seemed with some nasty comment to point in his direction. Morgan thought it was because Reid was so well educated and had a doctorate and Lamb didn't.
Whatever it was that continued to fuel this petty hate the other agent harboured for Reid, it had long ago become tiring.
"Don't even look at him," Rossi whispered.
"Why does he always look like the cat that ate the canary?" JJ asked and Morgan shrugged.
"Maybe he just has Short Man's Disease," he joked.
A few other agents had also looked up at Lamb's approach. The man held a nondescript folder in his hands; he was clearly on his way to one of the boardrooms.
"Another case, Carter?" Rossi called out, "Didn't you just get back last night?"
"Evil never sleeps," Lamb replied, holding the folder high, "You should know that."
"What's it this time?" Morgan asked, "The suspense is killing me."
The agent grinned toothily.
"The Winchester brothers were spotted just hours ago," Lamb announced and Reid, who was taking a drink of coffee, began to choke on the beverage.
Morgan, who was sitting on Reid's desk, reached out and pounded on his friend's back.
"The Winchesters are dead," Rossi said, deadpan.
"Not according to witness testimony," Lamb said, "They are alive and well and in our own backyard."
"Oh shit," Morgan whispered.
"And Strauss picked you to capture them?" Rossi asked.
"Capture them," Lamb said, hands raised; "Kill them. As long as they are stopped."
"Perfect," Rossi said with a sigh.
"Why? Are you jealous?" Lamb asked and continued on towards the boardroom.
Once he was out of earshot JJ leaned towards her team members, "We have to tell Hotch."
"What's he gonna do?" Morgan asked, "Tell Strauss she made a mistake? Everyone think they're mass murderers, remember?"
"Lamb won't kill them, would he?" Reid asked, his expression worried.
His friends didn't answer. Carter Lamb was known in the BAU and the FBI in general as trigger-happy; the kind of guy to shoot first and ask questions later.
"He won't if Sam and Dean cooperate," Rossi assured him.
"We have to warn them," JJ said.
"We can't," Morgan argued, "If I call Dean and then Lamb's tech analyst goes through his phone they'll see I was talking to him."
"Right," JJ admitted sadly, "But we have to do something."
"We'll talk to Hotch and see what he thinks," Morgan said.
"Hey! Whoa, did someone die?" Prentiss walked up to her teammates and stared at their faces, feeling a sliver of unease slip down her spine.
"Not quite," Rossi commented, "C'mon, we all need to see Hotch."
Prentiss followed the others, confused and worried, up to Aaron's office. She just knew nothing good would come of a meeting in their team leader's private office.
Author's Note:
Fanfic title comes from a Gobsmack song.
Chapter title comes from a Bullet For My Valentine song.
This story came from a prompt sent to me by SkyHighFan who wanted to see a crossover where Sam and Dean's escape and survival after 'Slash Fiction' (Season 7, Episode 6) is revealed to the authorities and the BAU team is assigned to capture them. Hotchner and the others are instead trying to clear the boys' names and prove their innocence without revealing that they have worked with the Winchesters in the past.
I have changed the plot slightly. Instead of Angent Hotchner and the rest of the team being forced to find and arrest Sam and Dean, a different team from the BAU is charged with bringing the brothers in.
Please take a moment to leave a review, ladies and gents!