Summary: The world seems to be conspiring against Sam and Dean. Will they survive the elements, their memories and a certain Yellow Eyed Demon? Conclusion to the They're Here Trilogy (They're Here and We're in for a Bumpy Ride) which are set post ELAC.
A/N: Same note as Chapter 1 – you wouldn't be reading this story without Faye Dartmouth and Gidgetgal9. Oh, and thanks for reading!
Chapter 2
Sam tried to relax in the unyielding chair but he found the two figures outside unsettling.
He tried to focus on something else, jerking his attention back from the window. His brother. He was worried about the stress Dean had been under. He knew Dean was concerned about his health, mental and physical, but Sam sensed there was something else underneath that concern. Unfortunately, Sam's concentration had been affected by his most recent concussion and he had trouble letting Dean know he was worried about him.
He knew Dean was worried about him, too. He'd even said something about taking him back to the hospital. There was no way he was going back to the hospital. Not ever if he had his way. For a moment he'd been scared that Dean was going to follow through on his threat but then he realized his brother was just teasing him, ribbing him about the nurses. He knew there was a story there but he couldn't remember what had happened. And he wasn't sure he wanted to know because it probably involved his humiliation at the hands of one of Dean's conquests. Everywhere they went Dean seemed to collect a harem.
Thunder crashed deafeningly and Sam jumped in the hard, plastic chair. When he glanced outside he saw the same two figures standing on the other side of the gas pumps and they seemed to be waving to him, asking him to join them outside.
Sam fisted his left hand and rubbed first one eye and then the other. He had to be seeing things. He glanced toward the back of the store where Dean had disappeared and thought about trying to find his brother. When he looked outside the wall of glass windows the two figures were closer now.
Sam's jaw dropped open. Two blonds. Motioning him to join them.
Mary and Jessica.
Sam remembered Mary and Jessica visiting him in the psych unit but he thought he'd only dreamed about them because he craved their comfort. But he was out of the hospital, on the way to mending, and he was seeing them again.
Sam watched as both women, dressed in flowing while dresses with their hair whipping in the stiff breeze, approached the front door.
Jessica looked over her shoulder and cringed before turning her full attention to Sam. "Please Sam, you have to follow us."
Jessica implored him from the other side of the door. Her voice was insistent, easily passing through the glass barrier to reach Sam's ears.
Mary looked up at the sky before turning back to stare at Sam. Her plea chimed with equal fervor. "Now Sam. There's no time to lose."
Sam looked toward the back of the store and called to his brother, "Dean!" Only a thin, soft croak passed his lips.
A loud crash of thunder shook the building and drowned out Sam's attempt to get Dean's attention.
When he swiveled his neck back, Jess was silently pounding on the window, in distress. "SAM!"
He couldn't ignore the desperation in her voice and heaved himself to his feet. Dean had told him not to leave but he had to find out if he was imagining this or if Mary and Jess were really here.
Sam lurched toward the door and pushed against it until he staggered out into the air. Big fat drops of rain were starting to fall and he flinched against the cold liquid landing on his face.
Mary's voice rose above the gathering wind. "Over here, Sam. Hurry."
Sam followed as quickly as his damaged body would allow, weaving past the gas pumps, toward the far edge of the parking lot where Mary and Jess stood impatiently.
-0-
Dean, oblivious to Sam's journey outdoors, stood with Rod, the convenience store attendant, who flipped through videocassettes. "You're in luck. This is the oldest tape we've got and it's from the date Dr. Osmond stopped here. Let me cue it up and see what we have."
He popped it into a cassette player attached to a small TV against the office wall. Rod hit the fast forward button and periodically stopped to check the time. "Okay, here we go. We're coming up on the time that was on his debit card receipt. Is this Dr. Osmond?"
The tape showed a man in an expensive suit pushing into the store. Dean nodding his head yes but didn't make a sound as he studied the video. He blinked to clear his eyes when he thought he saw a flash of yellow darting out from Dr. Osmond's eyes. "Could you please show that segment again?"
He was having a hard time believing what his eyes were telling him. Rod played those frames again and Dean watched as Dr. Osmond walked into the store, seemed to glance right at the camera, and then moved farther into the store. Dean saw a flash of yellow at the moment Dr. Osmond looked at the camera. His eyes were yellow.
Dean rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well I'll be damned."
At first he thought it was a shape shifter but those eyes…he was looking at the Yellow Eyed Demon.
Suddenly things started to make sense.
Dr. Osmond had talked Dean into admitting Sam into the sleep study program and had omitted the fact that it was an inpatient psychiatric unit.
Dr. Osmond had either beaten or allowed Sam to be beaten while in the unit.
But why? Dean wasn't certain but he knew it had to do with Sam and his abilities and this destiny the Yellow Eyed Demon had been yammering about when it had taken over their dad's body.
One thought raced through Dean's mind. Sam wasn't safe.
Dean pumped Rod's hand twice before heading out the door. "Thanks, Rod. You've been a tremendous help."
He had to get to Sam.
Dean threw up his hands to cover his eyes as a blinding flash of light cut through the air to land just outside of the door. The flash coincided with another deafening crash of thunder. Dean realized that the lightening was coming perilously close to the gas pumps and screamed out his brother's name, "SAMMY!"
Too late. In a matter of seconds the lightning had ignited some gasoline pooled on the ground and fire quickly made its way toward the gas pumps.
There was a moment of silence that was quickly replaced with a loud whooshing noise; the gas pumps exploded outward and upward, propelling twisted metal toward the glass front of the building. Glass shattered as metal screeched into the building with the speed of a bullet. Fire licked on the heels of the metal and instantly the front of the store was covered in flames.
Dean was thrown to his hands and knees as the building shuttered under the fiery onslaught.
"SAMMY. NO!!!" Dean screamed at the top of his lungs as he fought to gain his footing.
Rushing headlong into the inferno he tried to fight his way toward his brother but a secondary explosion ripped through the front of the building, sweeping Dean off his feet and slamming him into the back of the store.
"Sammy…" Dean whispered as he lay torn and broken against the back wall. He tumbled into unconsciousness as his body was unable to resist the damage the explosion had wrought.
-0-
Sam was trembling as he staggered after Mary and Jess. They remained just out of his reach, beckoning him forward.
Unable to keep up the pace, Sam stopped and turned around to face the front of the store. Maybe Dean was finished. Maybe Dean could help him make sense of this waking vision.
Even before Sam could take a step toward the building a crack of lightning zigzagged through the air and hit the pavement by the gas pumps. Sam's brain struggled to make sense of what he was seeing and it seemed like forever before his legs would obey the commands his brain finally stuttered out. RUN!
Sam pivoted back around toward Mary and Jessica. He'd barely made it one step when he heard the telltale sound of the gasoline igniting in a whoosh. He was picked up and tossed around like a doll, landing heavily in the grassy knoll behind the apparitions in white. Sam was deeply unconscious before he even hit the ground and tumbled down into a culvert.
The storm, having spent its energy in such a calamitous fashion, quickly moved on from the gas station. Fire crackled menacingly in the storefront. Thunder could still be heard booming in the distance as sirens wailed a plaintive song of distress.
TBC