Hi! I'm back with more... enjoy!
"Sammy?! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Dean barked at his younger brother as he crossed the room with just a few strides. Dean's fingers closed around the handle of the sharp dagger which was still resting on the tender skin of his brother's left wrist.
The younger man seemed to deflate as he loosened the grip on the dagger, allowing Dean to slip it from between his fingers. Sam noticed that the object was placed on the table and that Dean stepped in front of it. He sighed quietly and sat down in one of the arm chairs, looking at the unfinished ritual.
"Damn it, Sam! What the hell where you doing, huh?" When his brother didn't even acknowledge him, Dean sank down to his knees and placed one hand on Sam's wrist, to monitor his heartbeat, while he cupped Sam's cheek in his other hand. "Sammy... you look exhausted, dude."
That finally got a reaction out of Sam. "I'm not exhausted, Dean," Sam huffed in annoyance at being pinned down by his brother's piercing, knowing gaze. "Actually," he hesitated briefly, but continued anyway. "I just had a breakthrough."
Sam didn't look him in his eyes and Dean instantly knew that - in the unlikely event that his brother had found something - it was either a long shot or something Dean would not be agreeing to. "What kind of breakthrough, Sam?" His words were harsh and demanding, but Dean's tone was patient and comforting, the way a parent would talk to a distressed child.
A few frozen seconds passed as the dynamic between the brother's changed. Sam had never been able to be anything but completely honest when his brother used that tone of voice. And Dean knew it. "Dean..." Sam's voice trailed off, begging his brother without words to continue to believe in the illusion he had tricked himself into believing.
"What's your breakthrough, Sammy?" Dean asked gently, while he squeezed the back of his brother's neck, coaxing the truth out of him. Eventually, Sam met his gaze. Before his brother had even opened his mouth, Dean instinctively knew that it wouldn't be quite as much of a breakthrough as Sam desperately wanted to believe.
"I was going to use a Veritas spell." And as it turned out, Dean was right. "A truth spell?" Dean asked him incredulously as he stood and started pacing. "What? You're planning to have a heart to heart with the Darkness, Sammy? In case you haven't noticed, the damn neverending black cloud doesn't have a mouth!"
"Gee, thanks, Dean!" Sam pushed himself out of the chair and stepped away from his older brother. "Thanks for pointing out the little detail that I didn't miss!" he snapped at his older brother. "So no, I'm not working on the damn spell and ritual to have a heart to heart with the Darkness. I'm going to use it on myself."
Dumbfounded, Dean stopped moving and crossed his arms in front of his chest. An arched eyebrow, told Sam that he'd better get to the point. And that he'd better do it quick.
"If I use it on myself, nobody will be able to lie to me about whether or not we have a fighting chance against the Darkness. They banished it once, we have to be able to do it again," Sam spoke with determination. Dean's condemning silence only worked as an amplifier to the restless feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wouldn't be able to find the loophole on time.
"Sammy," Dean spoke up softly, "you need to rest. You've been going at this for weeks now. Let me go over it for a while, huh? Fresh set of eyes and all that crap. Go," he nodded as he walked over to the table, which was covered with books and loose pages. When Sam didn't move a muscle, Dean tried again. "Have a shower at least, man. You reek." Sam rolled his eyes and Dean knew he had won the battle. And sure enough,Sam turned around and walked in the direction of the bathroom.
"I'll be back in half an hour, though," Sam called out over his shoulder.
Hey dear reader,
another one down... but not to worry! More to follow, next week!
WHAK,
spnwriternoodel
