Thanks again for all your sweet comments, I appreciate it a lot. :) Have fun with the next chapter, Sams POV this time.

Chapter 3

First thing he noticed when he slowly came to was a quiet humming. Where was it coming from? It seemed to be all around him. It was hard to concentrate, to think at all. Hard not to drift back into the blackness he'd just escaped. The sound was comforting and made him feel secure. So he fought to stay conscious, to hang on to the bodiless voice that was so familiar.

The longer he listened, the clearer the voice got. Was that Metallica? Only Dean hummed Metallica... in the shower, when he was bored, when he came home late at night after a fruitful eve of gambling and flirting. Sometimes he just wanted to annoy him. He loved to do that. And sometimes he hummed when he was scared... Was he scared now?

More senses slowly started to return to him. He noticed that breathing was oddly difficult. The air was stifling and a coldness surrounded him and gave him shivers. He was lying on a hard ground, but his head was supported by something soft. He could smell worn-out leather – his brothers jacket – he would recognize it anywhere. He coughed slightly and was shocked when a sharp pain radiated from his left arm with the small movement. He groaned and tried to curl around his obviously messed up arm, but gentle hands stopped him from moving and held him down. The humming had stopped and was replaced by an annoyed sigh from Dean.

„Don't move genius! You'll just hurt yourself more. Besides, don't want you to ruin my awesome handiwork."

What? He was confused. Maybe he should open his eyes. But his eyelids were so heavy...

It took him a few seconds till they started to respond and a blurry image of his brothers worried face appeared in front of him.

„Yeah, that's it, open your eyes for me Sammy. Be glad you slept through the patch up, would have been a total bitch."

Sam just blinked at him, wondering what Dean was talking about. His eyes surveyed his surroundings, dimly lit by a nearby flashlight and upon seeing the rocks and broken wooden beams scattered around them, he remembered what had happened. The hunt, endless caves and tunnels, the earthquake, their pointless run for their lives, rocks tumbling down on him, his big brother being the saviour of the day, uncovering him, the unbearable pain... then everything turned black.

„How long...?" His voice didn't wanna obey him, sounding hoarse. But Dean already uncapped a bottle of water and helped to lift his head to drink.

„Long enough for me to fix you. And to scare the shit outta me."

The liquid was refreshing and his mind cleared a bit.

„Here, take these." Two tiny pills rested on Deans hand and Sam swallowed them thankfully.

„It'll probably take some time for them to kick in." Sam nodded and his eyes wandered down his body, wincing when he took in his ripped and dirty shirt, the nasty looking scratches and bruises covering his body and his broken forearm – bandaged and stabilized with some wooden sticks. He frowned. Dean must have seen his puzzled expression.

„Found those in between the piled up rocks down there. Pieces of some broken wooden beam. Almost buried myself when I pulled them out."

Sam turned his head and winced when it responded with dizziness to the sudden movement. His gaze wandered up the stone wall that piled up only a few meters ahead. He couldn't believe his eyes.

„We're screwed, right?" He looked back at his brother.

Dean gave him a cocky smile. „Screwed? What're you talking about? You're alive, I'm alive... Could have been worse, don't you think?" But his expression couldn't deceive him, his anxiety was written all over his face. His brother had always tried to take away Sams fear with lightening up the mood, downplaying even the most messed up situations. And it had worked perfectly when he was a kid. But unfortunately not anymore.

„You okay?" His worried eyes met Deans.

Dean rolled his eyes. „You're the one who kissed the earth. I've got a hard head, takes more than a few rocks to bring me down."

Sam sighed in relief. Definitely could have been worse. He hesitated for a second.

„Dean... how bad is it?"

His brothers smile vanished. „It's not that bad..."

Figures... Oh no, you won't get away with this! „Dean!" Sam showed him his best puppy-dog eyes. Dean cast him an annoyed glace.

„Your fracture really isn't too bad, thankfully just a simple one, no bone protruding."

Sam raised his eyebrows. Dean couldn't fool him, his worried eyes spoke volumes. There was more. „But...?"

Dean sighed, he'd lost that battle. „Well, you never do things just half-way. Got a nasty cut on your forearm too. Bled like hell, took me some time to stop it. It definitely needs stitches, but we don't have the supplies here. I cleaned it the best I could, but I'm worried about infection."

Sam nodded, but regretted his movement right away when a spike of pain shot through his head again. He raised his right hand, coming in touch with soft fabric. „What..."

„Another gash, but it stopped bleeding quite easily. No concussion."

Great, still felt like someone puts a knife in it every time he moved it.

Dean grimaced. „Pills not working yet?"

Sam refrained from nodding his head this time. „Not really.", he admitted.

His brother gave him a sympathetic look and went on. „Scratches and bruises are a bitch, but they'll fade, nothing serious." Dean carefully palpated his chest, looking for signs of broken ribs, heaving a sigh of relief when nothing gave way. „Do you have any trouble breathing?"

Sam considered this for a moment. „A bit, but nothing hurts. Maybe just the bad air?"

Dean nodded. „Probably, got some trouble too." Dean bit his lip, obviously conflicted.

„Sammy, I really hate so say this, but we should get out of here as soon as possible. Don't want us to get caught in an aftershock on top of this. And it's obvious that we need to get you to a hospital."

His brother was probably right. He wouldn't ask if it wasn't serious, not when Sam is in pain. He just had to suck it up till they were out of harm's way.

„Okay, we've got to find another way out. I doubt we can dig through there?" Sams gaze wandered back to the cave-in.

„Nope, me neither. You better concentrate on walking upright, I'm going to take the lead. Let's look at the map, there must be another way out. Where is it?"

„In my jacket. Help me up!" Dean helped him into a sitting position, being careful not to jostle his injured arm. Dizziness assaulted him, but it passed quickly. The pain killers seemed to have kicked in, leaving only a dull throbbing in his head. But his arm still sent spikes of pain through his body whenever he moved it. He gritted his teeth and held it tight to his body. His jacket was resting on their duffle just a few feet away. Dean must have taken it off to patch him up. His brother reached for it but kept an arm on his shoulder to steady him, apparently afraid he could take another dive down. The map was inside and he grabbed the flashlight from the ground to get a better look.

„See the cave we crossed before we got knocked down?"

Sam showed him a circle in the west section. There were three tunnels branching off in different directions. The first one which was collapsed now would have been a direct pathway to the exit. The other two led deeper into the caves.

„Look, this one has a red cross on it, probably means that it's already blocked. The other one leads in the opposite direction but seems to take a turn after a few hundred meters."

„Yeah, that was the one we were in when the earthquake started." And he didn't wanna think about what they'd do if it was blocked too. It was their best shot.

„So we got a plan. Wait a second, I'll make a sling to support your arm."

Dean rummaged around their duffel bag, conjured up a sling out of a bandage in no time and cautiously helped Sam to strap it on and hold his arm in position against his chest. Sam hissed but choked down a cry. He didn't want his brother to know that his arm was still blazing with pain. They had enough to worry about, he would survive.

„All done. Up you go Sammy!" Dean wrapped an arm around his waist while Sam put his unscathed arm around his shoulders and together they stood up. His brother helped him to the wall so he could lean against it while he gathered up their gear. He found Sams flashlight near the cave-in, still functioning and thrust it into his good hand. Dean shouldered their duffel bag, flashlight in one, map in the other hand.

„Think you can walk?"

„Do I have a choice?" Despite his painful arm he surprisingly felt quite steady on his feet. Fortunately his legs escaped any damage or they would have been in big trouble.

„Just stay close by and tell me when you need a break."

„I'll be fine, let's just go!"

Dean cast him another concerned glance before turning around and starting out. They had to be careful not to stumble over the numerous rocks on the ground. They crossed the limestone cave from before, now cluttered with broken stalagmites and stalactites and entered the tunnel on the right-hand side. They were lucky for once, besides some cracks in the walls and two splintered supporting logs they had to worm their way through, the tunnel looked relatively intact.

Sam concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, walking behind his brother, relying on him to find their way out of here. It was hard enough to stay awake, his body showing him the obvious signs of exhaustion. He breathed heavily, but kept going. Every now or then he would trip over some rock he'd missed to make out in the dim light and Dean would be at his side in just a second. When a junction appeared to their left out of the darkness they stopped and studied the map again.

„Must be the right one. Let's sit down for a moment before you pass out."

„I'm fine!", Sam objected, but his pale face and beads of sweat said otherwise. Dean lowered him to the ground, back leaning against the wall and gave him a bottle of water. He swallowed the cold liquid thankfully, but it only helped shortly to ease the heat that had attacked his head. He closed his eyes while Dean rested his hand on his forehead, cursing under his breath.

„You're burning up little brother."

„I'm fine!", Sam insisted.

„Yeah, you look far from fine. How does your arm feel like?"

Sam gave him a dirty look. „Like it's broken."

„Funny Sam!" Dean inspected the bandage while Sam let his eyes roam the darkness behind his brother back. That's when he spotted a dark shape on the ceiling in the depth of the tunnel. He blinked and wondered if he could already hallucinate. His fever wasn't that bad yet, was it? But when red eyes suddenly lit up, he knew that this couldn't be his imagination. His heart made a jump.

„Dean! Look out!", he shouted just when the shape shot out, revealing itself in their cone of light.

TBC

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