Thanks to everyone who's been reading and uber thanks to those of you who reviewed, they made me very happy! I hope you enjoy.
xxx
Something was dripping onto his face, regular and annoying. Pulling him from his comfortable dream world, where everything was fine and he was King of the USA, men were sparse and women pandered to his every need.
He dragged his eyes open, wondering why his face was pressed cruelly into the dirt. Then it all came screaming back to him. He was alive. How was he alive, he'd drowned? Maybe it was an incredibly vivid hallucination? But judging by the dirt covering him, he guessed not. He pushed himself up; it didn't look like anything had changed, what the hell had happened. Turning around he gave a cry of surprise to see a figure face down at the other side of the room.
Oh No. He'd recognise that unruly hair anywhere.
"SAM!" his voice was hoarse but he gave shouting a good go.
He skidded to his knees at his brother's side, barely daring to breathe. With shaking fingers he felt for a pulse, letting out a whoosh of breath when he felt it steady and strong.
"Sammy," he shook him gently "Come on Sammy, wake up."
Sam groaned softly.
"Yeah that's it, come on, open your eyes for me."
Sam's eyes flickered open slowly, struggling to focus on his surroundings.
"Dean?" his voice was quiet and muffled then his eyes widened "Dean!"
He pushed himself up as fast as his confused brain would allow and grabbed his brother by the shoulders, partly to check that he was real and partly to steady himself.
"Sam are you hurt? What happened to you?"
"Frigging Imps dude and I'm fine. Never mind about me. Where the hell have you been? Are you ok? You look like hell."
Dean made a weak attempt to fight off Sam's hands as they made a quick assessment that Dean was actually ok, and not just preparing to lie his ass off.
"You know me Sammy, I'm always ok." He attempted a grin through his shivers.
Sam didn't buy it but tried to stay calm until they'd figured everything out.
"Where the hell are we?"
"Beats me, don't think there's an obvious way out though and there's something here Sam. Something keeps knocking and then the ground swallowed me."
Sam gave him a sceptical look "How long have you been down here Dean?" he asked slowly "Since you went missing?"
"Don't give me that look, yes, but I'm not crazy, the knocking's been going on since just after I talked to you and it got really bad...I don't know when it was but the ground turned into quicksand or something and I thought I was going to drown, but I woke up like two minutes ago and here we are. I mean look at me Sam."
Sam was looking at him, his glazed eyes, the way he was shivering uncontrollably and swaying slightly, he'd been worrying about Dean's mental state already after he beat the crap out of that guy in the alley, without adding isolation, dehydration and God knows what else, but it was still Dean and he'd believe him, plus Dean did look like he'd been digging around in a pile of dirt.
"Ok," Sam nodded "I believe you, but we really need to get out of here."
"Go ahead and try Sammy, but I've had nothing but time and couldn't find anything."
Still Sam thought that fresh eyes might be a good idea and began scouring the walls for anything that might be of any use.
A strange noise distracted him and he turned to see Dean greedily trying to catch water that was dripping from above.
"Dean what are you doing? You don't know where that's coming from there could be anything in it!" he pulled his brother away, forcing him to look at him, Dean's sunken, unfocused eyes disturbing the hell out of him.
"Please Sammy, I'm so thirsty, it's only water, you don't know when it'll stop again."
"It hasn't been doing it the whole time?"
Dean shook his head, too intent on freeing himself from Sam's grasp to speak.
"I really don't think you should drink that Dean." but Dean looked so desperate and Sam was so worried that he relaxed his grip slightly and let Dean tilt his head back allowing the water to drip into his dry mouth.
xxx
Sam felt like crap, his head was killing him, he was cold hungry and thirsty, he hadn't even been down here all that long so who knows what Dean was feeling like.
He looked over at his brother, Dean appeared to be asleep, he'd been huddled next to the wall shivering for the last hour or so, Sam knew if they didn't get out of here soon they were in serious trouble.
He'd found something when he was trying to find a way out, it looked to be the top of a window or door or something poking out from the dirt, if what Dean had said was true then it must have been uncovered when the ground changed. He crawled over to check that Dean was asleep and therefore wouldn't exert himself if he saw what Sam was doing and began to dig with his hands.
The ground was hard and cold and he kept going until he could no longer feel his fingers, by which time he'd uncovered enough to hopefully pry the planks of wood away and check out the other side.
He was pulled from his work by a sharp gasp from his brother; he spun round to see Dean pressed hard against the wall.
"Dean? What's wrong?"
"Shhh! Didn't you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"The voice. His voice Sam."
Dean looked terrified, trying to press himself into the wall, make himself as small as possible.
"Who's voice Dean?"
"Nick."
Sam's heart froze at the mention of the man who'd kidnapped Dean last year. He reached Dean and looked into his eyes, alarmed by what he saw, Dean's pupils were enormous. Damn it what was in that water?
"Dean listen to me," Sam spoke calmly and slowly "Nick's gone, remember we salted and burned his bones, he can't come back, he can't hurt you anymore."
He could see that his words weren't going in, that Dean was trapped in his own delirious world, he really had to get them out now.
"Dean I think I've found a way out ok. Just stay here for a few minutes."
"NO!" Dean's hand was like a vice on his arm, which was surprising given his depleted strength. "Don't go Sammy, don't let him hurt you."
Sam gently pried the fingers from his arm "I won't Dean don't worry, just hold on for a few minutes."
He avoided looking at Dean's face as he turned away, he hated seeing that look in his eyes, it was a far cry from the strong cocky brother he'd grown up with. He worked fast, bloodying his fingers and tearing his nails trying to pry away the wood, he had to work fast, Dean was starting to lose it, Sam didn't want to know what he could see, but it didn't sound good, Dean was breathing in harsh gasps and kept shuffling backwards around the room like he was trying to escape someone or something, throwing out colourful curses and insults that lacked his usual enthusiasm.
Finally one of the boards broke and he was able to pull the others free, peering down a dark tunnel he felt a soft breeze and hoped that meant there was a way out, he'd have tried it alone but Dean was completely flipping out and he didn't want to leave him on his own. It would be a tight fit, they'd have to crawl and if it collapsed or something they'd be trapped. Still, it was either wait here to die, or try and survive.
Dean gave a cry of alarm and Sam turned to see him huddled in a shivering ball, cringing away from some unseen enemy.
"Dean we're getting out of here." Sam tried to pull his brother along, but Dean was trapped in his hallucination.
"Sammy please don't let him get me again. Please make him go away, he's just standing there. GO AWAY!"
It killed Sam to see his brother like that, screaming at the air. Gently he turned Dean's head towards him.
"I'm going to take you away from him Dean. You just have to trust me, I need you to just try and stay with me, keep talking to me and I'll keep talking to you ok?"
"But Sa..."
"Don't look at him; don't think about him, just focus on me. Are you ready?"
Dean gave a small pathetic nod and obediently followed Sam over to the hole, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground at all times.
The passage was even tighter than Sam had originally thought; they essentially had to shuffle along on their elbows and knees in the dark, Sam keeping up a relatively constant stream of chatter to keep both Dean and himself calm. Dean's trembling had become even worse since they entered the tunnel and he could hear his erratic breathing behind him, they clung to each other awkwardly in the dark Sam offering support, Dean needing the contact, he hadn't really said it but Sam had a pretty good idea that Dean wasn't crazy about small spaces after he'd been locked in a coffin underground for ages, so he was willing to bet that Dean was struggling not to completely freak out right now.
Sam was in the middle of rambling off a story from when he was at College, and had gotten so drunk he didn't remember passing out on an outdoor trampoline until he woke up covered in vomit, when he heard Dean gasp and jerk back.
He craned his neck and in the darkness was just able to see his brother's wide eyes staring at him in fear before he jerked backwards again, falling onto his stomach before being dragged slowly backwards.
"DEAN!" Sam turned and rolled onto his stomach, clamping his hands onto his brother's forearms and Dean did the same.
"He's got my ankle Sam! Shit!" he swore as he was yanked backwards again. "He's never going to let me go!"
"No he hasn't, I don't know what has, but it's not him, he's gone forever, it's just your mind playing tricks on you. Now kick it off!"
Before Dean could make a move something pulled savagely on his leg again, with such force that both he and Sam were pulled back down the tunnel, something really didn't want them to leave. He tried kicking at it, trying to dislodge whatever it was, wanting to believe Sam's words that it wasn't Nick, he thrashed his leg around, but the thing had sharp claws that were firmly embedded in his calf.
"I can't Sam. If it gets me, don't let it get you too, promise me that!"
"Damn it Dean, we are not having this argument again, not now, you..."
He was cut off as they were dragged back towards their prison again, both disturbed by the shrill squeal that accompanied it. Dean winced in pain as it dug another set of claws in, ready to release his hold on Sam in case it was too strong for them to fight, there was no way he was dragging his little brother with him to suffer at the hands of something terrifying, he knew it would be Nick, knew that's what he would see and he couldn't have that happen to Sam, no way.
Sam saw the look in Dean's eyes that told him he was ready to sacrifice himself again and determination set in. He twisted himself round so that he was facing the same direction as Dean and grabbed his brother under the arms, pulling him round and away so that he was pressed against him.
Dean cried out in pain as the claws twisted in his leg as Sam turned him onto his back, and then they were both pulling, muscles straining hard, holding on to each other for all it was worth. Dean felt something give, his leg felt looser, he brought his other leg up and slammed it down hard on the thing holding onto him. There was a pained yelp and the claws withdrew their fierce hold and they collapsed backwards exhausted.
xxx
They were making agonisingly slow progress, the tunnel seemed to have gotten smaller and Sam was finding it difficult to fit his large frame along at any kind of real speed, which was ok because Dean couldn't move fast either, the pain in his leg sending white hot agony searing through him every time he put it down, he didn't know how bad it was and he didn't know whether the dizziness he was feeling was down to blood loss, lack of oxygen or dehydration. He supposed it didn't really matter which it was there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it right now and Sam would just worry more if he found out.
It wasn't long though before his fuzzy limbs crumpled under him and he did an ungraceful face plant in the dirt.
"What's wrong?" Worry was laced in Sam's voice, it was too dark to see now but he could picture the panic etched onto his face.
"Nothin' just lost my balance." He was annoyed at how slurred his words were and how difficult it was to bat off Sam's hands that were probing for a source; he sometimes hated how well his little brother knew him.
"Damn it Dean, how long have you been feeling like this?"
"Not long," he lied "think it might be my leg. The thing had frigging talons or somethin'" his voice felt distant, his tongue too big and furry, he felt kinda floaty, it wasn't a bad feeling. He did not enjoy it however, when Sam's hands explored his leg and he bolted up with a cry of agony and a string of expletives.
"Shit Dean, it's bad. Why didn't you tell me, you've just been bleeding all this time?"
Dean was vaguely aware of Sam moving around and then reaching down awkwardly to his leg in the dark.
"Now this is gonna hurt." Dean let out a scream of pain as Sam tied something firmly around his leg and then his mind started drifting, blissfully separating him from his body. He was snapped back into it with Sam's,
"Hey! Stay with me Dean, you have to stay awake, we have to get out of here and I'm gonna need your help."
And he could never deny Sam anything, especially when he needed help, and so he forced himself to stay awake, to try and block out the pain and help Sam who was pulling him down the tunnel by using his good leg and arms to shuffle along.
"Sam wait," Dean rasped "Do you hear that?"
"Dean it's just your imagin..." he trailed off as he heard it too, rapid scuttling and tiny screeching sounds, like hundreds of rats rushing towards them, fast.
"Move!" Dean had forced himself to his knees and was shoving Sam down the tunnel now, leg screaming in pain and his head feeling very fuzzy, but he had to move, had to get Sam to safety. It was damn near impossible to see, all he could make out was Sam's shape in front of him, if they hadn't been running for their lives he would have laughed at how funny Sam looked arms and legs scurrying at the ground.
And suddenly the burst of adrenaline was gone and he was laid on his front in the dirt again, it smelt cold and stale and he calmly realised that they were probably going to die down here, there was probably no way out, his eyes drifted closed, opening again when he felt Sam reach clumsily for him, felt him grab his jacket and pull him against his warm chest.
He heard Sam's panicked breathing; felt him twisting around as if looking for a way out. Dean wondered when his eyes had closed again, he tried to open them, he needed to be there with Sam if nothing else, but they were so heavy and he was so cold and tired. He resigned himself to shivering helplessly against Sam's chest, that floaty feeling was back and his legs felt all tingly. He could sense Sam's panic, but all he could do to comfort him was weakly seek out his hand and give it what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze (well as much of a squeeze as he could). He guessed it worked because Sam hoisted him up higher against his chest as the noises came even closer, he could feel his little brother's heart hammering against his cheek and as his senses faded he was dimly aware of Sam jerking around, probably trying to kick the little bastards off, he wanted to say that it was ok, that it would be over soon but all that came out was a mumble and then there was the darkness.
xxx
tbc.
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