Director's Cut – Chapter...hell I don't even know what's going on now. But it follows Disasteriffic Kaz's Reader's Special Fourth Edition chapter 3. Right? I think that's...yeah that's right. That'd make this DC #3, because reasons.
Author's Note: You guys are killin' me. LOL.
*~.~*
Dean is freaking out. He's at the CAT with a possibly-having-a-heart-attack George, trying to get the damn thing to start, and of course it's giving him a hard time. Sam is sitting in the snow with a bleeding wound, and all he has to protect himself is a rock salt filled shot gun and a puppy. And Dean can't get the sonofabitch CAT to start. He picks up the CB radio mic and shouts in it for help.
Meanwhile, Sam is slowly slipping into dangerous territory, mentally. The puppy is sitting at his side, staring up at him with big blue, sympathetic eyes, whining slightly. Sam tries to avoid looking at the bear trap that's got his leg. He just wants to pass out, but he's afraid something will happen; something will head Dean's way and he won't be able to yell for help.
The puppy started growling and barking again, standing and looking out in the distance. For a moment, Sam ignores it, but then looks over to where the puppy's attention had been pulled, hoping to see Dean returning for him. Instead...he sees a bear. "You've gotta be kidding me," Sam sighs. He laid down all the way, then. Playing dead should ensure the bear would leave him alone, but the damn puppy...well, the puppy was drawing attention to itself. As much as he hated to see the poor thing get killed, he was in no position to try and save it. Ultimately, this conflicted him almost to the point of tears, and he wished like hell that Dean would get back in time to save them both.
"Oh Sam," a voice sounded beside him and he opened his eyes.
"Missy!" Sam gasped and cursed this ridiculous series of unfortunate events.
"You've been abandoned; left to die...Just like me," she said with sympathetic eyes.
"No," Sam shook his head. "My brother's coming back for me."
"That's what I thought, too," she said sadly. Sam couldn't help but to see the slight resemblance to Jess. "Who would leave someone they love? Who would leave them to die? Yet that's exactly what happened. You've been left behind...just like me."
"No. Dean wouldn't do that," Sam's breath picked up as he looked around him for his shot gun he'd carelessly let go of. He realized that the bear was heading away from them now, apparently scared off by the ghost.
"Yet here you are, all alone," Missy continued. "Bleeding and cold and he left you with what? A little dog? I could kill you right now, you know. You'd be dead and I'd be gone before he even knew what happened."
"Then why don't you?" Sam asked as he found and gripped the gun.
"Because...you're just like me, now," she replied sadly. "You'll die anyway. But I'll stay with you so you're not alone like I was." Then, unexpectedly, she let out a scream as her body burst into embers and disappeared. In her place stood a familiar face.
"Hello, Sam," she said.
"Gracie?" Sam said with an incredulous look on her face. "H-how the h-hell...W-why would you be..."
"Calm yourself, Rainman," she said as she knelt down beside him and easily removed the trap from his leg, earning a hearty shout of pain from the younger Winchester. "Suck it up, soldier," she told him. "We've got work to do, after all." She shucked off her scarf and tied it tightly around Sam's wound.
"Y-you're not...Gracie...are you," he surmised.
"Just borrowing her meat suit, Sammy boy," she replied. "She was involved in a hit and run. Died on impact. Wasn't me," she held up her hands in a show of innocence as she coolly continued. "My other suit doesn't do well with freezing temperatures."
"Meg?" his eyes widened in surprise.
"Give 'im a prize, Alex," she grinned as she helped him up. "Found the lady's other limb and burned it. Just in time, it seems."
"How'd you know...w-where to find us?" he asked, the cold and blood loss starting to overwhelm him.
"I've been following you, actually," she replied as she threw his arm over her shoulders. "You good to walk?"
"Following? Why?"
"I need the help of you and your midget brother," she told him. "But it looks like I'll have to earn the favor, first. Where the hell is he, anyway?"
"You've been following us," Sam replied weakly. "How come you don't know?"
That's when they heard the sound of trampling coming up behind them in the distance. Meg and Sam turned, Sam hopping as they did so to keep his injured leg from carrying any weight. There in front of them now approached a dogsled led by a team of husky's looking very much like the little pup that had gotten lucky enough to escape death just moments earlier. On the sled Sam saw his brother, George and another man he hadn't yet met.
"Sam!" Dean shouted and jumped from the sled before it even stopped, making his way quickly toward them. "Sam, you okay? Who is... Is that...the chick from the border? What the hell?"
"It's actually Meg," Sam replied. Dean's eyes widened and he reached for his weapon.
"Calm down, cowboy," Meg said calmly.
"She's helping, Dean," Sam vouched. "She got the trap off," he added.
"We better get your brother back to someplace warm," she told him. "Your ghost problem is taken care of, so you can focus on not dying now so you can help me with something."
"Ghost problem? Lady, that was a side-gig," Dean told her. "We've got bigger problems than that."
"Are any of them bigger than Sam's life?" she asked with a raised brow.
Dean clenched his jaw for a moment, then moved to help her get Sam to the sled...
*~.~*
The journey back seemed endless, and Sam was curled up as well as he could be, not looking at all like his normal, healthy self. Not that that said much, since he'd been looking sickly from the trials to begin with. Now, however, he was looking a little more than death, and a little worse than the previous night when he'd been sick with fever.
Dean couldn't get a good breath in. Not until they got back to their makeshift hotel room so that he could get a better look at the wound on Sam's leg.
Sam had passed out once hitting the bed, and Dean was kinda grateful that he wouldn't be conscious for the administrations. Cleansing, sewing up, bandaging, getting him warm.
"His fever is back," Dean said out loud, only half-way realizing somewhere in the back of his mind that there were other people in the room. "Maybe worse now. We need to get it down."
"I'll get the ice," Aunt Fay told him before ducking out.
"I'll grab some Tylenol," George stated. "Got some of the good kind with codeine in my glove compartment." He, too, ducked out.
"Too bad Clarence isn't around to save the day," Gracie-Meg said as she sank down to sit on the end of the bed, her small form fitting easily in the bottom bunk.
"The day doesn't need saving," Dean scowled. "This is just getting in the way of us finishing up here so we can help you with whatever it is you showed up for."
"While that's partly true, I don't like seeing you boys so down on your luck," she said with a calm smile.
Dean shook his head and huffed a near-silent laugh. "It's really weird how different you are, now."
"Life is weird," she cocked a brow playfully.
"Ours is, anyway," Dean looked back to his brother who began to stir. "Hey, buddy," he placed a hand on Sam's arm.
Sam opened his eyes and looked around, settling on his brother's face. "Wha' happened?" he asked sleepily.
"You passed out and I had to carry your gigantor ass in here, that's what," Dean replied. "Your fever is back, Sam," he said with more seriousness. "So we're holing up here for a while till you get better."
"But the hunt-"
"We've got some extra help. It'll be all good. Don't you worry about a thing except getting better."
"Don't want you t'be 'lone," Sam replied, pushing himself up a bit to sit instead of lay.
"Won't be alone, Sammy," Dean told him. "I've got winter-proof-Meg, here, and George. We can handle it."
Sam swallowed as he sat back against the wall and considered the situation. "I'll be fine," he insisted. "Just...let me get this fever down and I'll come with you."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Dean told him.
"He's right, Sammy-boy," Meg said as she watched the younger brother's gaze move toward the window. "You're not runnin' on all cylinders right now. You shouldn't push it."
"Sam? What is it?" Dean asked with a furrowed brow as he tried to see why Sam's eyes widened, looking out the window. His entire body tensed from whatever he saw. "Sam?"
"D-Dean..." Sam saw...well, he didn't want to admit to it, because he knew he was imagining it. But it still scared the crap out of him. A clown. Standing out in the snow, looking in the window with an eery grin and waving his hand.
"Sammy, what do you see?" Dean asked, but Sam put his hands over his eyes, ducking his chin into his chest. "Sam..."
"Hallucinating," Sam said simply. "You're right. I should stay here. I could get one of you killed."
"Ain't worried about that, Sam. I'm worried about you. Just...hang on a minute. We're gonna get some soup in you and some meds and you're gonna lay back down and sleep it off, okay?"
Sam nodded. The others came back, and Dean stayed with him until he finished his meal and downed his meds and curled up under the covers.
"Now, we're headin' out to get some supplies and get that CAT up an' runnin' again," Dean told him. "No hunt tonight, okay? Just prep work. We'll be okay, so don't lay here worrying all night. And you mind Aunt Fay. She'll be here to keep an eye on you an bring you stuff if you need it. I don't want you outta this bed, except to pee, got it?"
"'m not five, Dean," Sam grumbled.
"You are when you're sick. So just deal, 'cause this is the treatment until you're better. Then you can be a little bitch all you want."
"You're a jerk."
"You love me."
"Shut up."
"You shut up. And go to sleep."
*~.~*
Sam did sleep. Maybe for all of an hour and a half, if that. It was dark when he opened his eyes. He was hot. Really hot. It was hard to breathe, how hot it was. The room spun as he pushed to get up out of the bed. If he'd been able to think, he'd have seen the note beside his bed on the nightstand, stuck under a little hand-bell that said, "Going to nap, dear. Ring if you need something. -Aunt Fay." But he didn't see it. He didn't see anything.
Suddenly he felt a familiar sick twinge in his gut and all he could think about was the pain of his brother being gone. Dean was gone. Dean disappeared when they killed Dick Roman, and he's gone and Sam can't find him. He's alone. He's alone and afraid and misses his brother like nothing else in the world matters.
And he's hot. He needed to get out of wherever he was and get some air. His mission soon turned to finding the outside...
*~.~*
"Come on, and shut your traps," Wilson told his buddies as they snuck into Aunt Fay's place, lights out and darkness only illuminated minutely by the brightness of the moon outside. "Probably sleeping," he whispered.
"This ain't a good idea," his friend said. "It ain't open, Wilson. We can get somethin' to eat later."
"I'll eat when I damn well please. I don't care if they're open or not."
"Well then let's grab somethin' and go," he replied. The three of them raided the kitchen, not noticing as Sam made his way blindly out the side door.
Sam felt the chill of the air once he got out the door, and it felt nice. The first thing he noticed, besides the snow, was the truck parked lopsided just a few feet away. In the back of the pick-up bed was a cage. Inside it, a wolf. Sam couldn't help but to feel a twinge of sympathy for the animal. It was so majestic looking. It shouldn't be in a cage. "You shouldn't be in a cage," he told it quietly. The wolf tilted his head at Sam's words. And Sam flipped the latch of the cage door and pushed it open, unafraid or maybe not even thinking about the fact that the thing could attack him after its freedom. But the wolf stood and walked out of the cage, looked up at Sam after it jumped to the ground, then turned and tore off in the distance. Sam felt a glimmer of something good swell in him.
"Well looky here," Wilson's voice sounded behind him. "What a fortunate surprise to see you here, and all by yourself. Seems like as good a time as any to have a fair fight, instead of the one where you took me by surprise."
"Dude, he don't look right," his friend said, noticing Sam's swaying as he turned to look at them.
"Don't care what the hell he looks like. He ain't got that brother of his to fight his battles for him this time." He approached confidently, and his friends stepped forward with slight hesitancy.
Sam, though, wasn't prepared for a fight. Those words, "He ain't got that brother of his..." rang and echoed through his skull. He didn't have Dean. Dean was gone. Dean could be...dead. He didn't need to fight back. He didn't want to. There was no point in staying around this life without his brother...
So he didn't fight back when hands reached out and pressed him into the snow. He just laid there on his stomach, resignedly feeling the blows and kicks as they reigned down on him...
"This is just too easy!" Wilson shouted.
"Hey!" Dean shouted as the truck hurriedly pulled up, and he was out and running toward them before it even stopped. "Get the hell away from him!" he pulled his shotgun out and fired, rocksalt hitting Wilson square in the chest.
"Holy shit!" one of the men yelled. "You shot him! You son of a bitch!"
"It's rock salt, asshat!" Dean told him. "But I got the real thing in my other one, and I'm just DYING to use it!"
"Please, mister! This wasn't part of our plan! Wilson...he's just still pissed about before-"
"I don't give a rat's ass what the hell any of you are! Get him and get the hell outta here before I put a bullet in every last one of you!"
They scrambled to drag Wilson up and get in their truck, Dean glaring them down as he knelt down beside his brother. The truck was speeding off before Sam picked his head up.
"Sammy?" Dean tried to help him to his back. But as soon as Sam met his eyes, Sam began to freak out.
"Who are you?" his voice squeaked as he scrambled away from Dean.
"The hell you mean 'who am I'?" Dean replied incredulously. "It's me!"
"You're not Dean," Sam's breaths were erratic, puffs of white clouds coming with each exhale. "Dean's gone. You're not my brother! He's gone!"
"What the hell is going on?" George said as he approached.
"Gotta be the fever," Dean replied. "Sammy, listen...You're sick, buddy, okay? I want you to think real hard about where you are right now and how you got here. We came here together, remember? I ain't gone. We went to fix the CAT, remember? Aunt Fay was watching you because you're too sick to be out here with us."
Sam looked confused and he shook his head. "You're not him. They try to trick me, but they can't fool me. You're not him. Dean's been gone since we killed the Leviathan...Dean's gone...Y-you're a...a shifter!"
Dean was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head as if to clear it. "Sammy...I was gone. But I'm not anymore. Remember? I got out. I got out with Benny and I came to find you," he said as he slowly approached him. "Don't you remember that? It's me, Sam, and I'd be more than happy to show you I ain't a shifter, but all the silver is in my bag, which happens to be inside, which is where I told you to stay until I got back."
"No," Sam shook his head, still breathing hard with panic. "Tell him to go get it," he told him, motioning to George with his head.
Dean let out a sigh. "Fine. We'll all freeze are asses out here while George goes to my bag to get the silver knife," he told him then looked to George, who nodded and hurried off inside. He turned back to Sam who still looked scared to hell, yet saddened as he looked at Dean unwaveringly. "Can't believe you think I'm a shifter," Dean said shaking his head with a slight, cautious smile. "Can't believe you don't remember getting here, although I suppose with the number of hits to the head, I shouldn't be all that surprised." Sam remained silent, swallowing as he listened to him speak. "We're on a hunt in Alaska, dude. How do you not remember this?"
"Dean would never agree to go to Alaska," Sam replied quietly.
"No such thing as never. 'cept maybe 'never again', which is definitely where on the list 'going to Alaska' is going after we get done with this damn hunt." Sam still didn't seem convinced. "People were dying, Sam. You made a convincing argument. I begrudgingly agreed. Is it really so hard to believe?"
"My brother taught me never to trust someone if your gut's telling you not to."
"Yeah, I did. I'm proud of you, Sam, but in this case, the longer we're out here, the sicker you're gonna end up. And don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not spending every two-hour reunion slicing an arm open to prove who I am."
"Here ya go," George said, out of breath as he returned with the knife.
"Watching?" Dean asked Sam as he shrugged an arm out of the thick coat and rolled up a sleeve. Then he sliced a gash with the silver blade and met Sam's eyes again. He watched Sam visibly sag with relief, before shrugging the coat back on. "Satisfied? Want me to eat some salt? Gonna say 'christo' and see if my eyes turn black? Any of tha-UMPH!" the air rushed out of him as Sam suddenly jumped onto him, winding arms and legs around him like an octopus, squeezing him and nearly sobbing as his fists grabbed handfuls of Dean's coat. "Whoa, there, little bro," Dean let out a surprised laugh and had no choice but to hug him back. "Let's uh...let's take this inside, okay?"
Thheeeee eeeennnndddd of this chapterrrr. Seriously though, guys...killin' me. LOL If it seemed rushed, that's because it kinda WAS. It's hard to squeeze all that into one chapter and get it done and up within 24 hours of Kaz's. xD
Prompts (which are put in a different order in which I got them, so if it seems organizes, that's because it is, now. Lol) :
Prompt: border patrol officer Gracie finds the boys while she is out in the field on an investigation. She is excited that she gets to help Sam with his injured leg. She also turns out to be really useful to the hunt.
Prompt: Would love to see them run into a bear, at some point, that somewhat interferes with what they're doing.
Prompt: With the lingering fever and illness from the trials, Sam has a truly hellish nightmare involving memories from the earlier part of the year Dean was missing in purgatory. He wakes up believing that his brother is still missing. Dean has to convince Sam that he's actually there despite Sam's suspicions that something evil may be impersonating his brother. Can be one scene or spaced out as the main plot progresses. Paranoid Sam and brotherly bonding
Prompt: I would love for Sam to come face to face with his biggest fear - clowns and this causes him to faint or hallucinate. Dean doesn't make fun of him but saves it up for later.
Prompt: Sam sees something out in the snow that absolutely terrifies him and Dean thinks Sam hallucinated it but tries to calm him down nontheless.
Prompt: The guys Sam and Dean beat up catch one of the boys alone and decide to get revenge.
Prompt: Sam finds the guys from the bar they beat up with a caged wolf. He frees it but the guys capture Sam. Lots of hurt Sam with caring protective Dean and maybe George and aunt fay to help heal him and care for him.
Prompt: They have no choice but to take the dog with them and the dog becomes very protective of Sam and also enamored with Dean. Very smart dog. (If you've read the Dresden Files... a temple dog like mouse (and in the ends finds a home with someone nice) *i have no idea wtf you are talking about. hope whatever i end up using works. LOL*
Prompt: have Missy come back and sympathize with Sam as also being "left behind"- perhaps tries to convince him that he's been abandoned like she thinks she was. Maybe Dean coming back for Sam has a sort of cathartic effect on her and she's able to move on naturally?
Prompt: Missy somehow reminding him of Jess?
Prompt: After Missy has left, they try to get to the snow cat, but when they get to it, they realize that it's not working, and it can't be used. They are wondering what will they do now, when someone comes along that has a dog sled team and helps them.
