Thank you to those who reviewed. Sorry about the lack of updates, things have been a bit strange here at home. Hopefully things are back on track now and the updates will be a bit more regular. Thanks again for your loyalty when it comes to reading my rambles. Thanks to all who have added me to their story alerts, to their favourite author list (that just makes me smile) and of course those kind souls who have taken the time to review and of course PM little old me. Can't say thanks enough to all of you.
Well here's chapter Seven-We all Fall Down. Hopefully you can remember what happened at the end of chapter six.
Huge hugs to the gorgeous Carol xxx
Chapter Seven- We All Fall Down
Sam was exhausted and judging from the look radiating on Dean's moonlit face, his elder brother was close to hell himself.
The younger Winchester could hear his blood rushing around his body, the noise filling up his ears, and making his eyes swim, his vision annoying him, his head feeling incredibly light.
Through the fogginess as he leaned heavily against the decking rails in the dark, he heard Dean speak.
"We can fix this," Dean said simply, his voice plain and determined as he got out of his chair and turned to look at Sam, " I don't care how long it takes, if it takes the rest of our friggin lives Sam; but we can fix this. We have to."
Dean studied Sam's turned back, his slumped body against the railings. Sam looked and resembled a child more than ever at the moment and it scared Dean more than he cared to admit to.
"I'm not losing you Sam," Dean finally stated, "And if we want this bad enough, then it'll work; it's not like we're gonna let some stinking demon get the better of us, now are we?"
Still silence.
"Sammy?"
Finally Sam turned and looked at him.
"No harm in trying," Sam admitted with a sigh, "You're right about the demon; we shouldn't let it get the better of us…I shouldn't let it get the better of me!"
"Good!" Dean said with a defiant nod, trying to keep it covered that inside he was doing back flips. "So how about we do something, anything and change this topic of conversation. God knows I have had enough chick flick girly moments in the last few weeks to last me my entire life!"
A broad smile spread across Sam's face as he watched Dean head towards the door.
Rolling his eyes, Sam also got to his feet…his intent to follow Dean indoors, but instead the younger Winchester found himself crashing back heavily onto the sun lounge he'd been sitting on. Dean paused at the doorway and looked at Sam.
"Whoa…" Sam said sitting still on the sun lounge, a dry chuckle escaping his mouth, "Must have gotten up too fast."
Dean came and knelt in front of him.
"Sure. Look, I'm beginning to sound like you, an over-protective mother hen, but it has to be said Sam, you got to eat. You're gonna pass out, so just humour me, or just humour your stomach and eat something will you?" Dean said in a no nonsense tone, "I'll even make you something to eat right in front your face so you know I'm not trying to kill you," Dean teased as he held his hand out to haul Sam up.
Sam's bleary eyes locked with Dean's.
"That's not even partly funny," Sam muttered, "Not funny at all!"
"Oh come on Sammy, it was a little funny," Dean said as he watched Sam slowly drag his long frame into a standing position. "You look like a mis-shaped raggy doll."
"I hate you," Sam muttered as he lugged the door open and headed back into the freezing apartment, his eyes blinking as they adjusted to the new light.
"Ah, I know you do," Dean said as he wondered back into the apartment and promptly wrapped his arms around his body, "I hate that air conditioner!"
"Isn't there a way we can just switch it off completely, like a main plug or something?" Sam mumbled as he flopped down on the couch. "I'd rather be sweating to death than die from hypothermia."
Dean eyed the take out boxes that were still on the table, and in the end nodded in agreement. "Well considering our dinner actually needs defrosting now, I'm not going to sleep until I fix this freakin' machine."
Sam nodded and closed his eyes as he snuggled on the couch.
Dean stood quietly in the room, an awkward feeling rushing over him.
"You want me to make you some toast or something, or try and heat up some of this food?" Dean asked quietly.
"Nah, you go for it," Sam said quietly. "I just feel like crashing for now."
Dean's heart sank.
So much for them facing up to their problems.
Sam's eyes flickered open a few hours later and he was surprised to see Dean sitting on the floor a few feet away, his head down, staring at several books spread around him.
Slowly, Sam sat up, the noise attracting Dean's attention as the elder brother turned around to see his younger brother.
"Nice of you to join me," Dean said with a wicked grin. "You know research is always your thing."
"What's the matter, don't know how to look for anything online other than porn?" Sam quipped as he massaged the back of his neck with his hand.
"You're a natural comedian, you craggy doll look a like," Dean said sarcastically, as he turned back to one of his many books.
"Oh bite me," Sam muttered as he staggered unsteadily to his feet.
"I'd probably hit bone," Dean retorted which earned him a filthy dirty look from Sam.
Dean finally gave in with the teasing and his face softened as he watched Sam shuffle into the kitchen. Shortly, he heard his brother chuckle, and climbing to his feet, Dean followed Sam into the kitchen.
"What's so funny?" Dean asked as he rounded the open planned kitchen and leaned against the doorframe.
"Our breakfast is still on the counter," Sam said with a smile. "I'm gonna try and heat some of this stuff up…you want anything?"
"Nah, I got Chinese food coming out of every hole," Dean tenderly patted his stomach. "I tell you what I could do with, though..."
Sam's eyes rose to meet him from the brown paper bags he was rifling through. He noticed that Dean's usual smirk had vanished and he had a serious look on his usually humorous face.
Sam groaned out loud.
"I'm sorry that I chucked holy water at you," Sam finally said in a small voice. "I don't know what came over me."
"You see, that's what I want to talk about," Dean said in a stubborn tone. "And before you tell me to drop this, I'm not going to. Something had to set you off Sam. I know you dude, you just don't usually toss freakin' holy water over your brother. So tell me why you did it."
Sam stood on the spot and considered what Dean had said. He finally went back to hunting in his bags and returned with containers with bacon, sausages and eggs.
"Sam!" Dean snapped as he marched over to him and pulled the containers from his hands. Sam stood helplessly watching Dean abduct his food from him.
"What? Dean, what do you want me to say?" Sam said in a tired tone, as he ran a hand through his brown hair. "You wouldn't believe me anyway."
Dean's hurried motions of dumping the contents onto a plate and shoving it in the microwave was halted momentarily as he turned and looked at Sam.
"Why don't you let me be the judge of that, eh Sam?" Dean said in a plain tone. "Look, with Wallis dead, and that freaky red-eyed spirit thing coming after us, and now this whole fiasco between us; it's not a coincidence Sam."
"Ok." Sam said with a slow nod as he listened to the ping of the microwave and watched as Dean removed the plate from the contraption and returned to the living room. Sam followed the smell of the now hot food and flopped down on the sofa where Dean handed him the plate with a fork.
"So start," Dean said resuming his seat on the floor amongst the books.
Sam took an unsteady breath and looked down at Dean.
"I used to hear this voice, this awful, awful voice in my head that somehow..." Sam said in a pained voice as Dean found himself intently listening,
"That somehow, what?" Dean gently prodded.
"That, that somehow knew all these thoughts I had, these feelings," Sam said quietly, his eyes dropping to his plate now. "After the crash, with dad gone, I just couldn't help the way I was feeling."
"What were you feeling?" Dean said slowly as he dragged himself over on the floor. The excitement in his tone, however, could not be hidden. "Sam, be honest."
"Guilty," Sam whispered. "I just felt so guilty for not killing the demon…for everything that had happened," Sam admitted as he finally looked up at Dean. "But I only had these feelings when you were drugging me. That voice that seemed to come to life in my head, but Dean, it was different. When those drugs were in my system, I could barely function. I just felt like hell, but that voice, it was there saying horrible things."
"I know what you mean," Dean admitted. "It was always messing with my head, saying really weird things. It just seemed to know what buttons to push."
"But Dean, when I found out what you were doing, with the pills in my food and stuff, I just stopped taking it; and the voice and everything vanished. It was like this weight had vanished and I was finally seeing clearly again." Sam explained quickly. "Things were going ok, and now..."
Dean took a deep breath, "And now things suck?"
Sam laughed at his older brother's rapid summary of the situation the Winchester's found themselves rooted in.
"That's a pretty accurate summary to our lives," Sam said as he finally popped a piece of bacon in his mouth. The younger Winchester could feel Dean's eyes examining his every move.
"Sam, while I get what you just told me, I don't get how that has to tie in with holy water and giving me a shower with it," Dean asked stubbornly.
"When you were out with that girl," Sam finally said with a sigh, "I heard it again."
"Heard what again?" Dean asked, confused as realisation begun to filter through. "Wait, you heard the voice again?"
"Yup, it was back and it was almost the same, but somehow different…" Sam said confusion rife on his face. "Which is why I thought that red-eyed spook was back somehow."
"No, no way!" Dean said, getting to his feet and commencing to pace. "That bastard is dead, I've never seen a spirit go out like that before, but that thing is dead!"
"Are you sure, I mean Dean are you like sure sure?" Sam asked, a curious look crossing his face. "Cause I know what I heard, and it was exactly the same way the red-eyed spirit was talking to me."
Dean stood in the middle of the room, his hands on his hips as he mulled over the new information.
"Guess it explains why you doused me then," Dean said with a shrug. "You thought it was back?"
"I don't think it's back Dean, I know it is," Sam said hurriedly placing his uneaten food on the couch beside him and picking up his laptop from the floor. "I just assumed it was the same one."
"And now you're thinking?" Dean said, walking around behind the sofa and peering at the computer screen over his brother's shoulder. "What, you're thinking it found a way back from the hell fire it died in, cause dude, if it has; that's one freaking neat trick!"
Sam shook his head, "No I think you're right, that one is dead."
"One?" Dean blurted out. "Holy shit, you think there are more of these things, spirits, whatever the hell they are?"
"It has to be," Sam said in a grave tone. "You said yourself that the red-eyed one made you feel guilty; well it made me feel the same way. Maybe that's what it gets its kicks out of, tapping into other peoples guilt."
Dean sat down amongst the books again, his eyes carefully acknowledging that Sam had rejected his food in favour of researching.
At least he'd eaten a slice of bacon…Dean would take what he could get.
"Ok, so we're looking now for more than one, and possibly a feeder?" Dean said with a roll of his eyes. "This just sucks!"
"Don't forget the eyes," Sam said his own hazel eyes never leaving the screen. "Those glowing eyes can't just be there for decoration."
Dean sighed a little louder than he'd expected and it caused Sam to look up.
"You ok?" Sam asked in a concerned voice, as his eyes darted back to the computer.
"No, Sam, no I am not ok," Dean said frustration clear in his voice, " Man, why can't we just catch a break?"
Sam nodded quietly; he could understand Dean's anger.
"All we ever do is hunt and the one time we're not hunting, something is hunting us?" Dean said shaking his head. "I'm just sick of always having to do this; why can't this be someone else's problem?"
Sam hoped that outwardly he wasn't radiating how shocked he was with the outburst. Hunting was his elder brother's world and to hear Dean verbally admit that he was sick of always doing this surprised Sam.
"We'll just find this one and we'll kill it and…" Sam said trying to compose his sentences carefully.
"And what Sam?" Dean said in a exhausted tone. "Suck in another breath and wait until the yellow-eyed demon comes after us, or something weird happens in another town and we go check it out?"
"It'll be ok," Sam said in a small tone. "We've come this far Dean, and we've been through hell the last couple months. I promise you things will be ok."
Dean looked at Sam, and for a moment, their eyes locked, neither of them saying anything.
"I just want my family back…I don't want to feel like every time we walk out the door, I may not see any of you again," Dean said with sadness tainting his voice. "Why can't we just find a house, find a nice town and just sit still for a few months?"
"Cause that's not what Winchesters do," Sam said with a broad smile. "Besides you'd be bored senseless within a day." Sam teased.
"Probably," Dean admitted, with a grin, "But I'd still like the option."
Sam felt the sadness that seemed to radiate off Dean. The words he spoke next surprised them both.
"You won't lose me Dean," Sam said as Dean suddenly looked up at him. "I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."
Dean smiled and then lowered his eyes back to the book, "You shouldn't have said that Sammy."
Sam looked at him confused, "Why not?"
"You've never heard the term, 'famous last words'?" Dean asked quietly, and with that he kept his head down and continued staring at the page in front of him.
Sam stared at the top of Dean's head.
God he hoped his big brother was wrong...
"Getting anywhere?" Dean asked as he looked up from the book he had been staring at for god knows how long. His brain had taken a reprieve from reading and had found staring at the old pages much more relaxing.
It was Sam's sudden movement on the couch that had broken his lull.
"Sammy?" Dean called again as he began to place the book onto the floor and get to his knees to see what had Sam so agitated.
Sam shoved the laptop at Dean, and it took a heck of a lot of balance from the elder brother not to topple onto his back with the computer in his arms.
"Dude?!" Dean snapped in surprise as he pulled himself onto the couch to watch Sam fly off it in panic. "What the hell has gotten into you?"
"Read it," Sam whispered as his eyes locked with Dean's dubious hazel green eyes. Making a face, Dean finally turned his attention to the laptop.
Sam Winchester listened to his heartbeat hammering a death song into his head.
He watched as every speck of colour on Dean's face drained away.
He watched as Dean turned and looked at Sam in absolute horror.
"There, there…" Dean stammered as he placed the laptop on the couch and reached for one of the numerous books strewn on the floor. "There, has to be some mistake."
Sam simply shook his head.
"Dean it fits, every detail fits," Sam stammered out. "Dean?"
Dean's hand hovered over one of the text books and then dropped to his side. He finally looked up at Sam.
"We're screwed," Dean finally admitted. "Oh hell, man, we're totally screwed."
Poor boys. Now they think they're screwed. Maybe they are...or maybe they just think they are. Thanks for reading and see you soon for an update. xxx