Summary & Disclaimer : See previous chapters.

Spoiler: Heartache 8x03 - Season 8.

Beta: No one re-edited this chapter but me, so forgive me for any mistakes. :)


-Breakable-

Chapter 8

"The town was paper, but the memories were not." ~John Green

"Sam, this is Walter. I reckon you called me last night, asking if the Mayan folks used anything poison-related to finish off their victims," Sam flinched at the man's choice of the word "finish off" but was content that he at least was straight to the point.

He felt a slight glimmer of hope that maybe the hunter knew something, otherwise he wouldn't have summarized their last night's short chat, but he didn't dare to let himself hope too much. Not before he heard what the man had to say, and surely not before he saw Dean getting better with his own eyes.

"Yeah," Sam talked into the phone, voice rough from shouting and crying, and bit his bottom lip as he waited for the hunter to elaborate.

"Well, I guess I know something that may be able to help your brother."

Even though he tried, Sam couldn't help but cling to the thin sparkle of hope that wanted so badly to break through the cracks of his hopelessness. "What?!" He blurted out before he took a deep breath and a little calmly added, "I mean, what is it?"

The man on the other end of the line paused for a moment, seemingly rethinking the idea of helping the brothers. As Sam sensed the hunter's hesitation, he fought the urge to demand an answer from him not so politely and waited. He heard the man sigh before he finally spoke again. "It isn't exactly it, it's who." He paused again, letting his words sink in, then explained. "A witch."

Blinking, Sam wondered what could possibly make a hunter have a link with a witch. In his experience, witches were on the list of the monsters which wanted him and his brother nothing but dead, as well as the rest of the hunters species, let alone help them. They had used the help of one of Bobby's friends, Pamela, but she didn't exactly fall under the category of witches. She was a psychic, she wasn't the type to sell her soul and become some black-eyed's bitch. The woman was really something. It still hurt that she had to be another name on the lost-ones-during-the-wincher's-quest list, which was fairly long.

"Okay?" He asked somewhat hesitantly, goading Walter to go on.

"Look, Dean had saved my bacon once back in the day, and I owe him one." Sam nodded though the hunter couldn't see him, finally knowing the reason why Dean had given him this man's number among many others, tagging with "You don't know when it's time to collect favors, Sammy!"

"Even though nobody was able to get his hands on you two the whole past year, I ain't gonna stick my nose into your business. We all got our few stories that we'd rather not to share, eh, Sam?" And Sam wasn't dumb. He got the hint, alright, and he wished the man was in front of him so he could strangle him for testing his patience.

"You got it, Curt. No one will know about your little secret affair with your lovely witch." He bit back, a smile taking over his features at the scowl he knew was most likely plastered on the hunter's face right now. Man, why hunters always had to be dicks? He guessed it was probably a natural part of their swagger. "Now, are you ready for some serious talk?"

"Dean wasn't wrong about you being the smart one in the family," The hunter declared in amusement, and despite his leaking patience, Sam couldn't help but wonder what else his brother might have said about him to that hunter. "Alright, down to business. She owes me a favor and I think it's about time she returns it. Give me the address of where she can find you boys and…"

"We can go to her," Sam interrupted. He wasn't so keen on the idea of receiving a home visit from a witch. As a matter of fact, the whole idea wasn't setting in right with him. Since when did witches help people? He had to admit that Don did save his and Dean's lives twice, though, back in Indiana. But it was one in a million occasion through the many cases they had that involved witches, against all the bloody patterns they usually left behind. It didn't mean that they would find another good-hearted one at every turn. At least not with their luck. Yet he hoped he was damn wrong, and maybe luck would be on his side this time. It had to be.

"Nah, I don't think so. She's not the… homey, fuzzy type; she doesn't welcome visitors. Well, not usually anyway. She prefers to lay low. It's for the best this way, you know."

"Huh," The young man couldn't help but smirk. Apparently the hunter had a strong relationship with the woman after all. Purposefully ignoring Sam's polite remark, Walter continued, "I'll send her to you boys and hopefully she'll be able to help Dean."

The youngest Winchester's stomach dropped at the hunter's last words, reminding him of the seriousness of the situation. He turned his head reflexively towards his brother, who was still shaking but not calling for him anymore and had his eyes closed. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he replayed, "Right. Ok,"

"By the way, she's not that nice… let's say the woman can be a bitch sometimes. So, careful," The man half-heartedly warned before he received a murmur of something like 'Typical' from Sam. "Now, give me your address…"

xxxx

An hour later Sam was sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting on nails for their visitor to show up as he watched Dean who was finally and blissfully asleep. After he had ended his call with Walter, he stood in the middle of the room, staring at the haggard form of his brother, lost in thoughts. It was starting to weigh on him. The responsibility of the mission of saving his brother and being the one to make the calls, order the shots, without anybody to give him directions or assure him that he was doing the right thing or even warn him to stop the hell right now. Through it all, a part of him still hoped it was just a dream, and he would snap out of it and find everything as it should be and his brother healthily digging another hunt and a pain in the ass as ever.

The gravity of the situation was all but pulling him down, making him aching to lie on the floor, might as well curl into a tight ball, and forget about the world—run away. Yeah, like you did the last time. He thought bitterly as the night when he had lost Dean a year ago at the filthy lab was repeating itself all over again. It was almost the same, except that his big brother, and the only family he had got left, was with him in the same room and taking what terrifyingly looked like his last breaths.

There was no room for being a coward, Sam knew. He knew also that he had to step up to the responsibility and take it upon himself to make sure Dean got better and finish what he had started the last night. He had to not let his brother down this time.

Mentally shaking off his hesitation and trying to regain his confidence and believe that he was able to help Dean, Sam moved, fully intending to do whatever it took to shoulder that responsibility and be the big brother for as long as he had to. Though, he prayed silently it wouldn't be too long. As much as he had always tried to make his family back off and prove to himself and to them that he didn't need the full time protection or for anybody to take care of him, that he was capable enough to watch out for himself, he had never coped well without Dean by his side. He had never been completely able to heave the burden of leading the ship alone up his shoulders or fill his brother's place, not that anybody could. It still haven't stopped him from trying, nonetheless.

Every time him and Dean had to separate there was always that gaping hole that lurked within his soul, a void that he could never fill. Maybe he could keep on living, go through the motions of the basic, daily rituals or even take the self-destruction path to distract him from the ever-present emptiness, but he could never get over losing Dean or not being around him—his brother, friend, protective, mother and father.

Even though it was one of the hardest things they both had to do during their whole life, they did separate a lot. Whether because one of them died, or Sam leaving for Stanford, or sneaking out from the motel room he shared with his brother a few times, and once to seek out answers and explanations for what his dad had asked Dean to do if he couldn't save him from the dark road he was heading to. They didn't even have to be physically separated to be apart from each other; there was these times Sam hadn't bothered to count, when he secretly met with Ruby to do some practice, which were mostly a mental and spiritual separation, the ones that really had left a wide crack in the trust Dean had in him.

Carrying on his musing, Sam's mind drifted to the time when each one of them went on his own—and even almost lost each other for good—for cautious reasons when Sam was being too much distraction for Dean, because he couldn't afford spending more time worrying about his little brother than doing the job right, Dean had said. And even though Sam was the one to suggest the idea to split up, it still stung that Dean was so welling to let him go just like that. He had expected a fight, a couple of swears, followed by a punch at least, but they never came.

It was only a total agreement that Sam had received from Dean then, and he pretended that it hadn't just sliced him up before he got up and walked away, because whom was he kidding? He wasn't one to get all hurt and pouty when he was the professional at leaving everything behind, including his brother. Well, some things don't change apparently. Sam shook his head to stop the flow of emotions that swept over him and the stream of memories through his exhausted mind. He couldn't afford this now.

Sam finally sprang into action, picking up the first-aid kit and rummaged through it for what he knew was stocked there as a little insurance for the few times when one of them couldn't take the pain anymore. He knew that was where Dean was at the moment. Retrieving the small bottle of morphine and a set of syringes, Sam took one of them, filling it with a good dose of the clear liquid and went to Dean's side.

"Hey, Dean," The youngest Winchester began, knowing he wouldn't get an answer from the dazed man on the bed but doing it anyway. "I know you hate these stuff, man, but I can't stand watching you in so much pain anymore. You know I have to do something as long as I can." You wouldn't hesitate to do it if the tables were turned. The last thought rang inside his head as he gently pried Dean's right arm from where he had secured it around his chest to unconsciously ease the pain the broken rib was causing.

Sam knew his brother hated the feeling of fuzziness and floatiness that heavy drugs were always accompanied with. He knew also the main reason why his brother did; the drugs weren't usually to wear off easily for Dean, and the longer he was succumbed to their power, the more vulnerable he was and the longer he couldn't protect himself, or his little brother. Dean wasn't doing much good right now, though, and it didn't matter that he had a sedative running through his system as long as it relieved the pain. He wasn't in a shape to be able to defend himself either ways.

Softly inserting the needle into the skin of the crook of his brother's arm, Sam injected the medicine and sighed deeply before he withdrew the syringe. He looked up to find Dean's pain-glazed eyes staring back at him, recognition gleaming into them. Still resting his hand on Dean's forearm, Sam stretched his arm and put his other hand on his brother's shoulder, squeezing gently.

"Get some rest, Dean. It's gonna be okay." Sam said with conviction he didn't really have, watching Dean's eyes blink heavily at him. A low, "I promise," escaped his lips before he could stop himself as Dean's eyes fully closed.

-To be continued ..


A/N: I get that the chapter was short, but you realize that it's kinda a bridge chapter to reach to the "comfort" part of the story. Doesn't mean there won't be some "hurt and angst" in the middle too, right? *wink* I could have continued and we'd have a longer chapter instead of this one but it'd have taken me more time to get it done, and I wanted to give you guys something before season 9 premier :) Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner this time since it's already in progress.

I hope you liked the chapter, and please review and tell me what you think :)

Thanks for reading!

Aya x