Again, I am a bit late with the update. This chapter is the setting for the big action chappy that is up ahead. Only 1 more chapter to go (if you have read this chapter before, I know I had written 2 more chapters but I decided to put them both together as 1).
Dean had tried his best to keep himself from turning into a crazy case. He was probably one of the most impatient men on Earth, nearing the top spot with his dad. He sat next to his brother's bed, thinking about solutions to get Sammy up on his feet again. After speaking to Doctor Lang, he hadn't heard much new development on his brother's state. Dean could not wait for Bobby to finally get to the hospital so that they could start to look for possible faith healer or a hoodoo witch.
Time was almost standing still and once again Dean had lost complete faith on looking at the clock inside the room. As much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, Dean had been praying a lot more in the past hours than he had ever done in his entire life. After all, Sam was the brains in the family; Sam would have already found a way, either good or bad, to have him woken up and on his feet. Why couldn't he?
He looked down at the book in his hands, remembering the day Sam had lost it in the hotel room. God he had turned the place upside down to find that freaking thing. He also remembered how sad Sam had been when their dad had arrived and had ordered them to get in the car as they were leaving town to go on another business. Dean had never understood why Sam had been attached to that book for those few days, but somehow, as he opened the book to the first page, he suddenly felt closer to Sam.
"What are the odds finding this book here huh?" Dean said as he flipped through the pages. Dean remembered the story, about the house, the animals, and how everyone in the family was living happily together.
Dean fought tears when he heard the door suddenly opening, revealing Agnes with her hourly checkup. The air in the room suddenly felt tense as Agnes walked to the bed, clenching her teeth together.
Agnes did her routine checkup, writing random scribble on her notepad. Her eyes didn't meet Dean. "You know Mister Turner, you might have won the hearts of every worker on this floor, but you still have yet to impress me."
Dean was a little surprised that the old woman had talked to him. Usually their meetings would be filled with staring, glaring and a lot of sighs, but Dean guessed that her game plan had changed.
"Well, what can I say? I was born with this bad ass loving attitude of mine." Dean smirked back at her as she finally brought her eyes up to look at him.
Agnes narrowed her eyes, closing her notebook. "Boys like you are trouble, and mark my words I have an eye on you."
She began her way to the door but Dean wasn't done yet. "Aw, I knew I had you too." Agnes stopped in her track, turned around to look at him one more time. He was smiling back at her, knowing that he had somehow won this round.
It was only when Agnes was on the other side of the closed door that the smiling Dean became the sad and worried Dean again.
xXx
When Sam woke up he had found himself in his big comfy bed. He was still not used to having a real bed, and he wasn't used to having great nights of sleep either. Sam sat up, wondering how he had gotten to bed. He tried to remember what had happened the night before; he thought he and Melissa had a talk about something, but for some reason Sam could not quite figure out what it had been about.
He stayed in his bed a little longer, staring at the white ceiling. For some reason his head felt refreshed, worry-less. He was smiling for no reason and he loved it.
"Morning, honey." He heard moments later. He looked up at the end of the bed to find Melissa walking inside their bedroom.
"Hey," was the only word Sam could say. He still wondered why, somehow, his memory had been played with.
Melissa frowned at him. "You alright, Sam?"
Sam sat up on the bed. He got a hand in his hair, pushing away his bangs from his eyes. "I- I think so."
"Good." Melissa headed to the closet and began to change from her night gown to a pair of light blue denim and white tee. "I need you to run some errands at the store."
"Errands?"
Melissa had already turned herself to face the mirror, putting her hair up in a messy ponytail. "Yes, Sam. I have the list in the kitchen for things we need for your brother's barbecue. He's going to be busy with his family all day and I told Emily we would be helping out."
Dean, busy with his family? Sam remembered the lovely blond woman at the talent show, carrying with her a little boy. Emily and Jonathan…
"Sam?"
Sam felt lost in his thoughts. He looked up at the woman who walked up to the bed and sat next to him. They both stared in each other's eyes for a moment before she placed a hand on his cheek and smiled. "Are you sure you are okay?"
"Did-" Sam began, wondering if he should be asking his question or not. "Did we have a talk last night? About me not supposed to be here?"
Melissa brought her hand down, frowning at Sam. "Of course not, Sam. Come on now, Anna is waiting for you downstairs."
She smiled at him and got up from the bed, leaving to head downstairs.
It took Sam a while to finally get out of his bed and trying to figure out where his clothes were. When he finally managed to get himself a blue checkered button shirt and dark denims he headed downstairs where he was welcomed by a little girl – his little girl – who ran towards him as he entered the kitchen. He kneeled down and got her as she jumped in his arms.
"Good morning, Anna." Sam could not help himself but to smile as he looked at the beautiful kid in his arms.
"Morning, Daddy!" Anna answered back, smiling as much as he was. She had her hair down this morning with a white ribbon, wearing a beautiful light blue dress with white flowers on it. She would look beautiful in anything, and Sam knew deep down that one day she would be breaking a lot of hearts with her beauty.
Sam got Anna back down as Cas entered the kitchen, dressed up with casual jeans and shirt. He got down to his knees, hugging Anna good morning before getting up again and heading to the coffee machine.
"So I heard that Melissa is putting you on errand duty? You mind if I come along?" Cas asked as he offered Sam a cup.
The tall man gladly accepted the cup, enjoying the coffee waking up his senses. He looked down to find Anna pulling on one of his leg with puppy, pleading eyes.
"Can he, dad?"
"Of course he can." Sam smiled as Anna began dancing around in the kitchen.
After breakfast the three of them finally got in the old car and left to the store. Sam had seen a market on his way to the school the night before and he was glad that his memory was good enough to remember that much. Anna sat in the back, playing with Teddy and pretending he was flying a plane when Cas began the conversation.
"You know, I never got to thank you."
Sam turned his head to look at the man sitting in the passenger seat. "Thank me for what?"
There was a short silence. "We've had our differences before Sam, but now I am happy that I've come to know your family better."
Sam could not help himself but to frown, wondering what the riddle meant. He knew that the case was already close when Cas turned his head to look out his window.
They had gotten everything on Melissa's list in no time, surprising Sam. Cas had excused himself for a short amount of time, getting various items he had down on his own list. When Anna had asked him what he was planning to do Cas only replied with a smile and went on to the next aisle.
While Dean was already taking care of the meat, Sam was meant to get other random items, like vegetables to make a garden salad, potato chips and the drinks. Anna walked next to her father, looking all around her with amazement.
"Daddy, can we get strawberries?" she asked her father as they walked in front of the big juicy strawberries table.
Sam gave her a nod and she got to the table, picking a basket herself as Cas met with them, his basket full.
"We got everything we need?" Sam looked at Anna who suddenly checked the cart to make sure they were not missing anything. She shook her head and the three of them set off to the cash. Anna led the way with Cas; Sam happy as he felt as lost in the store as he had felt in his house the day before. As soon as everything was set the trio left the store and headed home, knowing that they would have dozens of other chores waiting for them at home.
xXx
The hunt at the morgue had been pointless for Devon who began to feel weaker than ever. He had left the room with his second set of teeth out, ready to get his hands on the first prey he would get as he walked towards the smell of the men he had come to get his revenge from. Devon scattered the surroundings before making any move, smelling the air of the hallways to see if anyone was coming his way. The mess he had left in the morgue would certainly not stay unnoticed for long and he knew that he would have to act fast.
Suddenly a door closed down the hall and Devon heard footsteps and a healthy heartbeat coming down his way. Fangs already down and his instincts ready Devon braced himself around the corner so that the person – a female in her mid 20s – would not see him until the right moment. The heartbeat felt closer and stronger and the vampire wondered if he would be able to wait until the right moment would come.
He let out a soft snarl that made the heartbeat jumped and picked up a quicker pace. Devon could not hold his cannibalistic instincts anymore and jumped out in the open to show himself to the small blond nurse who stood still in the middle of the hallway. She trembled with fear as he showed her his vampire teeth and before she could even turn around to run towards the door it was too late for her.
Devon had finally gotten his strength back and as he walked towards the door, leaving the bloody remains on the white floor, he knew that he would finally get his revenge soon.
xXx
The ride home had been a rather quiet one, Anna asking Cas what he had planned on to do with what he had gotten at the store but the man would not tell, promising her that it would be worth the wait.
Once inside the house Sam had found Bobby, Ellen and Melissa sitting down and enjoying yet another cup of coffee and laughing. Sam stared at Melissa's smile, still getting amazed by it over again. Somehow it kept finding a way to make him smile and he felt great about it.
"You guys took long 'nough. Sure you got everythin'?" asked Bobby after a sip of his coffee mug.
Anna ran to him as he opened his arms to grab her and have her sit on his lap. Anna gave her grandfather a giggle and replied. "Of course we did! Uncle Cas got some stuff too but he won't tell why!"
As his name was said Cas entered the kitchen with his groceries bag and looked around to find that everybody was staring at him. "What?" Everyone began to laugh at the confused guy while Sam just enjoyed the moment for himself, selfishly thinking that he somehow deserved this moment of happiness.
The afternoon had come and gone faster than Sam could ask for. Everyone played their part into the preparations for their big family evening; the women, including Dean's Emily and Cas had spend their time in the kitchen, marinating the meat and getting all the food ready for the grill while all men were outside getting the table and chairs and the grill ready. It was a beautiful summer day, the sky was a clear blue and the summer breeze just made everything even more heaven-like. Nothing was the same for Sam since Dean had arrived; he being there just gave Sam even more to be happy about.
Slowly everyone finally gathered outside and the chattering became louder and full of laughs until the meat on the grill sizzled and the smell made everyone drool. Everything was perfect.
"So Dean, how's work?" Bobby asked as he opened his third beer.
Dean stood proudly in front of the grill and smirked before taking a swig from his bottle. "It's kind of slow at the garage, I guess people don't trust good old garages anymore; they would rather go out to the fancy dealerships and stuff. But hey, I ain't complanin'! I got my weekend off to go deer hunting and that's all I asked!"
Deer hunting? Somehow, these two words didn't make sense to Sam as he listened to his brother's story. Somehow, it wasn't as though Dean actually did deer hunt…
The meat finally ready everyone began to dig in and Sam could not help himself but to look at everyone once more. While Melissa was getting Anna's plate ready, Bobby and Ellen were arguing over random stuff. Sam's eyes finally ended on Dean and his little family. Emily had put little Jonathan in a booster seat between her and Dean and while they made sure their son had enough to eat in his plate, Sam noticed that Dean's fatherly instincts were just like how Dean had been for him when he was a kid. This was exactly what Sam had always wanted for his brother; to let him have a little family and to be the happiest man on earth. Somehow Sam needed to be grateful that his wish had finally come true.
He looked over at Melissa who sat at his right, a piece of meat in his mouth. "Where's Cas?"
Just as the question was asked the man arrived outside with what he had been hiding to everyone all day: Cas had baked an angel food cake.
"Oooh! My favorite!" Anna said jumping around as Cas placed the cake on the table in front of her. Cas sat next to her and got a kiss on the cheek and a big hug before he was allowed to dig in and get a taste of Dean's winnings.
xXx
Devon had wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve and had found his way to the fourth floor of the hospital through the emergency stairs. He did not want to meet someone along the way, his instincts still high on thirst. Now that he had drank enough blood to keep him going for a little while his eyes were set on first prize, though he would not let his guard down if he would need to attack.
The floor was busy, and he could hear everyone's heartbeat: doctors, nurses, patients and visitors. Devon tried to focus on either one of the two men until he finally got both of them in the same room.
As he approached the room Devon kept looking straight in front of him, not giving a care about who was looking at him. His eyes were filling with blood, lusting for that sweet taste of revenge he's been craving for more than a day now. He smelled the Winchesters' blood right around the corner and his vampire teeth showed themselves automatically. This was it; he was there! Just a few feet away were the men who had murdered his family, and now he would gladly be the one to put an end to their lives.
"Mister, you are not allowed in that room," said a woman's voice behind him. He turned around to see who was speaking to him; an old nurse whose nametag read 'Agnes'. In front of her was a wheelchair with a girl, who looked sick, sitting in it.
Devon did not reply to the nurse and turned around again to face the door, his right hand now on the door handle.
"Sir!" Agnes said, angry as she got to Devon and grabbed his arm. When he turned around she finally saw what he was and tried to scream but was pushed to the end of the hallway in one swing only. Everyone near the scene began to run away, fearing for their lives, while Agnes lied unconscious on the floor, having hit her head pretty rough against the wall.
On the other side of the door, Dean heard Agnes screaming and for the first time in hours, got up from his chair and gave Sam one last look before opening the door. People were running around like headless chickens and Dean had to wait until everyone had fled before he actually saw what was going on.
"You son of a bitch," Dean mouthed as he saw the vampire from the farm holding Kirsteen in his hands, his vampire teeth not even an inch from her neck.
"Let her go!"
Devon chuckled. "You really think I'm gonna take orders from you, you pathetic human!"
Dean looked down at Kirsteen who was weak from her operation. Tears were running down her small cheeks and Dean felt guilty, knowing that the bastard was here for him and Sam.
"You are not gonna kill an innocent little girl are you?"
"I've been craving for blood for over a day," Devon snarled. "And all I got was a blonde nurse. Adding a little girl would be perfect for dessert. That is, unless you and your Sasquatch of a brother surrender yourself."
Dean smirked, trying to think of a way to distract his opponent. "Sorry, but I don't wanna be anyone's kids meal today, thanks."
In a flash of a second Dean found himself being pushed to the floor and felt his arms getting pinned down. Devon kneeled over Dean and stared down at him, ready to descent himself. He tried to see where Kirsteen had gone to and saw that she was getting help from one of the nurses to hide inside the room next to Sammy's. After he knew she would be okay if she would stay away he shut his eyes closed, not wanting to see his second death but suddenly he heard a hit and felt the vampire letting go of his arms.
"What the-?" Dean asked as he opened his eyes and looked over his head to find Doctor Lang standing there.
"Come on, we do not have much time," the doctor told him. She grabbed his hands and helped him up before she tried to pull him towards the exit.
"What about Sam?!" There was no way in hell he that he would leave his brother alone anymore, and somehow she read the worry in his eyes.
Doctor Lang sighed. "He will not be down for long. We need a way to kill him before he wakes up."
"Here," Dean said throwing her his car key. "Get to the black 67 Impala in the parking lot and look in the trunk. The only thing that can kill this bastard is decapitation. Go!"
Dean would not usually trust anyone with his car, but right now his priority was Sam. He sworn to God that if he could he would have pulled the head of the piece of shit himself but he also had to think about all the people hiding in various rooms, and did not want to freak anyone out at the moment.
He ran to Sam's room as fast as he could and quickly got a chair in front of the door, trying to lock himself inside with his brother. Dean ran to the window and cursed over the fact that they were on the fourth floor and that there was no way they would be able to survive the jump. He could not believe himself that he had not brought any helpful weapons with him for once and now his only hope was the Doctor. Dean looked around the room and tried to find something sharp. Now that he wasn't in the hallway he could easily work up a way to strangle the bastard, something like Sam had done to Gordon a few years ago.
His search was stopped when he saw the door getting busted open and saw the vampire, eyes bloody red, staring at him. Damn it! They were so screwed!
"Come on, Sammy. Wake up!"
xXx
Once everyone had finished with their meals the women began to clean up the table while the men sat down and enjoyed yet another cold beer. Dean was telling everyone about his hunts and how the deer hunting season was always special for him. They then got to Bobby's stories which everyone always loved. Jonathan was sitting on his father's lap while Anna had taken a seat on her pink and purple chair.
The time went by and the sun began to set. The family had now gotten their chairs around a camp fire that Cas and Bobby had prepared. Sam's eyes had not left his brother since dinner was done, admiring the happiness his big brother had. For some reasons he knew that the Dean he had seen in those visions had never been this happy in his life, and Sam felt guilty for it.
His thoughts were distracter when he saw Dean getting up from his seat and came next to him. "You wanna go for a walk?"
Sam placed his beer bottle on the ground next to his chair and got up. "Sure." He saw Anna running to him and he grabbed her in his arms, giving her a kiss on her forehead. "Tell your mom I'm going with Uncle Dean."
"Okay." Anna said as he put her down.
Before she could turn around Sam called her name. She looked right back at him with her mother's eyes and Sam felt his heart skip.
"I love you."
"Love you too, Daddy!" She smiled as she blow him a kiss and ran back to her cousin Jonathan.
Sam followed his big brother and they both walked towards Dean's house. Sam had not really given any attention to what his brother's house looked like before, but somehow the exterior seemed familiar. As they approached the house Sam finally figured out where he had seen the house before…
"Your house looks like the one we had back in Kansas."
Dean seemed surprised by Sam's fact. "Of course it does. We built it from the blue prints from the old house. You don't remember?"
Sam did not reply. He hadn't told his brother that he had lost his memory, and somehow he knew that Melissa hadn't told him either. Sam was surprised when they arrived at the house and Dean brought him to the gigantic garage next to the house. Sam had wanted to see the inside of the house; maybe if it was the same as it used to be then maybe he would remember more about his past…
Dean led Sam inside the garage and there was the black car Sam had seen in his visions; the one where he and Dean would ride in. Sam was amazed by its looks and could not help but wanting to sit inside of it.
"You like?" Dean asked his brother with a huge smirk on his face.
"Where did you get that?!" Sam asked, still amazed by the classic car.
"Some guy came at the garage after getting in an accident with it and sold it to me; he said he got it at the old Rainbow Motors back home and thought this car shouldn't be driven by any other guy but a Lawrence guy. Come on, hop in!"
Both brothers were smiling at each other as they got inside the car. Sitting in the driver's seat, Dean grabbed on the steering wheel with a 5 year old smile on his smile. Dean always had been in love with cars, but this car was different. Sam was about to turn on the radio when Dean stopped him, pushing a cassette tape in the slot. Metallica blasted inside the car and Dean began to sing happily, his hands hitting the steering wheel at the beat of the song.
"Seriously?" Sam asked Dean, giving his brother a frown. But Dean brought his index finger up and looked at his brother.
"Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts its keyhole." Dean proudly said. He banged his head at the beat and continued singing until the end of the song.
"This is the life, man: a cool car, a hot wife and a wonderful kid!"
Sam stared at his brother and again was stunned with how happy he looked. Dean was telling the truth though: they both had terrific families, awesome friends and most of all they had each other, and that was all that mattered right now.
Suddenly everything became quiet inside the car and in the garage. Both brothers were looking down, not knowing what to say, or how to say what they had in mind, until Dean finally spoke.
"Sammy?"
"Yeah?"
Dean looked at his little brother. "Are you happy? I mean, would you rather want your life to be different from what you have right now?"
It took Sam a few seconds to think about the question. Was he happy? Of course he was; he had Melissa and Anna, his own house and his own life. But somehow he felt deep inside that there was something missing in his life, like his true life wasn't here at the house with his family.
"I don't know, Dean." Sam did not dare look his brother in the eyes. He felt bad already for not being able to answer the easier question there ever was out there. But his guts were telling him otherwise…
"Well, all I can say is that no matter what happens, you know I'll always be around, you know that right?"
This time Sam looked at his brother. His lips curled slightly up and he nodded. "Yeah, I know."
Suddenly a white hot pain flashed inside Sam's head. He bent down, both hands on his head, trying to hold on the scream he wanted to let out.
"Come on Sammy, wake up!" Dean's voice echoed in his head.
Sam looked at Dean one more time before everything went black.
Comments are SO cool and well appreciated!
