Road Less Travelled

Follow up to my story Two Hunters and a Baby, so if you haven't read that one it might pay to and then come back and revisit this one, coz it might get a little confusing.

Disclaimer: Sigh nope still nothing ... hmm what to do?? Okkies I promise I will send em home after I finish playing with my boys!!

Author's Note: Please accept the biggest of apologies for the lateness, house-hunting, studying and writing don't mix so good! LOL But I will be making it up for it in the weeks to come.

CHAPTER TEN
Sam sat silently watching Dean and Mickie play, the move to the clinic had been uneventful, if anything it was borderline boring. Sam remembered very little, actually if he was honest with himself he could barely remember anything after his last operation and regaining his hearing. Though he was loath to admit that his hearing was no where near perfect.

His gaze flickered over to Bobby talking to Maggie with their coffees in front of them, he was sure that something was happening between those two. A small wistful smile played on his lips as he realised that for just the briefest of moments they were having a normal existence.

'Stop internalising Sam.' He heard his own voice snap at him but the need to internalise it all overrode the objection and soon silenced it. He needed to pick the carcass of his life one last time to make sure that there was nothing left for anyone else to pick from. The memories of his captivity replayed in his mind on a continuous loop of technicolour gore. The wheelchair hard against his sensitive skin only served to remind Sam on just how much he had failed recently. The discomfort only helped with his internal self-flagellation he knew he had to pull himself out of it but for now it was the only reminder that he was alive, well perhaps not alive but existing.

Dean kept glancing over at his brother, he wanted to go and comfort Sam but something deep down inside of him stopped him. How could he comfort Sam when he could do nothing for himself? He could still feel Merci on top of him, riding him like he was some sort of animal. The pain in his hand when she impaled him on the floor with knives. Unconsciously he flexed his fingers and tried to make a fist; a tiny hand on top of his brought Dean out of his self-pity-party and he smiled at his daughter, the one true light in his all-encompassing darkness.

'Daddee sad?' Mickie looked up at her father, her lower lip trembling, 'Mickie sad.'

'No, no baby daddy's not sad.' He said as he quickly scooped her up into his arms and hugged her close, 'daddy just needed a hug.'

'Ooohh big huggies, Mickie like.' The toddler cooed in her father's ear, 'wuve you.'

'I love you too baby girl.' Dean choked out, as his emotions tried to escape from the chains he had wrapped around them.

'Uncee Sammee?' Mickie lifted her little head and stared over at her beloved uncle, Dean let his gaze follow his daughter's, a small gasp of air escaped from his lips when he took in Sam's appearance. Hunched in the wheelchair his large frame seemed finer and more fragile as though a gust of wind would blow him away, piece by piece.

'Uncle Sammy don't look so good does he baby girl?' Dean muttered, 'how bout we cheer him up?'

'Yay, yay, yay.' Mickie clapped her hands and then hugged her daddy tightly, her little arms wrapping around his neck, she placed a big sloppy kiss on his cheek.

'Sammy?' Dean called softly not wanting to startle his brother but when Sam appeared not to have heard him, he became even more anxious than he felt already, 'Sammy?' he tried a little louder. When he still didn't elicit a response Dean let, his fears escalate carrying Mickie he made his way over to Sam, only then did he notice Sam's fingers twisting and fretting the threads of the blanket covering his knees and the vacant look in his brother's normally bright green eyes.

'Sammy.' Dean touched Sam's arm and crouched down next to the chair with Mickie balanced on his knee.

'De?' Sam turned his head and looked at Dean with tear-filled eyes, 'De?'

'Yeah dude what's going on?' Dean let Mickie go so she could play and toddle around them and then he pulled a chair up close to Sam, easing his aching body onto it he fought to find the right words to help his brother.

'Just too many things running around in here.' Sam said as he clutched his head with his hands, 'won't stop.'

'Sammy, hey look at me.' Dean managed to pry Sam's hands away from his head and got his brother to look directly at him. 'It's gonna be okay, we're gonna get through this.'

'Rafe killed himself didn't he?'

'He was already dead Sammy, he made a deal with the demon, and his time was up simple as that.'

'But, but he was sorry for hurting me.'

'Yeah he was, very sorry. Sam the demon owned his soul, he couldn't do anything else.' Dean leant in and tried to touch Sam's face and swallowed down on the compulsion to pull away not wanting to touch his brother with his tainted skin.

'Dean why ... why haven't they?'

'Why haven't they what Sam?'

'Why haven't they tried to attack us? I mean we're probably at our most vulnerable right now.'

'Dunno maybe Merci has found a new guy to terrorise for a while and left us alone.'

'They're gonna find us Dean.'

'We'll be ready Sammy.'

'How Dean? I can hardly move let alone fight, my hearing is shot and ...'

'Hang on Sammy, what about your hearing?' Dean's eyes narrowed slightly as he took in Sam's sudden change in demeanour, 'what about your hearing?'

'I – I'm ...' Sam stammered as he tried to pull his gaze away from Dean's face, 'I have trouble sometimes.'

'Sometimes? Trouble? Just what kind of trouble Sam?'

'When it's noisy, or more than one at a time talking.' Sam said dropping his head he let his gaze drop to the floor.

'Sammy, hey Sammy look at me.' Dean cupped his hand under Sam's chin and made him look up at him, 'we're gonna get through this, you're still healing it's gonna take some time.'

'I-I know, I'm just worried that ...'

'You won't hear them if they attack?' Dean finished for Sam, sitting back in his chair he never thought of that, 'Sammy we all have healing to do, but while that happens we're safe here. The wards, sigils, devil's trap everything is in place here and Bobby has the others watching the clinic no one is going to get through until we want them too.'

'Kay Dean.' Sam nodded but Dean had a feeling that Sam was only agreeing for the sake of it.

'Sammy please look at me.' Dean said a little louder this time, 'we have to keep it together little bro, Cornase and Merci feed off fear and pain, the worse we feel the stronger they become.'

'Sounds like you need to take your own advice too Dean.' Sam said with a small smile forming. 'Thanks Dean.'

'You're welcome bitch.'

'Jerk.'

'Bi'ch.' Mickie looked up at her uncle and father from where she played, 'j-jerk.'

'Ah no you don't young lady, you don't use those words.' Dean gently scolded her and tried not to laugh, 'come here baby girl.'

Mickie got up and toddled over to her father and climbed up on his knee, 'uncee Sammee?'

'I'm fine sweetheart.' Sam smiled leaning over he brushed a kiss on her fine blonde hair.

'We're gonna get through this Sam.'

'Yeah we are Dean,' Sam smiled tiredly, 'I might go and have a sleep for a while.'

'Kay, but get some help okay?'

'Kay.' Sam nodded and tried to push himself back to the bedrooms.

'And where do you think you're going?' A female voice came from behind Sam, but when unheard as Sam concentrated on getting the wheelchair to move. Maggie moved around to stand in front of the chair and squatted down in front of Sam, 'I'll take you back to bed Sam.'

'I'm fine, not a cripple.' Sam spat out a flash of anger on his face before he swallowed down on it and managed to look contrite all in a matter of nano-seconds.

'Didn't say you were, but I'm the nurse and you're the patient so deal.' Maggie released the brake and took a firm grip on the handles of Sam's chair, 'won't be long.'

Sam laid quietly with his eyes closed and hoped that Maggie would get the hint and leave him alone. He knew that she meant well but sometimes the nurse hovered too much.

He cracked an eye open and checked the room out before opening both of them to stare at the ceiling. He was tired that was no lie, but he needed to be alone for a while that was the overriding factor for him.

A blinding pain shot through his head making Sam gasp and writhe in agony. He clutched his head with his hands and tried to stop the assault but a flash of nauseatingly white light blinded him and he toppled from the bed, he curled into a foetal position trying to release the pressure building up in his head.

A flash of lightening and then he saw a little girl lying in a pool of blood, her blonde hair matted with the viscous fluid, her little body broken and her large eyes open and glassy. A flash of lightening flared in front of his eyes again and this time when it cleared he saw the same little girl playing in a garden with a puppy. The flare of light again signalled a change of the scene and this time he watched as Merci took the little girl from the garden and toss her uncaringly into the back of a van. The flash this time felt like it was burning his eyes, silver flames licked at his body and face, making him scream silently. With a choked sob he saw the little girl's body splayed on an altar made of rock, he could see Merci standing at the head of the altar and a large misshapen man-beast flickered and started to come into view next to her.

'God Sammy please wake up.' Dean cradled Sam's head against his chest and tried to wipe away the blood pouring from Sam's nose, 'come on bro wake up.'

'De?' Sam's voice sounded choked and congested. 'Dean?'

'I'm here Sammy, come on back to me.'

'Wha' 'appened?'

'You tell me Sammy ... a vision?'

'Oh God Dean,' the vision came back to Sam slammed into him and took his breath, 'oh God.'

'Calm down Sammy, hey look at me you have to calm down.' Dean cupped Sam's face in his hands and forced his brother to focus on him.

Slowly Sam's breathing calmed down and he took a shuddering breath before he could speak again. 'I – I saw a little girl, older than Mickie but ah Dean she looked so much like her. I saw, I saw her lying dead in a pool of blood and then ... then she was playing in a garden with a puppy.' Sam's body started to shake violently, 'Merci c-came and t-took the g-g-girl, then, then I saw her. She was lying on an altar with Merci standing over her. Some sort of creature was trying to take shape.'

'You think that it was a sacrifice?' Dean asked horrified enough with Sam's recounting of the vision without seeing it himself.

'Yeah, Merci sacrificed that little girl for this super demon,' Sam swallowed convulsively and locked gazes with his brother, 'the little girl looked so much like Mickie could have sworn it was her except that she was about six or seven years old.'

'Can, can you get up?' Dean wanted to move, to pace, to do anything except sit on the floor.

Sam let Dean help him back into bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep, breathing through his mouth because his nose remained congested with blood. Dean stood staring at Sam for a few more minutes, his fingers tangled in Sam's fringe while he mulled over the vision.

'Dean?' Bobby placed a gentle hand on Dean's shoulder and made his presence known, 'whatcha want to do?'

'You, you heard?'

'Yeah I did,' Bobby turned his attention to Sam sleeping peacefully for now, 'man I have never seen a vision wipe him out like that before.'

'That was the worst I've seen too.' Dean muttered distractedly, 'Sam said that the little girl played with a puppy.'

'Yeah in a garden in the front yard but Dean do you know how many?'

'I reckon it's close by the clinic, think about it Bobby. Merci wants Mickie she has all along to use as a sacrifice, we have this place so tightly sewn up she can't reach Mickie but say she's running out of time.'

'So she finds another little girl, with blonde hair, green eyes nearby and takes her instead.'

'Maybe that's why the demon didn't finish coming through.'

'She stuffed up and thought that she could substitute a different child to her own.'

'Yeah, so if that's right at least we know that Sammy and Mickie are both protected here.'

'You too Dean ... Dean what are you planning?'

'We get her and finish this once and for all.'

'How?'

'Find the girl and watch for Merci to turn up and then take her instead.' Dean turned to face Bobby, a cold, emotionless mask on his face. 'She's going down Bobby.'

'Think about this Dean ... what about Cornase we don't know where he is, if you breach the safety zone here ... he could come after you just as easily.'

'We have to do something Bobby; the next vision could kill Sam.'

'And what will Sam and Mickie do if you get killed Dean?' Bobby hated to play the so-called devil's advocate, but sometimes he had to.

'I am not gonna sit with my thumbs up my ass waiting for them to do something.' Dean snarled, 'now either you help me or I go it alone.'

TBC