Fears & Dreams

Chapter Ten

A/N: This chapter gets another warning label since it might show more violence, yes that is possible, so just beware. Also, I want to thank everyone who has read this so far and left such kind words. I do read every review as it comes in and I will catch up on the replies.

SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN

"Hey!"

Christian Campbell had been so engrossed in plunging the hypodermic needle into Sam Winchester's chest that he hadn't been aware of when they suddenly weren't alone. At least not until the dark, harsh voice snapped from behind him and he whirled to find himself staring into the murderous green eyes of…

"Get the hell away from my brother, asshole."

Dean had arrived on the scene just in time to see his little brother go down the final time and to see the needle that Christian was about to plunge into his chest. Swearing at his lack of a weapon, he was more than a little surprised when his hand automatically reached for his normal .45 Colt to actually feel it tucked in his belt at the small of his back.

Taking enough time to notice with a glance how bad Sam looked, he didn't waste any further time to talk. Pulling the Colt, he fired as soon as Christian began to turn and was moving toward the pair even before the bullet struck.

Kicking both the dropped needle and the discarded blade further away, he aimed the pistol with a steady hand at his cousin's head while Christian gasped in pain and clutched his bullet ridden shoulder. "You move one damn inch and the next shot goes through your goddamn face," he growled, risking a quick look toward his brother. "You okay, little brother?" he wanted to know, hoping he was still conscious enough to hear him but not liking it when he didn't get a response beyond a gasp. "Sammy? You alright?"

This time when he didn't get a reply, Dean risked taking his eyes off Christian to give his brother a better look and feeling his gut clench. "Damn it!" he snapped, forgetting the other hunter to drop to his knees beside his little brother who whose eyes were still partly open but glassy. "Sam! Sammy, talk to me!" he shouted, being careful of any injuries when he shook the younger man. "Sammy, open your eyes!"

"It's too late, Dean," Christian's voice was strained but it still held a mocking tone as he gripped his shoulder. "Sam thinks your dead and with the drugs Samuel gave him, by now he's probably back in the same mental prison he was in while the 'shifter was in control," he bragged with a smirk. "You fought all this way and you're still too late to save your brother. I mean, his mind will be held and tortured as much as your Grandfather plans on doing to his body and I figure all it'll take is a bullet to your brain to take you out but first he wants you to see exactly what the plans are for your brother."

Pushing up to his good elbow, Christian watched as Dean fought to bring some consciousness back to Sam but to no avail. "You think that hellhole you found him in was bad? That was good compared to what we have planned for your baby brother this time," he remarked, chuckling. "By this time, Gwen or someone will have separated Sam from you. Locked him up in a nice dark hole but don't worry. He won't even know about the darkness or the rats because he's trapped in a hell in his mind, reliving his worst moments and things that he fought to forget all the while screaming for the big brother that couldn't save him."

Gripping his brother's face, Dean felt for a pulse and swore when it barely beat under his fingers. He noticed the difficulty in breathing that Sam was having and the bluish tinge to his lips. However, what worried him most was the little ripples that shook him as his body seemed to be convulsing.

Listening to the mocking words behind him, he closed his eyes tightly. "If he's hurt, if any of you sick bastards have touched my brother, I will kill you," he promised in a very low tone.

"Doubt it, Dean," Christian grinned. "You're mind is stuck in here, your body will die, your pals can't save you and neither can any Angels. While I can get back out and put a bullet in your brain."

Shifting slightly to toss a familiar smirk over his shoulder, Dean shook his head. "I don't think it'll be that easy, asshole," he remarked, feeling the change in the air. "If that ringing in my head and that rustling sound means anything…it means your door's been locked until I say otherwise. You're cutting this a little close, right?"

Christian frowned upon realizing that Dean was indeed correct. He couldn't will his mind back out of this image as he should have been able but he looked to where his cousin's grim eyes were locked and felt sick.

"Locating this location and breaking the wall to gain entrance was not as simple as Gabriel let on that it would be," Castiel explained with more than a little exasperation.

Quickly examining the scene, the Angel immediately didn't like what he found. Choosing to ignore the gaping Christian for the time being, he knelt beside the Winchesters. "Dean…"

"Help him, Cas," Dean's hands shook as he gently massaged his brother's neck in order to try to bring him around or at least to get him to open his eyes. "I can't get him to wake up. His pulse is barely there and something's wrong."

Laying a hand on Sam's forehead, Castiel's already grim features actually became darker. "I can't heal him like this, Dean. You need to get him to wake up in here so that he can wake up physically but…"

"But?" Dean repeated warily, not liking that. "I hate it when you say that word, Cas. But what? What the hell did they give Sam and how the hell do I get out there to kill someone?"

"Too late, hero," Christian spat. "Sammy's ours. He's hooked up to enough wires, tubes, and machines to keep him alive for a long time while his drugged out mind makes him relive everything in his life, good or bad while you…you, Dean, are going to watch him beg for you before Samuel lets me gut you. And your Angel buddy here ain't no match for an Archangel like Raphael."

"Y'know, I did tell you to Holy Oil his ass that night so this might be a good time for me to say 'I told you so'," Dean snapped while reaching for his Colt again. "You aren't making it out of here to touch me or my brother."

Christian sneered, finally getting to his feet but not letting go of his bleeding shoulder. "Did Sammy ever tell you what he was made to see before you got too smart for your own good, Dean?" he asked, seeing the anger in the other set of eyes. "Did he tell you that Samuel had the Djinn make him relive every beating your old man gave him? Did he tell you that he saw you having a life without him and that you'd drop him in a heartbeat if you could? Did he ever tell you about what we made him see that never even happened? Or, did he tell you how he got those wounds he had? Not all of 'em were from the 'shifter, y'know," he bragged. "Want me to tell you? Do you want me to tell you what scared him enough that he was finally going to go to you?"

"You son of a bitch," Dean's tone was death to anyone who knew him as he grabbed his cousin by the throat, slamming him against the hard metal of the Impala before punching him repeatedly but it never got the telling smirk off the other man's face. "We had nothing to do with our Mom dying!"

"You brought the demon to her, hero," Christian spit blood, sliding his gaze to where Sam lay prone on the ground with Castiel kneeling beside him. "She died protecting him now Samuel'll get back his daughter and the last remnants of the Winchester line will be gone or useless in Sammy's case…Ugh!"

A hard punch to the face sent him reeling back against the car when the cold barrel of Dean's Colt was shoved under his chin.

"It's Sam, to you," he whispered tightly, green eyes cold as he stared at this young man who he could have been so much like if John hadn't kept them apart from Mary's family. "You really think you could use him, hurt him to make me pay?" he gritted, tightening his grip. "You like to brag about what you bastards did to my baby brother? To me? You'd brag to me about hurting him? About treating him like an animal all because that deranged sonuvabitch who was my Mother's Father has some issues?"

Pulling back the hammer of the Colt, Dean's eyes didn't move as he called over to Castiel. "Cas, this a fake memory like the Djinn or something else?"

"This is a side astral projection in a hidden pocket of either your or Sam's mind, Dean," the Angel replied, hearing the not so patient sigh and sought an easier explanation. "It's not a memory like a normal Djinn attack. If you get hurt in this reality, as you have, your physical body will show the wound as well. I was able to finally lock on because of the link we still have."

"So, if a body suddenly had a .45 caliber round shot through his brain that same body would buy it out in the real world, right?" Dean asked casually but there was no mistaking the tone or the glint in his eyes.

Pausing as if in consideration, Castiel slowly nodded. "Yes, that's essentially what would happen," he agreed, turning to gaze at the hunter. "We're running out of time, Dean. You need to act if you want to save Sam…not to mention Bobby."

"Bobby?" Dean swore under his breath before slapping the butt of the Colt against his cousin's skull but held him against the car. "You thought that you could turn us against one another here and you still think that I'll leave Sammy unprotected but you didn't take into count two things, asshole," he growled, jerking Christian up to ram a knee into his stomach and allowing him to fall on the ground, pained eyes now staring up at the leveled weapon. "#2, better people than you have tried to turn me and Sam on one another and #1, you don't ever screw with my baby brother and live."

The Colt that had once been John Winchester's fired only once then Dean slowly allowed it to drop to his side, grim eyes intent on the now still body while his mind replayed all that had been said and what had been implied.

"Dean, Christian's death will have an echo effect so you must hurry," Castiel spoke quickly but the elder Winchester was already beside his brother. "The drugs haven't taken him under fully yet but they've weakened him."

"Yeah, figured that out already thanks," Dean muttered, surprised at how easy it was to physically move his little brother so that he'd be leaning against the Impala. "Sammy? C'mon, baby brother, I need you to wake up for me so that I can get you out of here."

Castiel's lips thinned but he refrained from mentioning the truth to his friend that while he may salvage his brother's mind in this place, the physical aspect might be entirely different.

However Dean must have seen the look anyway. "I'm not losing him, Cas," he vowed firmly, pressing his hands to Sam's face as he hand once when they'd been kids and his brother was sick. "Sammy, it's Dean. I really need you to wake up for me now. Please, kiddo, wake up," he whispered, sitting back against the car to pull his younger brother against him as he fought the sudden burning in his eyes as Sam remained unresponsive. "It's okay, Sam. I'm here and I'll always be here with you."

"Dean…" Castiel began but halted upon seeing weak fingers suddenly jerk as Sam strained to breathe, open his eyes and see his brother all at the same time.

"Hey, kiddo, you back with me now?" Dean knew this was momentary at best because his brother's pupils were shot to hell but at least he wasn't fighting him. "Sammy?"

In too much agony to try to move much, Sam finally gave up that attempt when he became aware that it was just his brother's arm he felt supporting him. "De?" voice a whispered catch, he fought panic but still when familiar fingers carded through his hair. "You…you?"

"Funny, I was considering askin' you that, Geek-boy," Dean chuckled, needing to keep his voice light so the boy didn't panic. "It's gonna be fine, Sammy. I'm getting' us out of here and you're going to be fine," he promised, throwing the Angel a hard look that warned him to keep his mouth shut. "Sam, you know that whatever you saw or heard in here were lies, right?"

"Why….why's…he doin' this?" his brother countered that question with one of his own which told Dean that he'd have a hard time later on. "Family…is family so why…?"

Swallowing what he could have said on that subject, Dean took a shuddering breath. "Samuel…he's angry because Mom died, Sam. He blames me for bringing the Yellow Eyed Demon into her life when I was sent back in time to stop her from making the deal and didn't so…"

"What if…caused it?" Sam's voice was weak, halting as if he was fighting for every conscious word, which in same way he was. Right then he was locked onto something that had been bothering him from the start. "What if…you were sent back to make…it happen, not to stop…God!"

His sudden cry took Dean's mind off of the whirling accusations that were forming in his brain as he held Sam tighter against his side even as the boy wanted to curl into a ball against the burning pain shooting through his veins.

"Sam, what're you talking about?" he asked, shifting a hard questioning look toward Castiel. "You need to rest, don't think about…"

Fingers that shook with tremors seized his hand but the grip could barely hold on while Sam's eyes strained to make out his brother's rugged face. "Angels…lied to us," he gasped, needing Dean to understand before he was drug under fully. "Cas…was lied to so you'd do things. What if…they sent…you back to Mom not to stop her…but so your involvement would…bring the demon to her? So it would make the deal happen, not to stop it?"

Torn between wanting to comfort his younger brother and rip Cas's head off, Dean slowly lifted his eyes up to the Angel and didn't have to ask the next question verbally because Castiel was already shaking his head.

"Knowing what I know now…I suppose it is possible that Uriel or Zachariah lied to me so that…" he began when a hand shot up, it was a familiar thing Dean did when not wanting to talk.

"It doesn't matter now, Sammy," he spoke in the same soothing tone he only used on his brother when Sam was sick or seriously hurt…or frightened. "I need you to wake up. I'll be right there when you do and…"

Sam, however, knew the truth even if his mind was fighting off the drugs that were even now making little shadows form. "De'n, he'll hurt…"

"Nobody's hurting you, Sammy," Dean assured him, not liking how pale his brother was becoming or the bruises that were showing as he tried to hold on tighter. "I'll be with you but you need to fight this and wake up for me."

Hearing his brother's voice growing softer, Sam realized what was happening because he recalled the same symptoms after the shapeshifter attack. The poisons in his body were taking him back to the places he'd rather die than go to again. "Scared, De," he murmured, closing his eyes but feeling a strong hand grip his. "I don' wan' 'em to hurt again…please…you promised you wouldn't leave…"

Gritting his teeth to keep from screaming in rage as his brother's words ran together, Dean squeezed Sam's hand. "I will be with you, Sammy," he promised, feeling the younger man going limp. "Sam!" his eyes shot to Castiel. "If I wake up, will he?"

"There's not way to tell," Castiel replied grimly, going on quickly. "You need to wake up if either of you stand a chance, Dean."

"If Sam doesn't wake up, do you think I give a damn if I do?" Dean shot back, watching as his brother's body began to shake as if fighting something only he could see when a hand suddenly slapped his already injured shoulder. "Hey, watch it!"

"If you don't wake up, Samuel will kill you and have free rein to abuse Sam's body in any way he or his people or allies like, is that what you want?" Castiel demanded, using a portion of what power he had here to try to shield the younger Winchester but feeling that it was too late in many ways. "Dean, Sam's been poisoned in a much greater dosage than was used before. By shooting your cousin, the Campbells will have realized that something has gone terribly wrong and will now go to their backup plan…killing you and taking Sam."

Looking at the grim Angel for a long second, Dean nodded before gently shifting so that he could move his brother. Jerking open the back door of the Impala, he ignored a confused Castiel when he carefully eased Sam inside the backseat. "You'll be safe here, Sammy," he promised, voice husky as he lightly pushed back his brother's bangs before taking off his amulet to close limp fingers around it. "I swear, baby brother that I'll make it better for you…I just have to go kill some evil sons of bitches first and then it'll be good."

Wishing desperately for their Dad's leather jacket to give his brother, Dean hesitated another moment before closing the door but cleared his throat before turning to face an impassive Castiel. "Can we save him?"

"I…do not know," not at all surprised by the question, Castiel chose to be honest. "Sam was weak before this. The attack, the drugs again, the injuries inflicted…healing this time may be impossible but…"

"Hang onto that but, Cas," Dean scrubbed his face to clear the tears from his eyes as he reached for the silver knife that Mary had given to Sam. "How do we get me out of here first?"

This tone the Angel knew well. It was his friend's tone that spoke of Dean's anger and the one he usually only used when his brother was in danger. He would willingly accept the risks to himself but not to Sam.

"Focus on what you want most," he explained grimly. "Focus and think about waking up because if you don't…you will die."

"Little bit more enthusiasm, Cas," the young hunter remarked, looking back once more at the Impala where his little brother laid. "Hang on, Sammy. I'll get you home or die trying. I'll…"

Castiel sighed when his friend vanished, watching as the scene behind him slowly faded into nothing as well while he silently hoped that Gabriel's plan was going correctly.

Back at the Campbell Compound:

"Son of a bitch, goddamn it, mother…" right then the former Trickster/Archangel was using every four-letter word in his multi-language mind as he fought to both deal with the Angel enforcers that Raphael had brought along and keep from being friend by the highly pissed off Archangel.

Shoving the knife all Archangels carried into the chest of another enforcer, something else drew his attention and sent his concern up several notches.

Christian Campbell's unconscious form had been lying on a cot against the far wall while he did his Uncle's dirty work when it suddenly jerked as it struck by a strong blow before the blood began spilling from his mouth and nose.

"Shit, the kid just couldn't keep that temper in check," Gabriel groaned, realizing what must have occurred a second before the others in the room also noticed the change.

"Christian!" Gwen screamed, feeling for a pulse but finding none. "Samuel! He's dead…what happened?"

Using the blunt end of a rifle against Rufus Turner's skull, the bald Campbell patriarch turned to see his nephew's state when he realized what had occurred and rage filled him.

"Gwen, have the others help you take Sam into the other room and lock him down!" he snapped, grabbing for a knife that had fallen to the floor from another hunter. "I'll handle this!"

"Yeah, I bet you will," Bobby Singer growled, not liking the looks of this even as several of the Campbell crew began to move the rack that Sam was strapped to, along with all the machines, out of this room. The gruff older hunter had a bad feeling that if he let the boy go he'd lose him all together.

Snapping his fingers to make another enforcer vanish, Gabriel swore when he was slammed into a pillar by Raphael. "Singer! Don't let them take the kid!" he shouted, glaring at the other Archangel. "Y'know, we really need to talk about getting you a hobby. You're much too intense. You need to relax."

"Joke all you want, Gabriel, but you can't save either Winchester," Raphael replied while picking up a blade. "Samuel can do what he wants to that one for now but Michael's betraying vessel will pay the price and you can't stop it."

Bobby had whirled at that and cursed under his breath in Latin. "Rufus, shoot that bastard while I get to Sam!" he shouted, firing a shotgun into the chest of one man, knocking him back when Gwen's fired a round from her own weapon to strike him in the upper arm. "Damn!"

Torn between helping his friend and saving the eldest Winchester brother, Rufus swore but raised a pistol to try to wing Samuel before he could slit his grandsons' throat when another hunter grabbed him from behind, knocking the knife loose and slamming the older man into a wall.

"Gwen, I said go!" Samuel ordered, wanting the younger boy dealt with while he finished this. Gripping the knife tightly, he stared at the seemingly peacefully sleeping face of his daughter's oldest son. "I wanted you to watch what happened to your brother, boy. I wanted you to know the kind of agony he'll suffer this time but I'm not risking this operation anymore so it's time to make you pay for taking my little girl away," he stated coldly, no emotion as he lifted the knife. "I hope both you and your father burn in hell for the way my Mary died."

"Dean!" Bobby screamed, helpless to get to either of the boys and vowing to light up the next Angel he saw if one of them didn't pull a miracle out of their wings.

Gazing at the scene, Raphael's impassive features took on a dry smile while he raised the knife. "You see, Gabriel? You should have stayed dead because you couldn't protect the Winchesters and I'll make certain that you stay dead this time."

"Really?" cocking his head with a smirk, the former Tricker's eyes were amused even as he seemed to vanish in front of the other Archangel.

"What?" Raphael frowned when a light tap on his shoulder caused him to turn just when a fist slammed into his nose.

Rubbing his knuckles, Gabriel caught the blade as it fell. "Funny, I don't happen to agree with you there, Ralphy," he smirked, snapping his fingers. "The one thing I've learned about Winchesters over the years, and these two aren't the first ones I've met by the way, is they have a bad habit of not wanting to stay dead and this isn't even my biggest trick"

Whirling to stare as Samuel lifted the blade to bring it plunging into Dean's heart, everyone watched the blade swing down even when the straps holding the young hunter seemed to vanish, allowing a hand to shoot up to grasp the wrist of a stunned Samuel Campbell.

"Yeah, not happening," Dean's green eyes were tired but hard when he opened them to stare at his shocked grandfather. "Give Christian my regards when you see him in hell, old man," he gritted, twisting the wrist hard to gain control of the blade but saw stars when a connecting fist to his infected and injured shoulder nearly took him back out of the game. "Shit! Cas, get Sam outta here!" he snapped, hoping the Angel was around when he kicked out with a leg to try to give himself some room but wasn't counting on being as weak as he was and falling.

"You should've died in there, Dean," Samuel spat, reaching for the knife again as he kicked the boy's one leg out from under him before slamming a hard fist into his shoulder again. "But, at least you'll get to watch your brother die. Gwen! Kill him, now!"

Having taken care of the mortals who were bothering Bobby and Rufus, Castiel turned to deal with the woman and the few hunters that posed a threat to Sam when Gabriel grabbed his arm, stopping him. "

"Give it a minute," he urged, sighing when he noticed that Raphael had skipped out. "Figures. Things weren't going his way so the big baby ran away."

"Hey, either of you gonna help the boys?" Bobby was cranky and getting shot made him even more so.

Waving a hand while reaching for a candy bar in his pocket, Gabriel didn't seem concerned right then. "Dean'll help his brother," he replied easily enough, wincing when even one handed Bobby yanked him up to his face.

"Who's gonna help Dean, smart guy?" he demanded gruffly, wondering what the hell he did with that traveling tin of Holy Oil. "He's barely in this fight and oh, shit…"

The words died off when he caught Dean being knocked back into the rack that had just, until recently, been his prison, with the senior Campbell pounding the hilt of the knife into the boy's face and chest while digging curved fingers into what was obviously one of the nastier wounds the boy had.

"Plan C, Bobby old pal," Gabriel replied with a smirk, seeing Castiel's frown and figuring that he'd figured it out by now. "I owed a favor."

"Huh?" both hunters turned to stare at the Archangel even as Bobby was starting to move to help Dean when something else shimmered into sight. "Oh, my God."

"You should've stopped asking questions, Dean," Samuel was saying as he continued to beat on an already emotionally and physically exhausted Dean. "Sam was never supposed to be found. You were supposed to have been killed by that damn 'shifter, thinking it was Sam finally turning on you and your brother would've been kept in oblivion until we were done with him than Crowley or Raphael could fight over him," he went on, shrugging off the weak attempts the younger man made to fight back. "Now, because of the mess you've made and for costing me Christian, I'll make damn sure your little brother suffers even more than before. I'll make sure he sees the worst of his memories and yours and he'll die thinking you abandoned him."

Barely with it at this point, Dean's mind cleared at the mention of his brother. Fighting for Sam's sake was second nature to him by this point but the pain shooting through his shoulder and the nausea the infection was causing made it hard to get the upper hand on a man who was not only in better health but was a sadistic bastard who didn't give a damn.

"Touch…my brother…and I'll…kill you," he gritted, not fighting the scream when something struck a wound in his side that he hadn't known he'd had until now.

"How, when you'll be dead before him, son and there's no one who can save you now," Samuel told him coolly, grabbing the younger man's shirt to slash the knife when a strong hand gripped his arm to stop the movement of the blade from striking the young hunter.

Shock was setting in despite Dean's best attempts to fight back when he realized the blade had been stopped even as he noticed a look of actual fear on Samuel's face when a voice from beyond the grave settled in his ears.

"Dean, get your brother. I have this."

A/N: I know, I know. Another cliffhanger and with Sam's life hanging in the balance. Who did Gabriel owe a favor to and who is his Plan C? Can you guess? Will Gwen kill our Sammy before Dean reaches him and will he survive? Will his mind be intact or shattered? Will Bobby ever get to fry someone with that Holy Oil? Chapter 11 answers some of these vital questions as Samuel Campbell learns why it's not wise to mess with someone's sons.