One Hundred Days

Disclaimer: see chapter one

S—D

Chapter Twenty

Then:

'Bobby?' Sam asked staring at his surrogate father, 'Bobby what it is?'

'Dean … he ahh … John …'

'John caught him?' Sam asked unable to bring himself to call the possessed man dad.

'Yeah he did, it sounded bad Sam.'

'Dammit Bobby I gotta get outta here.' Sam pushed against Bobby's restraining hand but fell weakly back against the bed. 'I gotta find Dean Bobby, I gotta find him.'

Now:

Singer Salvage Yard

Sioux Falls, Sth Dakota

One Hundred Days Later

Sam stared at the text message, the address sounded familiar but not that much so it's probably more a case of he knows the area rather than the specific address. 'We ready to go Bobby?'

'Yer sure bout this?'

'Yeah, I'm taking a risk with you coming with me but I – I can't drive Bobby and I'm worried…'

'Worried 'bout the state ya'll find Dean in?' Bobby finished for the traumatised younger man, secretly he wondered at Sam's ability to keep going in the face of everything shitting all over. 'Sam yer need to calm down before we head out, it aint gonna do Dean or yerself any good if ya panic in front of him.'

'I – I know Bobby, it's just … hey I just thought of something.'

'What's that kiddo?'

'How come … it's exactly one hundred days Bobby, just like the first time when Dean went missing the first time?'

'So we need to find out what the importance is … why is one hundred days so freaking important?' Bobby pushed his cap back and scratched his scalp before pulling it back into place and then running the same hand down his face as though he was wiping away invisible spider webs.

'Someone has … whatever demon has dad as his meat-suit you think that it's the one who's been in control all along?'

'Yeah I do Sam, why two blocks of one hundred days? Why so far apart? Then there's the fact that yer daddy was missing as well for that short time, not as long as Dean originally but long enough.'

'Dad was possessed when he … when he supposedly got away he was already possessed dammit Bobby, they've been pulling the strings all along.'

'The point is why?'

'Dean knew or saw something that they wanted to make sure he never remembered,' Sam's eyes lit up for the first time in a long time as he started to analyse all of the facts, finally feeling more in control while he paced the length of the room, 'they silenced him the only way they knew how, he never revealed what it was even under torture.' Sam stopped pacing and stared at Bobby, 'that's when they shot him in the head they wanted to make sure what he knew … So now the question remains…'

'What was it that Dean knew?' Bobby nodded in agreement, 'what was so important for them to kidnap him, torture him and then shoot him in the head?'

'That's the million dollar question Bobby, and now we'll probably never find out.' Sam sighed sadly, pinching the bridge of his nose he squeezed his eyes shut tightly as a tension headache let itself be known. 'It had better be fucking worth it coz they will not survive.'

S—D

Room 11, Swallow Inn

Highway 9

Fort Willow, Kentucky

May 2nd 2003

Dean tossed his duffle on the floor at the end of his bed and stretched his back tiredly, but he refused to rest, it was a day he wanted to remember and yet at the same time he wanted to forget it. His dad had gone to get food for them while Dean gets them set up in the motel. Neither willing to discuss the significance of the day or the missing birthday boy; sighing heavily Dean dropped down on his bed and pulled out his cell phone, automatically scrolling down to Sam's name, he let his fingertip hover for a few heartbeats before hitting it, dammit even if dad's being an ass, I can still wish my brother a happy birthday.

'Hello?'

'Sammy?'

'D-Dean?'

'I just wanted to wish ya a happy birthday kiddo.'

'Thanks Dean.'

'How ya doin' Sammy?' Dean asked a small smile playing on his lips, Sam sounded happy that he had rung him after all. They chatted on for about ten more minutes until Dean heard John pull up in his truck.

'I ah gotta go dude, dad's back … unless?'

'Nah it's alright Dean, I'll umm talk to you soon?'

'Sure thing, call me if you … you know.'

'You too.' Was the last Dean heard as Sam disconnected the call, hurriedly he put the cell back on the nightstand and went to help his father bring in the last of their stuff and their evening meal.

S—D

With gun drawn, Dean moved stealthily in tandem with his father as they approached the group of worshipers in the middle of the field. Six men and three women surrounded the large bonfire, they moved in a seemingly mindless shuffle around the flickering flames and glowing ashes.

John signalled for Dean to stop as they dropped and watched; this was the hard part, the sitting and watching. Dean was action motivated, you find the prey and you move in for the kill. But, his dad kept harking back to his marine days you hunker down and wait out the enemy. While Dean watched their targets his mind started to wander a little back to his brother; Sammy sounded happy but there was something in his tone, Dean couldn't put his finger on it. A blur of movement caught his attention and he flicked his wrist at his father, but John was preoccupied with something else; cursing under his breath Dean tried to hurry towards his father while still keeping his own cover.

'Dad?' Dean whispered as loudly as he dared grabbing his father's arm and yanking hard with one fluid motion. 'Dad snap out of it.'

'Dean…what?' John blinked and turned to stare at his son and then looked at Dean's hand on his arm, 'what are you doing?'

'What happened to you?' Dean demanded refusing to let go until he made eye contact with John again, 'talk to me.'

'Nothing happened Dean now let me go and concentrate.' John growled.

Dean let go but was still wary of the way his father was acting, just as he was going to demand more questions the group in front of them stopped moving and chanting. They stood in a circle and all held hands while they stared into the flames as they rose and flared, the colours ranged from bright orange red to black and silver.

'What the fuck? Dad?' Dean turned to see his father crumple to the ground, his eyes wide open but glassy and unfocused. Another blurred movement in his peripheral vision made Dean spin around trying to catch whatever it was.

The heat sizzled in the night air, producing a humidity that felt more like a sauna than an open field, 'what the hell?' Screams from the small group of worshippers made Dean feel like he was on a spinning top, with a last glance at his father's lax form, he moved stealthily towards the centre of the field. As he moved he could almost feel the heat crackling from the grass as he walked, the soles of his boots burning his feet.

Another flash of movement made him dizzy and Dean cussed again as he staggered slightly, his breathing slowing as it started to scald his throat with each breath. 'Dad … need help here…' He rasped when a large figure loomed in front of him; swaying drunkenly Dean stared up at the monstrous face, the creature was … Dean found himself unable to recall anything about the thing standing in front of him, in fact he was having trouble remembering anything.

'What are you doing here hunter?' the voice reeked of sulphur and ash, 'you should not be here.'

'Yeah well what can I say? I'm persistent?' Dean pushed the words out, wincing at the rawness of his voice.

'You will rue this day Dean Winchester, no human has seen my face over the millennium, you have dared to test my wrath, I will mark you for your indiscretion and it when the time comes you will discover all is not as you perceive.' The creature touched Dean's forehead, the pain from the burn searing a path through his skull and into his brain. The scream wrenched from his soul echoed around the field as he slowly collapsed to his knees and then finally lost his battle to stay conscious.

S—D

John crouched next to his eldest son and shook his shoulder gently trying to rouse the young man back to the 'land of the living'. 'Come on Dean kiddo we have to get out of here.'

Finally, Dean's eyes started to move under his closed eyelids, and as John watched closely they flickered open and bleary green eyes stared up at him. 'Dad?'

'Welcome back kiddo,' John grinned, 'can ya stand up?'

'I-I think so.' Dean shook his head and immediately regretted it, he felt like he had a hangover straight from hell. 'What happened?'

'I was hoping you could tell me,' John nodded over at the circle of bodies lying around the now extinguished fire, 'they're all dead, all of their eyes are gone, just blackened orbs.'

'So what do we do now?'

'Gotta get outta here, make an anonymous call to the authorities, they're innocents caught up in this mess.'

'Geeze Dad what the hell happened? I remember running over to you, and then nothing…'

S—D

2111 Moorcroft Lane

(previously the small abandoned house)

Outskirts of Sioux Falls

South Dakota

Bobby pulled up in front of the ramshackle house, he shook his head in disgust as he took in the patched roof, broken window in the front, the veranda seemed to be straighter than the entire house and the steps leading up to the front door, were no longer useable.

'Yer sure 'bout this Sam?' Bobby tugged his cap a couple of times and looked over at his pale-faced passenger noticing the fine tremors running through his young friend's limbs.

'Dean is in there Bobby, I know he is … it's just …'

'Don't even say it Sam, come on let's go and find out what's going on.' Bobby climbed out of the truck and then hurried around to the passenger side, even though Sam was healing well, he was still shaky on his legs and tired easily that coupled with the stress of Dean's disappearance, Bobby had all of the admiration he could muster for the youngest Winchester. 'That's it Sam nice and slow.'

'I hate this Bobby,' Sam mumbled two patches of red appeared on his pale cheeks, blushing with embarrassment.

'It's gonna get better Sam, we'll find Dean and then the two of you can rest and heal up.'

'While those things are still riding dad.' Sam muttered.

Slowly they made their way into the house, both armed with pistols and knives moving in unison as they inspected each room. Suddenly Sam stopped and listened carefully; he put a finger to his lips and then pointed to a closed door at the end of the long hallway. This time Bobby also heard the sound, soft muffled sobs, Bobby counted down with his fingers from three to one and then they pushed the door open and stepped inside the room.

A terrified whimper followed by a rustle of movement and then a scream of pain.

'Dean?' Sam blinked and let his eyes adjust to the dim light a soft gasp escaped from his lips as he took in the pathetic sight in front of him, 'oh God … Dean what did that bastard do to you?'

Dean was curled on the floor, pressed as tightly as he could against the wall, a putrid bandage covered one thigh, one of his shoulders was swollen and twisted grotesquely, he was covered in bruises of varying age, and had all the signs of a bad fever and infection. 'Dean?'

'My-my Sammy?' Dean blinked and looked up hopefully squinting to try and focus on the face in front of him. 'Go to heaven n-now?'

'No, no Dean, my Deanie … I'm here with Bobby we're gonna take ya home,' Sam awkwardly crouched down in front of his brother, reaching out with a trembling hand he cupped Dean's cheek, 'we're taking ya home Dean.'

'N-no dream?' Dean blinked again, it couldn't be real could it? In his addled mind Dean dreamt of this happening so often but then it always ended the Sam. 'No, no not my Sammy, my Sammy gone … daddy be back … no Sammy.'

'Aww Dean it is yer Sammy, and I'm here too, we're gonna take you home.' Bobby crouched down next to Sam so Dean didn't have to strain too much, 'ya ready to come home?'

'No more hurts?' Dean looked from his brother to his uncle and then back again, 'no more dreams?'

'No more hurts or dreams, we can take ya home.'

'Doesn't daddy love me anymore?' Dean asked with tears rolling down his face, 'don' he want me no more?'

'Dad-dad's sick Dean, he has to get better and then – then he'll be back for us.'

Dean stared at Sam as he thought about what he said about their dad, 'that why he hurts me?'

'Yeah he's not …'

'He got something in him that make him do bad stuff?'

'That's it Dean,' Sam sighed, 'wanna come home … Dean?' Sam cried out as he watched Dean give him a small smile and then his eyes slid shut and he slumped bonelessly to the floor. 'Ahh no … Dean!'

Bobby carefully picked Dean up and cursed under his breath when he realised just how much weight the younger man had lost; he so wanted to beat the living daylights out of the thing riding inside his friend, and then the mule-headed Winchester for letting himself get in this situation to begin with.