A/N: I'm sorry for the delay. This chapter was incredibly difficult to write. I want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It really means a lot and definitely helps to keep me motivated. Also, there is a really, super important announcement at the end of this chapter. Please don't skip over that. Enjoy the chapter.
Sam woke up, ready to get to work. It wasn't often that he woke up eager to work on a hunt, but they were getting close to closing up this one and Dean had promised that they were going to take a break after this one. That break was something that Sam was incredibly excited for. Sam could hunt, but they had been going on hunt after hunt for the last two months without any break, unless driving from hunt to hunt counted as a break. But Sam refused to count that as a break because Dean would literally drive all day so they could get started on the next hunt as soon as they possibly could.
Cas was still traveling with them. Well, he was traveling with them as much as he could since he was still trying to keep up appearances in heaven so that no one would get suspicious. But the fact was that Cas was still with them the majority of the time. Every now and then, Sam thought about how weird it was that he was so comfortable with Cas being around all the time. If, two years ago, you would have told Sam that he would not only be traveling the road and hunting with his brother, but also with his brother's soulmate, Sam would threw holy water at you. That wasn't even taking the fact that Dean's soulmate was an angel into account. But Cas actually was able to make Dean happy, and Sam really couldn't argue with that.
Sam got out of bed and went to take a shower. It was weird for the first couple nights not sharing a room with his brother. Sure he had done it at Stanford, but this was different. Dean was in the same building but they weren't sharing a room. However, Sam learned that there were some perks to it. Most importantly, there was actually hot water when he wanted to take a shower. He no longer had to take ice cold showers because his brother had taken his sweet time in the bathroom and used up every last drop. Sure, they have to spend more money, but in the end, it is definitely worth it.
Sam took his shower and got dressed before heading to the room Dean was sharing with Cas so they could get some breakfast. Sam knocked on the door and waited. He listened, but it was incredibly quiet. Way too quiet for two people. Even if Cas had left and it was just Dean, it was still too quiet.
Sam knocked again, this time a little louder. "Dean, come on."
Still, Sam heard nothing and he started to panic. Dean always came to the door if Sam knocked and Dean would have known that it was Sam because of the special knock that he had used. Sam quickly glanced around and made sure that no one was watching him. Quickly and carefully, Sam picked the lock and went inside.
There was no doubt that Dean had been here last night, but now it was completely deserted. The sheets on the bed lay in a mess at the foot of the bed. Dean's duffle bag sat open on the floor, some of his clothes spilled out around it. There was a damp towel laying across the chair. The door to the bathroom was wide open and the light was off. Sitting on the small table were files containing the information they had dug up about this hunt as well as their father's journal.
"Dean?" Sam asked again, just to be sure. Again, he was met only by silence.
Sam walked to the window, pushed aside the tattered drapes. The Impala was still sitting in the parking lot. Sam glanced at the table again and saw the Impala's keys laying not too far from their father's journal. So if all of Dean's stuff was still here, where was Dean?
Now, Sam was completely panicking. Dean was supposed to be here and yet, he wasn't here. Dean always waited for him, gave Sam some indication of where he was going, and at the very least always came back. There were a handful of nights and mornings when Sam woke up and Dean wasn't there. It didn't happen often, but it happened a few times. Dean always promised that he wouldn't leave Sam, that if Sam would wake up and Dean wasn't there, Dean would be back quickly. That had always been the case, except for three times. The first when Dean was sixteen and got busted trying to steal food from a store. The second was when Sam was at Stanford. It took Sam a while to get adjusted to that. The third and final time was the worst. Dean was in Hell and Sam, at least at that time, had thought that Dean was never coming back. But now Dean wasn't here, and Sam was expecting the worst. He was terrified that when he found Dean, he was only going to find his body and that thought alone was enough to push Sam to look everywhere he could and to do anything possible to find his brother.
Over the next hour, Sam scoured through every inch of Dean's room, looking for some clue as to where Dean had gone. Despite his exhaustive effort, Sam came up completely empty, which only caused him to panic more. During that time, it became evident that Dean hadn't just gone out for breakfast. He definitely would have been back by now, considering the diner was just a short block away.
Giving up hope of finding any kind of clue in Dean's room, Sam walked out of the room and out to the Impala. It was still locked and looked as if it hadn't been touched since they had pulled into the motel parking lot last night.
Now Sam was definitely panicking. His father had trained him to always pick up on the tiniest of clues. But here, there was absolutely nothing. By this point Sam was absolutely positive that Dean hadn't just wandered off, which begged the question, who or what had taken Dean? Sam didn't have a clue where to start. If this was any other case, he would have started by sweeping the motel room. The problem was that he did that and got nowhere. So now what?
Sam stopped and thought about what he should do. He had never been in this situation before. Dean was never one to just completely take off. Even when their dad had taken out all of his frustration on Dean. Dean had been upset, but he would never actually say anything about it. Instead, he would stick around and pretend everything was fine. Sometimes he would take a walk to clear his head, but he was always very clear about where he was going and that he would be back soon. Sam, on the other hand, was completely different. He would yell at his father and sometimes even completely take off. Sam remembered leaving for Flagstaff, knowing full well that Dean and his father had absolutely no idea where Sam was heading.
Sam pulled himself from his thoughts and forced himself to focus. Dean was gone and he had to find him. Sam was at least fairly certain that it had nothing to do with the hunt they were working on since Dean wasn't a blonde woman in his mid-thirties. Sam wasn't sure if he should be thankful or relieved. Either way though, it didn't give Sam any leads as to where Dean was and Sam was sure that someone or something had taken Dean.
After he realized that there was nothing else that he could do, Sam pulled out his phone and dialed the number of the only person he thought would be able to help.
"Bobby!" Sam exclaimed frantically into the phone. "I can't find Dean."
"What do you mean you can't find him?"
"I mean that I went to his room this morning and I couldn't find him or Cas. The Impala's still sitting in the parking lot and all of his stuff is still there and I don't know what happened to him!"
"Ok," Bobby said calmly. "How long has he been gone?"
"I went to his room this morning and he wasn't there. I've looked all over town, but there's nothing."
"Wait? Don't you boys share a motel room?"
"Yeah, but then Dean accepted the fact that Cas was his soulmate and well…" Sam trailed off, knowing that Bobby would be able to fill in the details himself.
"Ok. I see your point."
"And normally Dean would leave a note or something. You know he doesn't like to just take off somewhere without telling someone where he's going, unless he's really upset. But there's been nothing in the last few weeks that would have pissed him off that much. And Cas is gone too," Sam explained.
"You try praying?"
"Of course I have, Bobby. But Cas isn't answering prayers. I just don't know what to do," Sam admitted.
"Where are you?"
"Potlatch, Idaho."
Sam heard Bobby fiddling with something and assumed he was looking at a map trying to figure out how long it would take him to get out there.
"I can get out there, Sam, but it's going to take some time."
"That's fine. Just hurry."
"I'll be there as soon as I can. Let me know if you find anything."
"I will," Sam said. "And thanks, Bobby."
"Don't mention it. Now go keep trying to find your brother."
Sam ended the call with Bobby feeling slightly better. Bobby would definitely be able to help, but the fact still remained that Dean had been gone for hours. And who knew how long he had been gone before Sam had gotten to his room? Bobby could help, although Sam just hoped that Bobby wouldn't be helping to find his brother's body. Sam just couldn't go through that again. He had watched Dean almost die several times and fully die once. That was way more than Sam had ever wanted. Right now though, he had to try and stay positive and hope that his brother was actually alive somewhere out there.
Dean woke up, completely surrounded by the darkness, wondering where he was. He blinked a few times, hoping that it would help and that he might be able to make out something, but there was no such luck. There was absolutely no incoming in the entire room.
Dean thought back but didn't remember much. He remembered being in the motel room, but he couldn't remember much after that. Had he been drinking? No, because Cas was there. Cas, Dean thought. Where was Cas?
"Cas?" Dean hesitantly asked. He held his breath, hoping that he would hear something, but all he heard was silence. Cas wasn't with him and that terrified Dean. Where was he? Where was Cas?
Dean felt his pockets for his phone and again, there was no luck. Whoever had taken him must have taken everything out of his pockets before he woke up. He had no phone, no wallet, not even lose change in his pockets.
Trying his hardest not to panic, Dean felt around the room, hoping that it would give him some clue as to where he was. Slowly, Dean reached out in front of him, trying to feel for a wall or anything. Not feeling anything now that his arms were fully extended, he took a step forward. His hand hit a rough, cold wall. Dean walked along it until he found the corner.
By the time Dean had walked the entirety of the room, he had realized he was truly trapped. The room was extremely tiny. It seemed to be about half the size of the motel rooms Dean had grown up in. That wasn't even taking into account the fact that Dean had no idea where he even was or if anyone knew he was gone. He also didn't know how long he had been out before he had woken up.
To make matters even worse, Dean had walked around the whole room only to find that there was no door. At least, there was nothing he could feel. He was completely trapped in this small square with no way out.
The fear started to set in. "Help!" Dean screamed as he started to bang on the walls. He wasn't going to die in some dark, little room. "Sam! Cas! Help me!" Deep down, Dean knew that it was probably no use, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. "Cas! Help!"
A/N Part 2: I know that given what has just happened, many of you will not be happy with this. On Monday, I will be moving to Ireland for four months as part of a study abroad program through my school. I love writing this story and have all intentions of finishing this. That being said, I will definitely not be updating this story regularly for the next few months. I know that it has not updated as often as many of you, and I, would have liked. I just want to make you all aware of this so you are not sitting waiting for updates and thinking that I am just a terrible person. I will try to update a few times while abroad, but I'm not making it a huge priority since I want to be able to take advantage of my time there. When I get back home to the US, I'm going to go back to updating more regularly. If you have any questions or concerns about this, leave a review or send me a PM. Thank you to everyone who has read and supported this story in any way. I can't even begin to say how much it means to me.