The Colonel received confirmation that the Lawrence police department had been notified and had issued an APB on the Winchester's as well as notified the area hospitals to be on the lookout for Sam. He had convinced Jenna to stay with Celia while he went with the Musketeers to get the boy back, he knew it took a lot for his daughter to agree; but if he was right then Sam wouldn't want her to see him right now.
Dean got a phone call before take off from Jim letting him know that Caleb was still in surgery but was holding his own and that Bobby had already got on a plane and would most likely meet up with them. The gesture was nice, but he really didn't care at this point. He had his brothers, he had the Colonel, and he even had the Lawrence P.D. at his disposal if he needed it. He just wanted to concentrate on getting his little brother back in one piece, and then he would make sure that John paid for what he'd done.
Taylor had pulled up a map of Lawrence, Ks. and was going over locations that John would hide until he felt it was safe to do the ritual. They had no illusions that he didn't have the artifact since he had gone to such extremes to take Sammy from under their noses. After locating their previous address as well as the location of the garage John had at one time owned, Taylor was able to plot a tentative course from the municipal airport to those addresses, then added a few warehouses, barns, and storage facilities to be safe. All in all, he had narrowed the search down to less than twenty places just because of non-vacancies, construction, or even something as mundane as privacy issues. The only thing that stood out in Dean's mind though was the house; his dad had never gone back to it because that was where he felt his mom the most. It was the first place they would look.
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Sam ached all over and it hurt to breathe, unfortunately he knew that his dad wasn't going to let him stop until his mom was back. Although he didn't want to admit it, he couldn't wait to see her, although not for the reason his dad thought. He'd never known her, and even though Dean had told him about her a few times, he had always wished that he'd get to see her one day. Today was the day, and he was actually looking forward to it.
Watching his 'son', John knew that the creature was plotting something, but it wouldn't matter; he had outsmarted it more than once and would continue to do so until his Mary was back and it was dead. Smiling, he arranged the herbs and lit the candles as the ritual dictated, then reached into his bag and pulled out a thin stone disk that would have looked like a plate if it hadn't had the hole in the middle of it. The symbols etched into it were of ancient Aztec origin, but he had made a few contacts in the antiquities circles and had been able to get a translation of it before 'Sam' had stolen it from him.
Holding the artifact in his hands, John started to feel as if he had truly been justified in all the things he had done to get to this moment. Looking between Sam and the doctor, he knew that it wouldn't be humane to drag it out any longer, and in his opinion that wouldn't be right. After all, he was as humane as the next person.
Dr. Long knew that look; she'd seen it on sociopaths enough times. Thinking over what she knew, she now understood that she had been a fool. There hadn't been anything wrong with the boy until he was in her care, and now she worried that maybe her treatments had actually done irreparable harm. Watching the man who she knew as John Winslow, she understood that she wasn't going to get out of this alive, she also knew that Samuel wasn't expecting to either. Looking around she wondered if there was a way out of the basement, but it looked as if the windows had been sealed. Even if they hadn't, she doubted that she'd be able to untie the boy and get him upstairs before his father killed them both very slow and deliberate. Taking a deep breath, she forced her mind to clear.
"So, what's our next move?" she asked, hoping to sound as confident as she wasn't.
John looked at the doctor and smiled, "Oh don't worry sweetheart, you'll know what needs to be done soon. I almost have everything ready."
Sam felt ill just thinking about what was going to happen to the doctor, and he knew that she was clueless. The ritual combined with the artifact demanded a blood sacrifice, and although he was sure his dad had planned him to have a double role, it was clear that the plan had changed. He wished he had a knife, but then again since he was actually tied to a chair it would be obvious what he was trying to do. His only hope of getting the doctor out of there was if Dean showed up, but what were the chances of that.
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The police cruisers blocking the neighborhood was a definite sign that something was going on, but when the neighbors had been notified to stay in their homes and stay quiet, they knew it had to be bad. The direct neighbors of the former Winchester residence were quietly evacuated from their homes and a group of men set up base across the street.
Lt. Mullins had been on the force for over twenty years and he had dealt with all sorts of hostage situations, but he couldn't remember a time when the marines were called in for one. Now he was facing a group of jarheads who looked determined to make his bad day worse.
"I understand you want information, but I have to wait until…"
"Look, our little brother is in there after being kidnapped by our insane father who wants to use him as a sacrifice to bring our dead mother back. Now you can either help, or get out of the way!" Dean said watching the man stare back at him in disbelief.
"Ok… uh, the neighbors said they saw a vehicle pull up and a man and a woman helped a teenager out and into the house. They figured it was the new homeowners and didn't think it suspicious until we started pulling them out of their homes."
Nodding, the Colonel started to pull a plan together and notified each man what they needed to do. With each role established, they all took off to get into positions and wait for the five minute mark.
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"Sammy, it's time. Now, I'm going to give this to you, and you can start reciting the ritual while Dr. Long and I have a discussion." John said, putting the stone plate in Sam's hands and waited for him to start reading the paper that had been attached. Turning, he smiled at the doctor. "Dr. Long, I appreciate everything you've done to help my son. He'll definitely be in a better place once this is done."
"You don't need to thank me John, in fact how about we sit down and talk about how I can help you. After all, that's what my main goal has been." She said with a smile, hoping that she could distract the man so she could figure a way out of there.
Laughing, John looked at her fondly. "Don't worry, you're about to help more than you know." He said as he plunged the hidden dagger into her side. "Keep going Sammy, don't stop."
Sam didn't know what to do, he had already finished the words that were on the page, and now his dad was positioning his doctor so she bled directly on the plate he was holding. He was helpless to help or do anything since his wrists were bound to the arms of the chair so tightly it hurt to wiggle his fingers. Horrified, he couldn't pull his gaze away from the doctor as the light started to fade from her eyes.
It wasn't until Dr. Long's body started to grow cold that a wind started to whip through the basement making Sam clutch the chair in fear and John howl in delight. When the wind died down, a shapeless shining entity appeared and seemed to look around.
"Why have I been summoned?" the entity asked in a whispered gravelly voice that made the hairs on the back of Sam's neck stand on end.
"To right a wrong, to undo an unfair deal." John said with confidence.
The entity seemed to hum a moment in thought, giving the impression of taking the request into consideration. Finally it spoke again. "This deal, what was to be gained?"
John shook his head, "I don't know. My wife was murdered in exchange for my son."
"Ah, I see… and you're son, he did not agree to this exchange?" it asked.
Sam knew instinctively that it was his turn to answer. "No, I was a baby and had no say so in the agreement."
"And you… did you agree to the exchange?" it asked John, looking towards him with what seemed to be curiosity.
"No! Never! I knew nothing about what was happening, therefore whatever deal was made wasn't a valid one and I call for it to be undone."
The entity sighed in impatience. "There are others who matter as much." It said while looking around then settled upon Sam once more. "Are you willing to go back to the way it should have been, even if it means you're death?" it asked watching in quiet amusement.
"I have agreed to this, yes." Sam choked out, knowing that his brother would be so disappointed in him.
"I understand, however all parties must be in agreement." It said with what sounded as amusement in its voice. "Are all parties in agreement?" it asked and looked around.
While John was already in the process of saying yes, two voices rang out simultaneously to say "NO!"
Seeing Mary before him was just how John envisioned until she looked at him with such mix of sorrow and anger that he involuntarily stepped back. "Mary, what…"
"No John, I will not allow you to sacrifice our son for me. That is not his job, that was mine." She said, eyes blazing in cold fury. She glanced at Dean who had made it down the stairs as she had appeared. "Dean, you are doing such a wonderful job with Sammy, take care of him always." She said with a smile. "Sammy, you deserve to live a full life. Please do that for me."
"Mary, please. Everything will be like it was, we'll be together and…"
"You would murder our son just for the few years we might have left?" she asked in horror.
John shook his head and cried, "No… no, he's not Sammy. He hasn't been since…"
"Since you sold him to that pedophile John! How could you? I trusted you to take care of our boys, and instead you turned on them. Now… now our baby is dying and it's because of your greed." She yelled causing a gust of wind to rain down upon them.
Dean watched at his mother got angrier by the second. He had been raised to get rid of vengeful spirits, but he had the impression that she wasn't really one, she was just answering a call and it wasn't going to way John had planned. Edging closer to Sammy, he started to untie the ropes that were cutting off the circulation to his little brothers hands when he heard the entity speak again.
"There are two in favor and two against having the agreement rescinded. One of you must reconsider." It said calmly watching the events unfold.
"Well I'm not going to reconsider. I know that Sammy belongs with me." Dean said, while still trying to undo the ropes.
John wasn't going to be defeated, he knew what would happen if the entity was sent back without fulfilling the agreement. Sam may have summoned it, but he was the one who was arguing the terms which meant he'd be the one punished; apparently even demigods didn't like to waste their time. "Dean, he's not Sammy! He's a demon, don't you listen?" he demanded, hoping to get through to his eldest; they already lost Sammy, he didn't want to lose Dean too.
"Sammy isn't the demon here dad, it's you. You're the one who beat the hell out of him, tortured him, even had him committed so he'd fall in line, then you basically sold him. Did you really think he'd be the same happy kid we knew after all that?" Dean asked calmly. He knew he was right, and he had Mom on his side, that left only one other person. "Sammy, Mom's right, you deserve to live. Nothing that's happened is your fault, ok… but you have to want to live."
Sam looked between his brother and his mother and smiled. She was as beautiful as her picture and he got his wish, he'd met her. "I'm sorry about what happened Mom." He said, with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry you died."
Mary shook her head and held his face in her hands. "You were my baby, and I died to save you. That's what mommy's do."
Feeling that Dean got him loose from the ropes, Sam looked around. First at his dad, then his mom and Dean, finally to the entity that was waiting for a decision. "I choose… to live." He said, hoping he wasn't making a huge mistake.
The entity grew and the house shook until pieces of the basement fell onto the floor. Dean was determined to get Sammy out, but as they made it to the stairs, they both heard their father scream out for their mom and they paused to look back. John was being torn apart by the winds as the building started to crash down around them, and finally they both were tossed into oblivion.
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Dean woke to the sound of beeping and he knew that it had to be a heart monitor, but he had no idea for who. Opening his eyes he saw that he was in a hospital bed with an IV in one wrist and a cast on his right leg. Looking around he saw Taylor and Stephen close by and cleared his throat.
"Hey Dean, it's good to see you man." Taylor said as he and Stephen got closer to the bed.
"Yeah, right… so did anyone get the number of that truck?" he asked, hoping that someone would smile, when they didn't he looked around and saw the curtain had been pulled. "So, where's Sammy?" he asked, hoping that it wasn't where he thought.
The Colonel walked around the curtain and smiled, "About time you woke up Dean, now if you could just convince your stubborn brother here to do the same, then we could all go home."
Raising himself up onto one arm Dean saw his little brother with IV's in him as well as the heart monitor that periodically skipped a beat. Worried, he looked at the others who smiled weakly.
"They say it should right itself soon, something about it being bruised when the house collapsed on you two." Stephen said, hoping that he wouldn't have to go into details since they still had no idea how they survived it all.
Nodding, Dean collapsed against the bed for a second before declaring, "Alright, nap time's over, help me up."
With the others help, he was able to get to Sammy's bed and make himself comfortable. "Alright Sammy, it's time to get up, don't make me tickle you." He said, before he reached under the blankets and hit that one spot that always got Sammy giggling before. He was quickly awarded with a twitch, then a muffled groan which got louder each time Dean did it until finally they all were rewarded with Sammy's whine of "Deeeaaaan… stop!" making everyone in the room smile.
