Author's note: Sam has a bad run of luck but for a reason. Bear with me. Thank you for the reviews and comments. You guys give me life.
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Dean gave Sam some time before he went upstairs. Sam was a tough kid but Dean had been in his shoes too many times. He knocked on the door and waited for the muffled, "come in." before entering. "Glad to see you're still with us."
Sam forced himself to sit up, in order to protect his pride. "Barely."
Dean sat down beside him. He hated seeing his brother hurt. He didn't ask questions. "Your shadow is down stairs about to have a fit."
Sam smirked. "Did she really mess with dad's head?"
Dean chuckled. "She did." Dean whistled.
Kate heard the whistle and skipped steps on her way up the stairs. She jumped on Sam's bed and hugged him.
"I'm fine, kiddo." Sam said.
Kate looked at his face. His eyes were tired and puffy. Kate wondered how bad things were if it broke Sam.
Sam gave her a crooked smile. "You got in his head?"
Kate blushed. "Um... a little."
Sam laughed and ruffled her hair. "Oh, Kate. I can't imagine that ended well."
"She got jealous you were getting all the attention." Dean teased.
Kate tried to kick him from the other side of Sam but he caught her foot and rolled her off the bed. "You are mean."
Dean held out his hand for her to grab. "You are the one that tried to kick me."
The trio talked for a little while. Sam was subdued and Dean knew he was uncomfortable, physically and emotionally. "Who wants to throw knives?"
"Me!" Kate said excitedly and Sam nodded his head in agreeance.
Dean left the room to grab the extra knives.
Kate grabbed Sam's elbow and pulled him back. "I want to try something."
Sam raised a brow but sat back down.
Kate grabbed his hands and closed her eyes.
"Kate, do not read me. Privacy." Sam said.
"I'm not going to read you." She said with furrowed brows. She focused on her idea.
Sam's eyes darted around. "Kate. What? How are you doing that?" The pain wasn't totally gone but it was significantly less.
Kate let go of his hands and offered him a strained smile. "I don't know, exactly. I don't know how long it will stay that way."
Sam touched her face. "That is a really cool trick, but I earned all of this."
Kate smirked. "Then that was just practice."
Sam was stunned. "Uh, maybe don't tell them you can do that. I don't think dad would find it very amusing."
Kate smiled. "It can be our secret."
Sam hugged her and left the room.
Kate stayed behind for a moment and steadied her breath. When she had taken some of his pain away, she had drawn it into herself. Sam didn't need to know that though.
######
Brian opened the cabin door when he heard the impala's engine. There had been no demon signs since the vampire attack. School was due to start soon and he wanted to get Kate back on track. He had told Mandy and Adam enough that they felt comfortable having her over again.
Kate jumped out of the car before the engine was cut off. "Dad!"
Brian caught her midair. "Hey, bug. I'm glad you're back."
Sam and Dean didn't stay long. John had a job that he wanted all hands on deck for.
Kate seemed to be in good spirts and was looking forward to school. "I hope Hannah is okay."
"She is. She may have nightmares for a while but she is getting back to her normal self." Brian said.
"Can I see her?"
Brian nodded his head. "Yeah, let me call and see if they want some company."
Kate really liked Hannah. She was Kate's first friend that was her age. She was antsy on the way over and darted to the door once they arrived.
Mandy answered the door and greeted them. She smiled sweetly and had them both use hand sanitizer before they walked inside.
"Holy water?" Brian asked.
"Yeah. Just trying to be safe. I don't mind looking like a germaphobe."
"That is pretty clever." Brian admitted.
Hannah heard Kate's voice and ran down the stairs. They saw each other and ran in for a hug. "Let's go play. We have a new swing."
Brian watched the two girls skip away. He couldn't comprehend how Kate could balance her childish joy and the bravery she had displayed the last time she was there.
"Kate and Hannah are in the same class." Mandy said.
"I haven't even looked at the paperwork." Brian rubbed his head.
She handed him a sheet of paper and pointed out the things he needed to know. "I can take her with my kids, so she doesn't have to ride the bus."
Brian hadn't given that aspect any thought. "I would really appreciate that."
Kate and Hannah were laying down in the new swing, watching the sky spin as the swing turned. Cameron, the oldest brother, walked out to grab his football.
Hannah rolled over. "Cam, can you push us?"
Cameron rolled his eyes. "No. You can push yourself." He tossed the football into the air and left to go play with some of his friends.
Kate noted that Sara was the same way. "Are they always like that?"
"Who?" Hannah asked.
"Your older brother and sister."
Hannah shrugged. "They are teenagers. They don't want to hang out with little kids."
Kate frowned. Sam and Dean hung out with her and they weren't even her brothers. They listen when she spoke and included her in most of the things they did.
"Ryan is a jerk too." Hannah smiled.
Kate couldn't disagree. Sam and Dean fought but they were close. She wondered how Hannah's siblings could be so distant when they lived in such a nice house and didn't struggle. Austin was the youngest. He was 6 and followed them around everywhere. Kate reminded herself to include him more. "That makes me sad for you."
Hannah leaned her head back after spinning the swing with her foot. "It's alright."
Ryan grabbed the water hose and sprayed them.
Both girls screamed and ran inside.
"Mom!" Hannah yelled.
Mandy leaned out the door and yelled at Ryan.
He shut the hose off and laid back on the swing.
Kate dried off with a towel that Hannah handed her. "Dean showed me all kinds of ways to protect myself. I can show you how to kick Ryan's butt if you want."
Hannah grinned. "That would be awesome."
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Sam's ears were ringing and his entire body hurt. He was laying on the concrete floor of an abandoned building. His breath had been knocked out of him but he wasn't regaining the ability to breathe.
They knew the building was crawling with ghosts. There had been a rash of disappearances. It was usually teenagers who were looking for a thrill and went in the building, never to be seen again. They had done weeks of research and knew what they were dealing with. They had gone in and recovered files so they could salt and burn potential bodies. The surprise came when they returned. There was some kind of spirit that had woken up and was stronger than anything they had dealt with before.
Dean scrambled to his feet and yelled for Sam. When Sam didn't answer, he panicked and ran in the direction that he thought Sam might be.
Sam vaguely registered his name but couldn't reply.
John found a relic and tossed it into the fire.
The building shook with a deafening shriek as the spirt was pulled from the grounds.
John got to his feet and stumbled through the hallways in search of his sons. His heart froze when he heard Dean's voice crack as he yelled Sam's name. He ignored the pain in his leg and sprinted toward Dean's voice.
Dean turned when he heard footsteps. "Dad! I can't find him!" Dean was distraught.
John put his hand on Dean's back. "Breathe son, we will find him."
Dean kicked down a door that was jammed by rubble. The dust burned his eyes. He stumbled into the room and screamed for John when he saw Sam's foot under a concrete slab.
John nearly threw up at the sight. He brushed rocks away and found Sam's face. "Hey, bud. Sam look at me, son."
Sam blinked. He was cold and wished Kate as there to do her magic pain relief trick. He noted that his legs no longer hurt.
Dean crawled over and hovered over Sam's face. "Sammy, you're going to be fine. You're fine."
"Shit, come on Sam, stay awake." John shouted as he rubbed Sam's face. "Dean! 911, now." He ordered as Sam's eyes closed.
Dean sat in a chair beside the hospital bed and nervously bounced his legs. Sam had been out for a few days. He had multiple broken bones and a head injury. He had a spinal cord injury as well and the doctors couldn't give them a straight answer as to how he would function when he woke up. He and John took turns watching him for any sign of movement. John had reluctantly agreed to disappear from the building until the ambulance came. Dean could explain the accident as them being dumb teenagers messing around in the place when it collapsed. John showed up once he got the call that they were at the hospital.
"Dean, son. You should go get some coffee."
Dean shook his head. "No. I'm staying right here, so when he wakes up he doesn't think I left him."
John put his hand on his oldest son's shoulder. "Son, you look like hell. I'll call you if he so much as twitches."
Dean left the room and walked down the hallway. He braced himself against a wall and swallowed a scream. He punched the wall and drew his hand back, cradling the bleeding knuckles. He was supposed to protect Sam and now he was in a hospital bed, hooked to a thousand wires.
He walked outside and sat down at a picnic table, letting his grief consume him. Some time later he felt a firm hand on his back. "Dad, why aren't you with Sammy?"
John sat down beside him. "They took him for a scan. This wasn't your fault."
"Like hell it wasn't. That should be me in there." Dean ground out.
John blamed himself. In reality, there was nothing they could have done differently. Both of his sons were in pain and he couldn't do anything for either of them.
Sam had brief moments were he could hear the world around him. He often times heard Dean's broken voice, as he talked to him. He felt like he was under water and just couldn't stay awake. He registered that the bed was moving but his brain was sluggish. The bed stopped moving and someone may have touched his face. The room was quiet again. He started to fade back out but was woken by blinding pain. He felt his entire body burst into flames. He wanted to scream but couldn't. The pain stopped as quickly as it started. He gagged on the tube they had down his throat. His eyes snapped open and he saw a doctor standing beside the bed. He couldn't find his voice.
"Good, you're awake." The doctor said with a smile. "We couldn't have you checking out so soon could we?"
Sam was still not totally with it.
The doctor walked around to the other side of the bed and put his hand on Sam's shoulder. The pain returned.
Sam still couldn't move. He heard footsteps running down the hall as his monitor beeped wildly.
The doctor turned back to him and whispered something in his ear. He stopped at the door and gave Sam a quick grin. His eyes flashed yellow and then he was gone.
Sam's room filled with medical personnel.
John and Dean heard the commotion and booked it to Sam's room.
"Hey slugger." A nurse said enthusiastically.
Dean gave John a look before pushing his way to Sam's bed. "Dad! He's awake."
John showed up on the other side of the bed. He fought the urge to let tears fall.
A doctor checked Sam and was amazed by the boy's improvement. The broken bones were still healing but the feeling was back in his legs and the swelling around his brain was nearly gone.
Two short days later, Sam was discharged with strict orders to stay in bed. He groaned as he got into the backseat of the impala. He hadn't spoken much and although he was glad he was alive, he missed the painless oblivion the coma had given him.
Bobby brought Sam's bed down stairs and set it up in the living room. He hadn't been able to think clearly after he got the call from John about Sam's injuries. He nearly ripped the door off the hinges when he heard Dean's car.
Sam hissed as Dean helped him out of the car. The trip up the front steps made him swear under his breath. He was grateful that the bed was just inside the door. John gave him another dose of pain meds and he let himself slip into a drug induced sleep.
Bobby sat at the table with the two older Winchesters. Everyone was on edge. He poured a round of drinks and let them breathe.
They had already discussed what went wrong. John and Dean both obsessed over how they got into that position. Having Sam awake was a blessing that they weren't so sure that they would get. His ribs, leg and foot were still broken but would heal in time.
Brian had to wait until the weekend to make the trek to Bobby's house. Kate was in school and he had work. When Sam was in the hospital, there was nothing they could do. Only immediate family was allowed in the room.
Kate fretted and struggled to focus on anything else. She tried to talk to him every night but she couldn't find him. A few days prior, she was trying to reach him when a flash of pain knocked her out of her dreams. She had a headache for the entire next day. She chewed up her fingers on the drive over.
Dean met them at the door. "Kate, he is still hurting pretty bad, so don't hug him or anything."
"Okay." She said as she nudged Dean back from the door.
Sam was laying in his bed watching something on the tv. He offered her a weak smile when he saw her.
John was hoping that Kate would be able to get more out of Kate than the dozen words he had said since the accident. He gave them some privacy incase it worked.
Kate knelt on the floor beside the bed. "Oh, Sam. Here." She said as she put her hands on his head.
Sam sighed deeply as some of the pain melted away.
Kate's face turned a bright shade of red as the pain flowed into her. She felt dizzy but could handle it for Sam. A few tears slipped form her eyes and Dean walked over to hand her a tissue.
He was touched by how much she cared about Sam. Seeing him in pain was enough to make her cry.
Kate took the tissue and wiped at her face.
Sam motioned for her to put her hands on him again. He tried to show her what had happened.
Kate struggled to focus. She wasn't sure if the fuzziness was from him being in a coma or from the pain radiating between the two of them. She saw the doctor touch Sam and a light flowed into Sam's body. She watched as Sam flipped through a photo book of memories. She snapped back and fell backwards onto her butt.
"What, what is it?" Dean asked.
"Uh, um. The ghost was scary." Kate offered.
Dean squinted his eyes. She wasn't telling him something but he could ask her later. He would ask her calmly and not let the situation blow up.
Sam's eyes were heavy.
Kate kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. She left him as he fell asleep. She curled up on the couch and focused on breathing through the pain that still wracked her body. Whoever healed Sam had yellow eyes and radiated evil. Sam wasn't ready for that conversation. She respected his choice and stayed quiet as well. He had survived something that he wouldn't have without the person's help.
Dean sat down on the couch and laid a gentle hand on Kate's leg. "You can tell me when you're ready."
Kate whimpered. "Thanks."
Dean moved to the end of the couch and patted his leg. He let her rest her head on him as he watched a show.
Kate relaxed as Dean ran his fingers through her hair. Who was the man with yellow eyes and where had she seen him before?