IMPORTANT A/N:
This is a sequel to my other story: 'Just a flesh wound'! And it really won't make sense if you haven't read that one. But it was a short one-shot, so I don't think it'd be hard to read that fic first and come back for this one.
Fair Warning: This is heavily Dean-centric, as all my stories are, but other characters are involved, too. Just know that Sam is not so sweet here; but I've tried to keep him in character. I'm not bashing him; but in my eyes some of his moves are totally wrong. So if you're a devoted Sam-girl, I don't think this is your story. Consider yourself warned and don't leave any offensive comments, because as much as I love a constructive feedback, I don't tolerate hateful words.
Contains Spoilers from Season 8, but nothing from season 9! So if you wanna stay spoiler-free, you're safe here!
Full Summary: After the events of Season 8 finale, Sam's weak and mentally, he's not in a good place; and that's the reason why he forgets about Dean's condition.
Dean is feeling the pain more and more each day, but as usual, in order to make sure Sam's alright, he pushes his own pain aside and refuses to acknowledge it. Because, well, it's Dean; in his eyes, Sam always comes first and right now Sam's not in a state to be alone or to be forced to deal with his ailing brother.
And then there's Cas. He's missing, and after what they saw that night outside the church, Dean can't help thinking Cas is somewhere out there, needing his help. So, he's trying to locate his friend, too.
All in all, Dean is deteriorating and that's the last thing on everyone's mind.
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. A Soul Deep Wound .
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It'd been one week since the night in church.
Sam and Dean were back to their bunker and they were getting used to having Kevin there all the time.
Of course, Kevin would stay in his room most of the time; leaving just occasionally to see if the brothers were OK and if there was anything he could do. But so far, there was nothing for him to do, except... Observing the situation.
Sam was still a bit weak, but he was getting better every day.
Physically, at least.
Mentally, he wasn't doing that good. He seemed distant; well, OK, more distant and more reserved. He would barely talk and despite all Dean's efforts, he'd barely acknowledge his older brother.
Dean seemed worse if you asked Kevin. He was literally running on coffee and Kevin could see the toll it was taking on him.
There had been nights when Kevin would get up to drink some water or use the bathroom and he'd find Dean either nodding off by Sam's bedside, or sitting at the huge table in the hall, trying to find something about Cas.
And like that wasn't enough, he was also trying to make sure that Kevin was alright.
But since coming to that place, Kevin had been good and he'd told that to Dean over and over again.
He actually was feeling guilty for ever doubting Dean's good intention and for calling him names, but he didn't know how to apologize and how to make Dean see that he was there to help.
So yeah, between them, Dean seemed to be in the worst place and yet, there wasn't anything Kevin could do. So he'd decided to do the only thing that he could and that was finding a way to locate Castiel or other fallen angels and realize what they could do about that situation.
That might put Dean's mind at ease. At least a little bit.
Sam didn't feel like doing anything and after his nervous breakdown in the church, he didn't want to speak about his feelings with Dean, either. But Dean wouldn't let go. He'd keep bugging him about eating something or doing stuff and he was really frustrated.
Lately, he'd been snapping at Dean a lot, but like almost every other time, his brother didn't seem fazed at all and that irritated Sam even more; Dean the freaking perfect man.
Don't get it wrong, he did love his brother. But he just couldn't take it any longer. He felt like he was letting Dean down over and over again and instead of finding a way to fix it, he'd always find a way to make things worse and damn Dean for being so understanding.
Dean for his part was worse off than anyone would think, but he was a master at compartmentalizing things and pretending to be OK; he was so good that sometimes even he, himself, would believe it.
But no matter how hard he tried, he was getting weaker and weaker with every passing minute. He was tired of Sam pushing him away, he was tired of not knowing how to help is brother and he sure as hell was tired of looking for Cas and finding no trace of the wayward angel.
Just who the hell did the Universe think he was? Friggin' Superman?... No, he was Batman; he even had the cave. With that thought, he smiled faintly and got up from behind the laptop and went to check on Sam.
It was 3.30 in the morning and between Sam's nightmares and Cas being gone, Dean didn't have much time to rest; not that he was fond of the idea of sleeping, anyway. He'd get naps, but that was enough for him. It wasn't his first time. He could take it.
The only problem was that he knew physically he wasn't all good this time.
His vision around his left eye was getting darker and the headache was almost a constant company; although that probably wasn't just because of the problem with his eye; not taking enough food or sleep was taking their toll on him.
He also was finding it harder to use his right arm and despite his distaste for pills, on more than one occasion, he had been forced to take a painkiller. But what other choices did he have? He had Sam to take care of and Cas to look for. He didn't have time to lie in a bed and whine over his boo-boos.
Walking into Sam's room, he found his brother awake.
Sam turned his head towards him and frowned when he saw Dean. "Don't you have any better thing to do than watching over me?" The younger brother growled. "It's half past 3 in the morning, for God's sake. Don't worry; I'm not going to do anything stupid, you can get some sleep." he added sarcastically.
Dean rolled his eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd heard those angry words from Sam in the past week and he knew it wouldn't be the last. "No, Not really." he shrugged as he only addressed the first part of Sam's outburst. "You OK?"
"I'd be if you stopped checking on me every damn half an hour."
"Sam, you barely eat or sleep. You've been through a lot and I told you that we'll get through this together. But you have to let me help. Don't push me away, man." Dean was really tired and for the first time he felt he was on the verge of breaking down or giving up.
Sitting down on the edge of Sam's bed, he reached out to put a hand on his brother's shoulder, but when Sam harshly pushed his hand away, he jumped from where he was sitting and swayed, if only a little.
His arm throbbed at the hard impact from Sam's hand and started to go numb; something that he'd been experiencing a lot lately.
Next thing he knew Sam was on his feet too, pushing him away from himself. Literally this time.
Dean could say that Sam was saying something and growling angrily, and he probably would've been able to get what Sam was saying, if his ears weren't ringing so loud.
He tried to stand his ground. "Sam, hey... Hey, calm down. It's OK. Everything will be alrig-"
He didn't get the chance to finish his phrase as Sam's hard fist connected with his left cheekbone and he instantly found himself on his back two feet away. The world was spinning around his head and he couldn't see anything out of his left eye. The ringing in his ears had been replaced by a loud buzz, but he thought he heard Sam yelling at him, telling him not to dare say everything would be alright; because they wouldn't.
And then the spinning stopped and everything went black.
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The sound of an argument and angry shouts roused Kevin from his sleep and wearily he left the room to see what was going on. He always knew that sooner or later the dam would break and either Sam or Dean would snap, but he'd really hopped it would happen at a more reasonable time.
Cautiously walking towards Sam's now quiet room, he expected to find the brothers in an intimate position; one, more likely Dean, comforting the other. That's why what he saw made him think that he was still dreaming.
This couldn't be true. There simply was no way for what he was seeing to be real; Dean, lying on his back on the ground, clearly unconscious with Sam sitting on the edge of his bed with his face buried in his hands? No, he must be dreaming.
Blinking a few times, Kevin tried to decide what to do and finally stepped inside the room and quietly knelt beside Dean's prone form. Reaching for his pulse, even though he knew it'd be there, he sighed with relief when he found the strong beat beneath his fingers.
"Sam?" he tentatively called out but got no reaction from the older man. Turning his attention back to the fallen brother, he tried to at least get some response from him.
"Dean?" he shook him gently and when he got the same response that he'd gotten from the younger brother, which was no response at all, he slightly raised his voice and shook Dean harder. "Hey, Dean. Come on, open your eyes."
Still nothing.
Feeling a bit alarmed, he looked up to find Sam frowning at him from where he was sitting.
"Sam? What's happened here? Did you hit him? I can't wake him up."
Sam blinked at those words as if he was just coming back to the present. Taking a deep breath, he said, "let him be. He's probably just exhausted."
"So what?" Kevin asked incredulously. "We just leave him here on the floor?"
Sam shrugged. "He's slept in worse places." he said and threw his pillow and a sheet to Kevin as he, himself, lay on his back and closed his eyes.
Kevin sat there a few minutes, completely in shock. He didn't know what to do, but he knew it wasn't right to just leave Dean on the floor. On the other hand, Sam had a point. Dean had been exhausted, so maybe it was for the best to just let him get some much needed rest.
Finally giving in, the young prophet put the pillow under Dean's head and tried to make him comfortable before leaving the room.
He couldn't go back to sleep anymore, so he just sat in the hall and waited for the morning to arrive.
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... TBC ...
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A/N: I'd love to know what you think! :)
Sorry for any mistakes.
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