AUTHOR'S REQUEST!
I'd like to know what you guys think so far. Please let me know in a review.
If you have any questions about J, specifically from Dean and Sam's perspective, that have not been addressed and/or elaborated on, please also leave them in review. It would be amazing to get some questions from outside sources. Thank you!
Hooray for character development. She can't remain a stranger forever, even thought she is no stranger to me.
Chapter 15
Dean woke suddenly, with a start. He hated dying. Even when it was to wake himself up.
Considering the number of times Dean Winchester has died, you'd think he would get used to it. Never in a million years will he ever get used to it.
As Dean got his bearings, the poison started wearing off faster, now that he was no longer unconscious.
He looked around; vision still slightly blurred.
He was laying on some kind of table, each arm and each leg strapped down. Dean couldn't move. He tried.
He looked around. It was a small room. Like it had been dug out of the side of a rock.
He saw another table, like a medical examiner's table. A tall man was lying unconscious. Hair obscuring his face. Arms and legs bound as Dean's were.
Dean realized immediately it was Sam.
Suddenly, everything became more than crystal clear.
Suddenly, he could feel the cold steel beneath him. He could feel the leather restraints around his ankles and his wrists. He could smell the dank air of what was obviously somewhere that was underground.
A primal instinct came over him. Dean yelled out. He yanked and pulled on those restraints with everything he had. He fought to free himself until he felt himself start bleeding as the restraints dug into his skin. He continued to fight with all of his strength against the bonds that bound him.
They did not budge, even against his struggle they held firm. He tried. Dean really, really tried.
He could feel what the effort had done to his skin. The wetness that must have been blood, trickling down each of his ankles. His wrists in no better shape.
Dean laid back, breathing hard from his efforts. His heartbeat pounding in his ears. Now starting to feel slightly childish. Overreacting wasn't going to help anyone or anything and he should know this by now.
He knew J was out there looking for them. He also knew this was not the way to solve any of his current problems. He could see that Sam was obviously breathing. He was just wasting time and causing unneeded, self-inflicted, pain.
Dean laid there and let his heart calm back down before calling out.
"Sam! Sammy, wake up!"
Dean only continued for a moment before he realized his efforts were for naught. Sam was poisoned and there was no waking him from his current position.
But he was breathing. Sammy was breathing. He was alive at least.
Then his mind went back to work. He went over what J had told him. Dean had to do this and do this right. He could, he just wasn't sure, or confident, that he could pull it off. Not under these circumstances. He shook off those bad feelings.
Concentrate. Breath. He was most open when driving. Let's see what he could do about that.
Dean relaxed as best he could and closed his eyes. Focusing on each breath he took.
In. And Out. Over and over and over.
More than once his mind wandered and he scolded himself. Even though he had never truly attempted this before. It had only just naturally happened. Dean had no idea what he was doing. But he was trying.
He imagined a two-lane highway stretching for miles in either direction. The sound of the Impala and the feel of the steering wheel in his hands. The smell of the air. The feel of the seat and the rumble of the engine.
He kept taking deep breaths. Concentrating. Trying to lose himself like he lost himself in those moments.
After some time of this, Dean felt himself fall into a semi-lucid state. This must have been what J had been talking about. This was like it was when he was pounding the pavement in the middle of nowhere.
'Well, here goes nothing.' Dean thought to himself as he concentrated.
Dean began calling out to J.
In his mind's eye, an image started to become clear. He was driving down a deserted highway, and she was riding shotgun.
This time her outfit was clean and free from any rips or tears. Except for her jeans, but they were supposed to be ripped and shredded like that.
J was leaning back in her seat, legs crossed. She was wearing an old band t-shirt. Some band Dean was not familiar with. But he didn't care. She looked absolutely amazing. He stopped calling out her name and just looked at her.
She was calm and completely at ease. Almost serene, carefree. With herself. With the world.
She was looking out the rolled-down window. Hair blowing around her face as she looked out into the night. Oblivious of Dean trying to get her attention. Arm out the window in the wind.
Dean just stared at her. He did not know for how long. Long enough to know he didn't need to keep his eyes on the road.
She leaned back, closing her eyes as she did. Smiling to herself. Her head fell to her shoulder, away from the window. Giving Dean an even better look at her face.
Her hair was still moving around her in the breeze of the open windows. In those natural beachy waves.
He looked and looked. He was being a glutton. He counted every freckle she had. Every breath she took. She had piercings and gauges he had outright missed until now. Her lower lip was pierced in the center. And she had gauges in both ears. Pretty substantial ones for him to have missed.
Three in one and two in the other. Dean recalled her uneven nipple jewelry and noticed and a theme. The memory eliciting certain feelings. The fire began returning.
Dean ignored the feelings. He just looked. For what felt like ages. He was not afraid of getting caught. He wasn't tired of just looking at her, so that was a good thing. She looked good riding his shotgun.
Sometime after Dean had started thinking about whether or not to reach his hand out to her, to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Or to touch her cheek and see if it was as soft as it looked. He heard a small noise that was different than anything he had heard recently. But it was still not unfamiliar.
It sounded again. Stronger this time. It was his name. It was her.
For the second time that day Dean awoke with a start. For the first time he woke up to dazzling duo-toned eyes inches from his. Saying his name.