Bedeviling the Chipper

By: Maygin

Summary: "Loneliness is never more cruel than when it is felt in close propinquity with someone who has ceased to communicate." – Germaine Greer

Disclaimer: I am not making any money off of nor do I own anything supernatural… other than my roommate.

You Must Listen to Me: A promise is a promise is a promise… you all have trusted me thus far; you are safe in these words. I know I'm probably scaring some of you, but fear not! Oh and by the way, LOL! - - you guys crack me up! I adore all your reviews and am totally unworthy of them! I mean come on… what is the point of writing if you can't share it? So by all means… share your thoughts with me! However disturbing they may be ;)

CHAPTER 11

The Impala tore around the corner, tires screeching as they fought to find traction again. The hospital was just around the corner. Cal flipped his phone shut.

"Okay, Jamie's going to clear out that wing again and make sure we've got a clear path."

"He's okay with this?" Dean asked, still a little unsure of the large, muscular man.

"No." Cal sighed. "But he trusts me. Plus he was there when Sam spiked there last time; so he knows something weird is going on. I owe him a huge dinner when this is over." Cal was trying for a little normalcy in their conversation. Anything to distract from what they were about to do. He suddenly leaned forward in his seat, squinting as they came closer to the hospital's back entrance. "Is that who I think it is?"

Dean caught site of it too and felt a wave of anger course through his veins. "Son-of-a-bitch!" He slammed down on the accelerator and headed straight for him.

"Oh crap." Cal squeeled, pressing himself into his seat, waiting for the inevitable. He wasn't disappointed as the Impala slammed into Eddie Ex-Ex-delivery Boy and threw his large bulk across the rest of the parking lot and into the hospital wall, falling to an un-moving heap on the ground.

Dean threw the car into park, got out and ran around to the back. He threw open the trunk and pulled out a long, thin sword. He reached in again and pulled out his shotgun, tossing it to Cal who barely caught it with wide eyes before slamming the trunk closed. Cal didn't question or comment, he just followed. Dean strode determinedly towards the zombie still un-moving on the ground.

"I should've done this the first time." He mumbled with anger. His grip tightened on the sword and he raised it at an angle. The sword was suddenly ripped from his grasp and flew to the side, imbedding itself in the grass twenty feet away.

"Oh crap," Cal whispered; his gaze focused on a distant point out in the parking lot. "Sam's here," he turned fearful eyes to the older brother, "and I don't think he's gonna recognize you this time."

Dean flinched as one by one, the street lights started exploding in sequence, working their way towards the two men. Dean took one last glance at the sword and then cursed, shoving Cal towards the back door. Cal had hardly even gotten one pound from his fist on it before it swung open. Jamie, in all his mother-bear protectiveness, yanked the blond man inside. Dean followed closely behind and the door slammed shut, but not before the light directly above the door shattered.

"Are you two alright?" Jamie asked; frustration clear in his voice.

"Not yet." Dean brushed the thin shards of glass out of his hair. "We need to get to Sam's room now."

"What the hell is going on!" the big man yelled, losing his patience.

Cal grabbed the larger man's arms, facing him. "Look honey, I'll explain everything later I promise. Just please… Sam's room." Jamie looked between the two with wary anger. "A locked door isn't gonna stop this." Cal indicated the door behind them.

Dean recognized the irony in that statement. Less than a day ago he'd been telling some sappy memory to his unconscious brother about unlocking doors for him, and here he was, trying to lock as many doors as he could between his ghosted brother and himself.

Jamie finally nodded and headed down the hallway at a quick jog. The other two followed closely behind, glancing behind them every few seconds.

"You're gonna need this." Jamie tossed his card key to Dean. "It'll get you into the wing."

"And it's all cleared?"

"Yeah. Took a lot of persuading, but I've got a good staff."

Dean nodded as they were sprinting up more stairs. They went through the door on the sixth floor and Dean spotted the secured doors at the end of the hallway. He turned to Jamie, putting a hand on his chest. "You can't come with us."

"Like hell I can't." Jamie stood to his full height, pouring on the intimidation.

Dean would've fallen for it too, had he not seen the man turn pretty pretty princess in a split second the day before. He tried for reasonable. "Look man, this thing that's coming, it's gonna wreak havoc on your hospital equipment. Remember what happened earlier? Think ten times bigger." Dean gave the man a pat on the arm. "You need to be ready to look after your patients."

Jamie swallowed his pride after seeing the serious look of affirmation Cal was giving him. He gave a small nod and turned without another word. Dean turned to look at Cal and together they ran down the hall.

"Do you think we're too late?" Cal asked quietly as Dean slid the card Jamie gave him through the security lock. The door clicked and Dean looked at the other man gravely.

"You better pray we're not." He pushed through the door and entered the silent wing. Dean's head swiveled back and forth. They reached the nurses station in the middle of the wing. "Jamie didn't happen to mention which room he's in did he?"

"609."

They passed through the station to the other side and started down the row of doors until room number 609 stared back at them. Dean felt his heart pounding in his chest and he reached his hand out, pressing the door open. Cal waited patiently for him to gather the courage to once more enter his brother's domain; this time with an entirely different motive in mind. Dean took slow steps into the room and felt a wave of deja vu flood his system as he took in the sight of his brother once more lying on his death bed. Cal stood off to the side watching the doorway, allowing the brother at least that.

Dean forced his feet to move towards the bed. He gripped the metal rail and found he was having a little trouble breathing. A battle raged inside his head, but even as it warred, he knew what he had to do. He'd made a promise, and he was damn well gonna keep it this time.

"It should never have gotten this far Sammy… I'm sorry." His voice quavered quietly, and before he had a chance to doubt his decision, he reached behind the equipment and pulled the plug. Cal closed his eyes, hearing as the brother walked around to the other side and ripped the other cords out of the wall. The beeping died, and the oxygen stopped. Dean just stood there. It was over. Everything was over. He didn't begin to kid himself that he was going to carry on by himself. Suicide was never an option; but that didn't mean he couldn't just shut down. He'd still do the job, it was all he had left… but he'd never be the same. He stared at the cords in his hand. I did this. He'd made a promise, he reminded himself; a promise kept. He squeezed the cords and then dropped them.

He turned back to Cal, but froze as the beeping noise suddenly picked back up. Cal's wide eyes searched his. Dean turned back and witnessed a trail of electricity shoot up the equipment; oxygen machine suddenly coming back to life. He glanced down at the cords again, but already knew they were still laying there. "What the…"

And suddenly the blue spark of electricity that crawled up the machines turned orange and into a large flame as it jumped from the machines and flared to a roaring ball of fire that hovered near the other side of the room. Dean had a hand up in front of his face, but slowly brought it down as an invisible human form walked through the flame.

"Sam, don't!" Cal cried, but Dean found himself being hurled backwards through the door of the room and he hit the wall hard, falling to a heap on the floor. Cal pressed himself against the wall in fear. The lights in the room began exploding and the chairs crashed backwards into the walls. He could see Sam take a step towards the door, but it suddenly slammed shut with a wall of flame. The inferno circled the room in a whirlwind and then hovered over the bed and medical equipment; protective.

Cal swallowed down the lump of fear stuck in his throat and lifted the shotgun he had forgotten was still in his hands. He aimed at the hovering flames licking the air and pulled the trigger. The flames suddenly jumped to life, swirling around the salt pellets that embedded harmlessly into the wall. He froze, the gun dropping from numb fingers as the inferno suddenly erupted. "Okay," his voice shook, "bad idea huh?" He backed up until he bumped into the wall again as the flame continued grow hotter, it's roaring intensity increasing, like a bull getting ready to charge. His hands fumbled around for purchase. He hardly noticed that Sam was still staring at the closed door, ignoring what was no doubt Cal's imminent demise.

The demon suddenly shot forward towards Cal who screamed, pulling his hands from his pocket and holding them up in a futile defense. He felt a blunt pressure on his hands, but nothing happened. He cracked open one eye and saw the ball of fire still in front of him, looking royally pissed… for a fire with no faceanyways. His eyes then focused on the white, square piece of thin cloth hanging from his hands like a security blanket. His eyes widened impossibly further as he realized the demon must've been repelled by the hankie, bouncing off harmlessly.

He actually laughed; it was the laugh of an insane man staring death in the face, but the relief that poured through him was overwhelming. He couldn't believe Dean had been telling him the truth. "Yeah that's right!" Cal yelled boldly. "This here's the blessed hankie of Calantha, bitch!"

The inferno flared, leaving black streaks along the walls. "Oh shit." Cal sank down the wall into a crouched ball, still holding the hankie in front of him. "Dean!" he cried out. He noticed out of the corner of his eye Sam had suddenly turned around.

Cal was taken aback at the sudden amount of power that the young man seemed to exude. White hot fire sparked in his dark eyes, and his dark hair whipped about in the wind of the inferno; his expression was solid and resolute. He stepped further into the room and stopped. The demon's growling flames seemed to grunt in pleasure at the presence of its new pet.

Cal was entranced as unexpectedly Sam's spirit was suddenly taken over by blue and white flames, starting at his feet and working its way up until he was completely engulfed. The demon seemed to recoil slightly in shock and fear. The opposing flames both grew until suddenly they both rocketed towards one another, colliding in a blue and orange inferno. The resulting concussion threw Cal against the wall hard, where he slumped into blackness.

Dean groaned as his pounding head joined in with his resistant muscles. He rolled away from the wall slightly to his back. This was not at all going like he planned. He heard Cal scream his name suddenly from inside the room. He rolled again, climbing unsteadily to his feet. Just as his hand was about grab the door knob, a streak of silver slashed down, fortunately only catching air. Dean stumbled backwards as Eddie towered over him, sword held clumsily in its hands.

"Round four huh?" Dean mocked. He dodged another swing, grabbing some files from the nurses station beside him and hurling them at the approaching zombie. It didn't even phase him. The monster took another swing across his chest, which Dean only avoided by falling backwards to the floor. He lashed out his foot, kicking the weapon out of the creature's hand. It wasn't much, seeing as the zombie was big enough to be considered a lethal weapon in and of it's self, but at least he wasn't dodging sharp objects anymore. The thought was short-lived however as the hulking form reached down and got purchase of Dean's shirt, lifting him and tossing him effortlessly against the far wall. Dean hit it and fell to a sitting position.

By the time he got his wits about him and actually looked up, the creature had its hand in his shirt again and was lifting him to his feet, pinning him against the wall while it pulled its other fist back, ready to put it through Dean's head. The motion never carried through however as the tip of something silver was suddenly protruding from the zombie's chest.

Dean almost cursed at how close the point of the sword was to his own chest. "The head!" He yelled suddenly. "Cal, you have to cut off the head!"

The creature let out an unholy growl as the sword was pulled out and suddenly swung down expertly at a clean angle. Dean found himself suddenly free, and dropping to the floor against the wall. The zombies head rolled across the floor as the body fell to the side with a loud, vibrating thump.

Eddie Ex-Ex-Ex-delivery Boy was no more. Dean leaned his head against the wall trying to catch his breath, his eyes closed. He heard the sword fall to the ground. "Why didn't you tell me you knew how to wield a sword Cal?"

"He doesn't." Dean froze, his eyes opening slowly at the shaky voice. "I do."

"Sammy?" Dean whispered warily. "I thought you joined dark side." Something else occurred to him, "I can see you."

"Yeah, it's over Dean…" Sam looked about ready to fall over himself. "They're gone… he's gone. We did it." Dean would've joined in the tired celebration but a sudden thought occurred to him.

"Oh God!" Dean had never felt more ill in his life. He actually had to put his hand to his mouth to stave off his sick stomach. "I pulled the plug! Oh God, Sammy, I'm so sorry." Dean fell back against the wall again; how many more times could he fail his brother? His entire body burned with his actions... with his mistake.

"It's okay Dean." Sam's face glowed with concern, a gentle, loving smile touching his lips. He half kneeled, half fell before his older brother. "It's okay."

"No it's not! It's not okay Sam!" Dean wanted nothing more than to scream. "This whole fucking week has not been okay!"

"Dean." Sam felt his heart stir at the emotions Dean was bearing to the world for once… for him. He reached a hand forward and gently wrapped his fingers around his brother's wrist.

Dean's breath caught in his throat, wide eyes staring first at the very real grip, and then shifting to his little brothers eyes. He noticed the differences now; the hospital scrubs his brother was wearing, the mussed hair, bloodshot eyes, pale skin, hospital tape still hanging from his hand. "Sam?" he breathed, fearful that his mere voice would make this reality shatter.

"Yeah." The brother replied, exhaustion in his hoarse voice.

"How-" Dean's voice faltered in awe as he struggled for an explanation.

"I remembered something." Sam informed him, never taking his eyes off his brother's.

Dean still struggled for words, he was still in shock that this was really happening, that his brother was actually sitting here in front of him, holding his wrist and talking to him. "What?"

Sam smiled kindly, "The basement door was never locked."

And then they came; the first time Sam had ever seen his brother openly cry and not from physical pain. He squeezed the wrist, and suddenly Dean was grasping at his arm, pulling him in.

"It's okay." Sam whispered tiredly, his forehead resting on his brother's shoulder as Dean sobbed into his hair. "It's alright… you did it Dean." And there they sat until the last few days had been flushed from their systems. One brother's palpable relief at being able to hold his brother and hear him again, the other brother relieved that he could simply be recognized once more by the one person that mattered the most to him.

TBC… A promise kept… the brothers live on :) (okay so it was a little corny, I'll admit it... but I couldn't help it)

…more to come