Author: magicsunbeam
Summary: Sam is plagued by waking nightmares. Unsure what to do, Dean turns to Missouri Mosely for help.
Sam clamped his eyes shut and brought his hand to his throat. Rubbing gently, he swallowed hard before opening his eyes again. When he did, he was surprised to see Dean had moved to the edge of his seat, his eyes wide.
"What?" Sam asked, before realization dawned. "Relax, man! My throats sore, the fries are sharp. Makes them kinda hard to swallow. I'm still me, Dean." He added with a smirk.
Dean hesitated before hitching back along the seat. "You should have had soup, jerk." He growled.
Sam grinned at his brother's embarrassment and got to his feet. "You ring Missouri. I'll go pay the check."
Dean grunted in reply, inwardly cringing for jumping to conclusions. Flipping through the journal, he found Missouri's number and punched it into his cell phone. It rang a few times before he heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Missouri. It's Dean Winchester."
"Well! Hi Dean. It's so nice to hear from you. How're you doing, boy? And how's that brother of yours? Is everything ok?"
Dean quickly filled Missouri in on what had been happening. She listened quietly until Dean had finished his story.
"Okay Dean, you listen. You need to bring Sam home."
Dean's heart leapt into his mouth.
"To Lawrence?"
"Yes, honey. From what you tell me, I reckon my place as your safest option. Three heads are better than two. Don't worry, we'll find out what's happening to Sam. Where are you now?"
"Iowa. Cass County."
"Okay." Missouri paused to do the math. "It's going to be around eight or nine hours. Don't delay and make it as straight a journey as you can. Avoid the cities, Dean, okay? It'll be safer for Sam."
Dean glanced at his watch and sighed. 6.11pm. "Okay, we'll set out now. We'll see you at around three, and Missouri – thanks."
Putting the phone away, Dean started to pack up as Sam came back to the table. Feeling Dean's tension, he became nervous.
"Is everything okay?" he asked. "What did Missouri say?"
"She agreed that we should go back to Lawrence."
"That's it?" Sam asked, picking up the laptop. "Did she say what it might be?"
"No," Dean answered, grabbing the journal and heading for the door. "But I think she may have her suspicions."
"Get in." Dean told Sam before going around to the Impala's trunk.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked, puzzled.
"Just getting a little extra protection in case we need it." Dean replied, opening the weapons bag. Taking his time, he selected a handgun and carefully hid it under his jacket before opening the driver's door. To his surprise, Sam wasn't in the passenger seat.
"Sam?" Dean called as he straightened up and looked round.
His eyes fell on his brother way across the car park. Sam was standing on the edge of the bridge that spanned a river running along side the diner.
"Shit." he said softly, quickly making his way to his errand brother. "Sam, what are you doing?"
Sam turned his face toward him, but Dean saw no recognition in his eyes. Then, without warning, he took a step over the edge.
Dean anticipated the move, and grabbing his brother's jacket with both hands, hauled him backwards.
"No swan dives today, Sunshine." he muttered under his breath as they both landed on the wooden slats.
For a few moments Sam lay unmoving, then a low groan passed his lips.
"Sammy, you with me?" Dean asked anxiously.
"Yeah." Sam almost whispered.
"What did you see?"
"A kid. Maybe ten years old. He jumped into the water. He was afraid of something. Don't know what." Sam replied, rubbing the sides of his head.
"Shit. What the hell is this?" Dean cursed, offering a hand and pulling Sam to his feet.
"I'm Okay." Sam said, taking tentative steps toward the car, with Dean shadowing him
"That's great, but dude, please don't do that again."
The Impala pounded along the quiet country roads of Iowa, crossing briefly into Missouri, before entering Kansas. Dean glanced at his watch. The boys had been on the road almost six hours without mishap. He had listened to Missouri's words and avoided stopping in the cities and big towns, instead choosing to get gas at the one-horse filling stations along the way.
Sam had fallen asleep almost as soon as they had gotten on the road, and Dean preferred it that way. He figured his brother wasn't going to see dead people with his eyes closed. At least he hoped not.
Dean's thoughts turned to Missouri. There had been something in her tone that made him think maybe she had some sort of idea what they were dealing with. The only thing that stopped Dean pressing her to give him an answer was the apprehension in her voice. It was only slight, but it was undoubtedly there. What ever the problem was with Sam, it was enough to make Missouri jumpy, and that could never be a good thing.
Dean noticed the lights flashing on the train crossing up ahead. He slowed down and stopped the car a few yards from the crossing barrier as a freight train thundered through. Seeing movement out the corner of his eye, he glanced across at Sam.
"Sorry. Level crossing." He explained un-necessarily.
"Sokay," Sam mumbled, straightening in his seat. "Where are we?"
"Kiowa County. We're making good time. We should be easily in Lawrence by three." Dean replied, putting the Impala into gear in anticipation of the barrier crossing lifting.
"That's good. I'm kinda looking forward to seeing Missouri. She's….."
Sam's words were cut off as suddenly his body catapulted hard into the dashboard, his head slamming off the windshield, before bonelessly dropping back into the seat.
"SAM!" Dean cried, getting out of the car and racing round to the passenger side.
Sam's nose was pouring with blood, as was a cut to his forehead where it had met with the windshield. Sam's eyes were glazed, but Dean couldn't work out if it was due to him bouncing off the windshield, or if he was still having a vision. He quickly went and retrieved the first aid kit from the trunk before going over Sam in the search for anything broken. To his relief, he found no fractures or breaks, although Sam's ribs had taken a battering from the dashboard, and his eyes were equal and responsive. Silently, Dean began to patch him up, further relieved when Sam finally responded to his ministrations.
"Dean?"
"Right here, Sammy. Just hold still while I fix up your face, okay?"
"Kay. Head hurts."
"Yeah? Well I'd say that's the only thing I can understand right now, little bro." Dean replied bitterly. "Let me finish here and I'll get you some aspirin."
By the time Dean had finished, Sam's eyes were closed, his face slack. Running knuckles gently down the side of his brother's face, Dean's concern faded a little when Sam responded with a groan and tried to pull his head away.
"This is getting so old." He muttered, loosening Sam's shirt collar.
It was then Dean noticed the bruising to Sam's throat had completely disappeared. Not allowing himself more than a few seconds to think about it, he pulled the seatbelt across Sam and fastened him in.
"Just a little precaution." he told himself rather than Sam, as he gently closed the door.
He then came around the car and climbed back behind the wheel. The Impala came to life and Dean made a decision as he pulled away from the level crossing.
"Okay, Sam. No more stops. It's Lawrence all the way." Then added under his breath. "I sure as hell hope Missouri has some idea's."
TBC