A/N: Thanks for all the amzing reviews. They made my days! Hope you all like the chapter.
A Familiar Fear
Chapter 2: Questions
"What did you say?" Dean asked again after getting no reply from his brother.
Sam felt like he couldn't breath. 'Stupid, Sam! You are so stupid!' He shook himself, trying to get out of his thoughts and back to reality. "Nothing. Never mind. Forget I said anything." He hoped Dean would be so grateful that Sam was letting him off the hook, that he wouldn't question his little brother any further.
"No. You were about to say that I did kick the crap out of you! Why the hell would you say that, Sam?" Dean's eyes were narrowed as he watched his brother's nervous fidgeting.
"It was a slip. It didn't mean anything."
"Yes it did!"
"No, it didn't. Can we just forget this and go to bed?"
"You're the one who wanted to have this little chat, Sammy. There's no backin' out now! I'm gonna ask you again, why would you say that?" Dean's voice held no room for argument. He had perfected their father's stern tone and his own added anger made it even harder to ignore. Dean continued, "Were you trying to make me feel bad? Guilt me into forgetting that you tried to kill me?"
"No! It's not like that!"
"Then what, Sam!"
'Dean, please don't ask me that.' Sam prayed. He was scared. He didn't know what to do. He had worked so hard to keep this from Dean. It had exhausted him every day he had to keep up his guard and at the same time keep his brother unaware. It had gotten easier as time went by and Sam thought it had been buried. He didn't want to dredge it up. It wouldn't help either of them.
"Sam!" Dean bellowed. Impatience was clear in his voice as his younger brother remained stubbornly silence.
Sam kept his gaze towards the floor, not able to look into Dean's expectant face. His heart hurt and he knew he couldn't do this. He couldn't tell Dean what a curse had made him do so long ago. "Dean, please." He whispered.
Dean's anger and bewilderment melted away with those two words. Sam's voice held a maelstrom of emotions. Dean could tell that his brother was hurting, that he was feeling lost. Now the older hunter realized there was more to this than his own anger at being blind sided by the younger man's accusation. Sam was going through something painful, remembering what Dean wouldn't.
Dean lowered his voice as he took a step toward Sam, "Sammy? What's goin' on?"
Sam looked up at Dean with wide, regretful eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but the ability to talk was snatched away from him. He pulled in a quick breath before slumping forward. His hands made their way to his temples, grabbing his hair in an attempt to redirect the pain shooting through his head. He found himself falling forward before being pulled into someone else's world.
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"Sam!" Dean yelled, rushing toward the younger Winchester. He caught the younger boys shoulders as he fell and lowered both of them to their knees. Dean had seen his brother's 'shining' enough to recognize it. Even though he'd seen Sam's pained face and glazed eyes before, it never got any easier to watch. Sam's 'gifts' scared Dean more than he would ever admit.
Besides the blinding headaches, there was one thing about the visions that Sam would be happy to do without. The cloudy, jumpy scenes that flashed before his minds eye had made him nauseous on more than one occasion. He hated not being able to see every important detail, and having to scramble for the pieces afterwards. This one was no different. It left him confused and drained, leaning against Dean for support.
Dean felt the tension in Sam's body release as the vision ended, but he stayed where he was. One arm was wrapped around the younger man's shoulders, while the other hand rested on the back of Sam's neck. Dean continued to hold onto his brother until his breathing evened out.
As Dean started to pull away, Sam lifted his head up off of Dean's shoulder to look into his older brother's eyes. He waited for Dean to talk.
"What happened?" Dean asked, keeping his voice as soft as he could. He knew that his brother was bound to have a killer headache.
Sam closed his eyes and sighed. He rubbed his temple as he answered, "There was... this old man. He was pressed into a corner. He was terrified, Dean. His eyes were movin' around, but there wasn't anyone else there. I don't know what he was looking at. Then... it, uh... it moved. He moved. There were woods. He was dead."
The older Winchester absorbed the information his brother had given him. It was vague, but Sam's explanations usually were right after the vision. He was still in shock. He gently pushed for more, "Anything else?"
"Dean, his hair was white!"
"Yeah? You said he was old."
"But it wasn't white before he died."
"Okay, so we're after someone doing bad dye jobs? Ya got to give me a little more than that, Sam."
"I- I don't know, Dean." Sam said with another sigh. He tried to think back to the vision, but couldn't grasp it. The pounding in his head was letting him think of little else.
Somehow, Dean sensed this. He knew when to push, and when not to. "Just sleep on it. If you can't get anything else, that's fine. We'll figure it out."
Sam nodded and allowed Dean to help him to his feet. He got the feeling that he wouldn't be able to remember anything else, and the old man from his vision would pay the price. On the bright side, Dean had forgotten about his brother's earlier slip. Hopefully this new problem would permanently take it off of Dean's mind.
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The old man had never been this afraid in all of his life. He was trapped and the bugs were coming closer and closer. His wide eyes focused on the small, shiny bodies and the sea of scurrying legs. His breathing came in short, shallow breaths as he tried to contain his terror. There were enough to eat him alive. They were finally coming for him.
TBC
A/N: I know at this point in time Sam doesn't have visions when he's awake. It's my AU addition to the story. Hope it doesn't bother you all too much. Tell me what you think! Reviews are a writer's best friend... next to betas, that is (love you Irish!).
