A Forgotten Day at Pluckys
So I owe everyone a big apology. I never meant to go this long between updates. I hope you all haven't abandoned this story. In this part we move more into the episode in season 7 and go on from there. We do get a little into Lucifer. I always wondered why he didn't have more presence in this episode, since the episode had some of Sammy's greatest fears in it. Seemed like a prime opportunity for Lucifer to chime in. Anyways, there will be one final update after this one to complete the story.
The rest of the week went by in a blur. Despite not remembering just what had happened to himself, Sam was anxious to get out of town. Dean was too. They couldn't wait to put that place in the rear view mirror. Come first thing Saturday morning, they were in the Impala and headed to Pastor Jim's about 8 hours away. There, they would meet up with their father eventually and continue on with the hunt for the thing that killed their mother.
Sam Winchester's mind harbored a lot of bad memories, ones that didn't include clowns. He'd spent almost an eternity in Lucifer's dog bowl and was tortured in ways no one could have ever thought possible. It was by sheer happenstance that when he was finally freed from Lucifer's clutches, Death had been willing to put in a wall to shield his mind from such terrible memories, much like that concussion shielded his mind all those years ago when he was thirteen. That wall came crumbling down though and brought with it more than just his memories from hell.
Their clunker car of the week slowly pulled out of the parking lot at Plucky Pennywhistle's Magic Menagerie. Left behind on the pavement was a small clown doll, it's head twisted to the side. Sam Winchester may have just faced his fear of clowns head on, and quite literally too, but that didn't mean he was ready to carry a keepsake of one. He'd be content still if he never had to see a clown again.
Dean just laughed as he watched Sammy struggle to roll back up the window of their POS car. Damn, he missed the Impala. "What, you're not gonna take it back to the hotel and get all warm and fuzzy with it?" He asked with a cheeky grin.
"Sure, right after we get you on a plane again." Sam shot back, knowing how terrified his brother was to fly.
For once, Dean didn't have a witty comeback. He'd be damned if he ever stepped foot on a plane again. "So, I guess it's back to hunting the leviathan." He said after a few minutes. "I'll keep an eye out for motels and then we can crash for the night and recoup in the morning."
Sam nodded at the window. "There's a sign for one." He shifted in his seat so he could read the details on the small sign and winced. The adrenaline from his crazed clown fight was finally wearing off and pain was starting to slowly creep up on him. "It's four miles up the road."
Dean eyed his glitter clad brother. "You ok there, Sammy?" He asked, immediately going into worried brother mode.
"I was attacked by clowns. How do you think I am?" Sam quipped sarcastically. His ribs were starting to feel sore and he felt a bit of pain around one of his kidneys. "I'll be fine." He also noted that his head was starting to pound. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw, as if that might ease some of the pain and sighed when it didn't seem to work.
Dean knew all the signs that his little brother wasn't feeling in tip top shape. After raising the kid, there was no way Sammy could keep anything from him. "We'll see about that. I'll give you a look over once we're at the motel."
Sam just sighed. He knew it was better not to argue with his brother.
Several minutes later they approached a gas station and next to it was a combination diner and motel, The Briar Rose Inn and Restaurant.
Dean pulled into the parking lot. "Diner closed at eleven, so if you're hungry, we can grab something at the gas station." He said, aiming the car for a parking spot near the motel entrance. After several moments of silence, he eyed his brother who seemed to be lost in his thoughts. "Sam?"
In that moment, Sam seemed to snap back to reality, jerking in his seat. "What? Yeah, I'm fine." He stammered. For some reason, he couldn't get the encounter with the clowns out of his head. He remembered the clown he and Dean had faced shortly after their Dad had passed away, but he felt like there was another encounter he should be remembering. He took a few blows to the head in this recent fight though and trying to think hard enough to remember only served to make his headache worse.
"I didn't ask if you were fine, Sammy." Dean shot back a little worriedly.
Sam's eyes snapped to Dean. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm just tired and want to get to bed." He said, trying to even his voice out and sound more believable.
"After you wash all that glitter off right?" Dean laughed.
"Yeah, of course." Sam replied, looking down at his glitter covered self. Dean had likened him to some PCP crazed stripper and maybe he wasn't too far off. He smiled slightly at his brother's humor.
"Let me get us a room and then we'll be all set." Dean eyed the diner. "We can have breakfast at the diner and if you need something in the meantime, I can always run over to the gas station."
"Ok, sounds like a good plan." Sam let out a few breaths before deciding he should get up and out and start gathering their things to carry inside.
It didn't take long to get a room. It was a double on the main floor near an emergency exit. The hallway to their room had various photographs of flowers framed along the walls, but luckily their room was flower free. It was painted in neutral beige colors with red comforters on the beds, which both sat along the same wall and had some sort of forest paintings above them. A dresser with TV sat across from the beds and the bathroom was on the far wall, opposite the main door to the room. It was actually nicer than they were expecting, given the look of the place on the outside.
As usual, Dean plopped his bag on the bed closest to the door. He quickly kicked his boots off as he reached into his bag for the salt canister. Sam headed to the far bed, nearest the bathroom. He set his bag down and reached in for some sweats, a t-shirt, and his toiletry bag. He silently headed for the bathroom as his brother set out the salt lines.
"Do you want anything from the gas station?" Dean hollered, trying to catch his brother before the shower turned on.
"No, I'm good." Sam shouted back as the shower turned on. He adjusted the temperature and turned toward the mirror on the opposite wall. He carefully stripped out of his clothes and noticed the bruises on his torso that had started to form. No wonder his ribs were sore. He twisted a little and saw a dark bruise forming over one his kidneys. "Damn it." He muttered as he stripped off the rest of his clothes and turned to the toilet. He lifted the lid and began to relieve himself. His breath caught in his throat when he noticed a tinge of red coloring to his urine and winced a little when he realized it burned a little too. Dean wasn't going to be happy about that, but he didn't exactly have to tell Dean about it now did he? "Ugh..." He finally turned to the shower and stepped inside the warm spray. The sooner he got his shower over with, the sooner he could make his way to bed.
Dean plopped down on his bed, stripped down to his boxers and a t-shirt. He flipped on the TV at a low volume and found an old episode of 'Walker: Texas Ranger' on. He had the med kit out and sitting next to him so he could tend to his brother as soon as the younger Winchester was finished in the shower. Sam may have said he was fine, but Dean knew otherwise.
After what seemed like an eternity, his brother finally stepped out of the bathroom. He was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, his damp hair hanging around his face, and he looked exhausted. "Well, it's about time..." Dean started, instantly sitting up so he could go and check out what kind of damage those clowns did to Sammy.
Sam glanced in his brother's direction. "It took a long time to get all the glitter out of my hair." He said, pulling the covers back on his bed. He eyed the TV. "Are you watching 'Texas Ranger?'" He asked, sounding surprised.
Dean moved over to Sam's bed. "Dude, it's Chuck Norris." He answered. "He's like a god. Now sit down and let me take a look at you."
Sam sat down, but put his hand out to keep his brother back. "I'm fine, Dean."
Dean pushed Sam's hand away. "You're not fine until I give you a look over and say that you're fine." He argued. "Now lift your shirt."
Sam sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alright..." He gave in and lifted his shirt slowly.
Dean's eyes grew wide in worry. "This doesn't look like you're fine." He said, a hand moving to put slight pressure on one of Sam's bruises. He had to see if any of the ribs felt broken or not. His brother's instant hiss told him that even if they weren't broken, they were causing some definite pain. He moved his hands around Sam's torso a bit, checking each rib, but none seemed to be broken. "I don't think any ribs are broken." He craned his head just right so he could check out his brother's backside, noting the bruise over the one kidney. It looked pretty dark and deep. "Does it hurt when you pee or is there any blood when you piss?" He asked, looking down at Sam. "And I expect an honest answer."
Sam let out a deep breath, not wanting to answer the question. "Uh, not really." He lied.
"What does that mean?" Dean shot back, voice stern. "Yes or no?"
"Maybe." Sam sighed. "But it's not too bad. I'm sure I'll be fine."
"Sam..." Dean said in that worrying mother hen tone.
"Dean, I'll be fine." Sam pushed his brother away so he could actually get into bed. "Maybe a little sore for a few days, but nothing I haven't dealt with before. And I'm tired. I promise I'll tell you if anything gets worse." He pulled the covers back and situated himself underneath them.
"Alright." Dean conceded. "Get some rest and we'll talk again in the morning." He moved to his own bed. As Sam rolled over, arms tucked around a pillow, he got his bed ready. Covers had already been pulled back, but he made sure his Taurus was tucked under one of the pillows and got himself comfortable. It wasn't too long after that, he'd fallen asleep to the start of the next Texas Ranger episode.
Dean awoke some time later in the night to an infomercial for a Sham WOW! He silently reached for the remote on the nightstand and turned off the TV. He rolled over to get comfortable again and try to slip back into sleep, but movement in the other bed caught his attention.
Sam rolled over and moaned. His feet kicked at the blankets and he rolled again. He moaned more as his body tensed and then he was kicking at the blankets some more.
Dean signed and rolled back to his other side so he could see over to his brother. It wasn't uncommon for Sam to have nightmares and even a few night terrors, especially after the kids time in hell with Lucifer and Michael.
Sam had himself completely tangled in the sheets by the time he caught his brother's attention. There was a sheen of sweat coating him and his hair was plastered to the side of his face. His eyes were screwed shut tightly and he was starting to mumble. "No..." His knee jerked out in the mess of blankets and then his head thrashed back and fourth a few times.
"Dammit..." Dean cursed. Whatever Sam was seeing, it had to be bad. He hadn't seen his brother thrash around this much during a nightmare in a long time. Sam had learned to sort of tame himself during some of his nightmares, but this wasn't one of those times. He pulled the covers back and slid his feet over the edge of the bed, waiting just a moment to see if his brother might settle down, but the next thing out of Sam's mouth surprised him and had him instantly on his feet.
"No..." Sam jerked again and made a painful cry. "Dad..." And just like that, Sammy was still.
Dean was at his brothers side in mere seconds, hands gently brushing the sweat soaked hair out his his face. "Sammy?" Sam's breathing was a little erratic, but other than that, the kid was still...the nightmare seemingly over. He sat by his brother's side for several minutes just watching and waiting, wondering if his brother would wake or drift into another nightmare, but he seemed to be ok for the time being. He sighed and went back to his own bed, settling in for a long night. No way would he get back to sleep now. He was in 'watch over Sammy' mode and he'd probably be up the rest of the night making sure Sam didn't have any more nightmares.
Sometime later, Sam rolled to his side and hugged the pillow with his arms like he usually did. The sheets were now a tangled ball at his feet. He seemed to be in a calming slumber. Dean thought he looked so peaceful and innocent in that moment, but he had no idea the turmoil going on inside the younger man's brain.
Sammy stiffened and Dean couldn't help but do the same, watching curiously to see if something was wrong. Despite being tense all of a sudden, the younger man didn't move or make a sound at first.
In his mind, Sam was awake and sitting on the motel bed. He was thinking about the dream he'd just had. Nightmare was more of a better word for it. He was at Plucky's and a clown had cornered him just outside the bathrooms, it's eyes black as the night sky. The clown proceeded to drag him out behind the place and started assaulting him. He'd tried to get free, but that had only aggravated the clown more and eventually the clown started tearing at his clothes, trying to get him naked. It was going to rape him. Just when he thought he'd be violated, his father stopped the clown with a series of bullets and then...then he was back in the motel room just sitting on the bed.
He looked around confused, eyes landing on the lump in the other bed. "Dean?" He asked, voice shaky.
An arm pushed the covers back and Sam was met with a familiar pair of icy blue eyes. "Guess again, Sammy."
Sam scrambled to the other side of his bed, hand immediately going to an old scar on his hand and pushing on it absently.
"Aw, come on." Lucifer sneered, sitting up in bed. "You can't tell me that old hand trick is still working."
"No, no...you're not real." Sam stuttered.
"And neither was that clown in your dreams..." Lucifer sneered, hanging his legs over the edge of the bed. "Oh wait..." He smiled in that devilish way. "He was real."
"You're lying." Sam said, still pushing on the hand scar. "I don't remember that ever happening."
"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy..." Lucifer shook his head a few times. "When that damn inside your head broke, all your memories came back. Not just your best memories of me or your time soulless."
Sam's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand."
Lucifer stood and walked closer to Sam, who only backed away further until he hit the wall and couldn't go back any further. "I guess dear old Dad never told you the truth about why you ended up in the hospital when you were thirteen after that trip to clown central, AKA Plucky's."
Sam looked even more confused, so Lucifer continued. "See, John was out interrogating demons and learned some interesting things about your mothers death and about you. Fortunately, one of the demons snaked away and decided to go after you. He took over some low life clown." He reached Sam, hand going around his throat, merely to pin him in place. Sam made a useless struggle, which only seemed to excite Lucifer more. "The clown was this close..." He moved his face mere inches from Sam's, his other hand going down to grope Sam through his sleep pants. "...to fucking you, when John just had to intervene."
Sam bucked at Lucifer, trying to get free. "The demon couldn't finish the job, so he knocked you around a bit instead." The hand around his neck grew tighter and Lucifer pulled him out from the wall just long enough to slam him back hard, head hitting with a painful thud."Guess he did a good number on your noggin and you couldn't remember a single bit of what happened that day." He was slammed a second time and everything went dark.
Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments. As mentioned above, there should be one more update soon to finish this story out. Thanks for reading.