A/N: Many nights Kim and I argue about who Dean belongs to, well, sadly he doesn't belong to any of us. So, no, I don't own Sam or Dean or Supernatural.

Explanations after the chapter.

Chapter 12: Reality or Illusion

Liz froze to the sight of them all coming toward her direction, trapping her. There was no escape.

"What did you do mother???" Liz shouted. For the first time in years, she was experiencing a human feeling, maybe the worst of them. Fear. All the ghosts, all of her victims, were coming closer and closer, slowly, like hungry lions and she was the prey.

"It's time to go Liz, you've done enough". The old woman said, taking lead toward her daughter followed by an army of victims. "I released them, you can't keep those souls as your slaves, it's not your right".

"You stupid bitch! You've no idea of what you've just done!! You've no idea". She said dreading them, her voice sounded like a child again, scared of a monster in her closet. A monster unleashed by her own mother.

Dean looked up, observing the black clouds moving like huge waves in the sea, in black and dark red, rolling back and fourth. He let the water fall over his dirty, hurt face, the rain was soothing now, not as severe as before, the thunder and lightening was still striking and lighting up the farm. One second to put his thoughts together. Sam. He had to get Sam. His eyes once again checked his enemy, the previous powerful ghost was entertained with her own hellish problems.

"Jeez". Dean said as he realized what was happening. The ghosts wanted revenge against Liz. Things were going to get ugly. He took the chance, as Liz was distracted, to crawl to Marie. He was still in pain, though his pain was not as great as before. Liz seemed to have bigger issues to deal with then torturing them. With the sky falling on their heads, and more supernatural then they could hold loose around them, he didn't see much choice for now then let things happen and focus on getting his brother from his prison. With much effort he got to his knees, his body complained. Even his well trained muscles complained. The wounds on his back, which were still pretty fresh, were aching like acid once again. Hand after hand on the mud he started crawling his way toward his brother.

Each and every single one of those ghosts, had such hatred craved on their faces. Time had passed by, but anger had just increased. Anger of a stolen life and taken soul. Liz's sordid imagination had thought of a extremely painful death for each one. She hadn't measured her efforts to accomplish that. The smell of death was emanating all over the place, a rotting sensation hovered upon them. All of them had their hearts beating fast. This situation would end here and now. The ghosts were letting out loud moans, as if they could still feel the inflicted pain, sounds that seemed to have been unburied from tombs of damned souls.

Marie was breathing heavily, her hands were full of fresh cuts, still bleeding and mixing with the wet dirt she was removing determined. "I'm coming Sam, I'm coming". She kept saying, blocking all the other things happening. The loud thunders didn't help, scaring her every time. "I have a life to save". She said with tears falling warm from her eyes. If there was a hell, she was sure was in it. Never in her life had she expected to live through something like this.
"What the hell is going on?" She whispered never neglecting her task.

While digging she felt a hand grab her shoulder. She wanted to scream, turn around and run away all at the same time, but she couldn't do any of those things, the scream got stuck in her throat, and her body froze in the position she was in.
"Please don't kill me". Was all she could say. Pretty stupid due to the situation. People tended to get irrational in fucked up moments.

"It's me". Dean croaked kneeling beside her. If things weren't shitty enough he'd have laughed at her reaction. Marie had been so focused she didn't even notice Dean approaching her.
"You son of a bitch! Don't do that!" Marie said. Her hands got back to digging automatically when she saw Dean's face. He was hurt and sure useless to protect her, however she felt a little bit more relieved to have him by her side. Dean joined his hands with hers and started digging too, as fast as he could.

"Dean what the hell is...?" Marie's question was interrupted when things went, without a warning, pitch black and silent. No lightening, no thunder, no moans. All that could be heard was both Marie's and Dean's breathing getting louder, faster, they were panting. It was like being a child again and waking up in the middle of a stormy night, alone on your bed, all lights off, no power and no candles nearby. Their eyes were wide opened and still they felt as if they were blind. They felt as if they were alone in the world. Marie never liked the dark. When she was young, she remembered waking up like that. Her huge bedroom was far from her parent's. Many nights, when a storm was falling over the farm, she woke up scared, alone in the dark. There was nothing worse to her, than not being able to see a damn thing. She felt difficulties to breath right away, as she was feeling now, the dark seemed to suffocate her. So many nights like that, she yelled to her mother, yelled loud and desperately as if she was dying. Coincidence or not, her mother was always already by the door when she yelled. They always ended up waking up at the same time in those dark nights.
This time, her mom wouldn't be there to help her breath or find some candle to light up.

Time seemed to have stopped, they couldn't see their own hands before their eyes.
Fear, heavy breathing, chests going up and down fast, no sight. The rain stopped along with the lightening and the thunders. Seconds started to pass by, time was hard to tell or measure. For a few good seconds nothing was happening, even the crawling sound from the ghosts had ceased.

"Dean?" Marie said in a weeping way.
"I'm here". He said swallowing hard.

They waited, for a sound, any sound besides their own breathing echoing through the darkness.

Silence, silence, silence. There were so many types of silence. For Dean, silence was never soothing, never a Sunday afternoon type of silence. It was always troubling silence, or death silence, fear silence, like that one.

Nothing, nothing, no sound.
Heavier breathing, loud...
Pitch black dark...

"Mother??!" They heard Liz crying in her childish voice.
"It'll be over soon...it'll be over soon", Ghostly screams echoing through the vast field
Heavy breathing...
Agonizing moans started again... a symphony.
Time was moving again...slow...

"Mom??!! Mom???" Liz screamed at the top of her voice.
Still dark.

"No!! Get away!! Mom!! Don't let them get me!!!" Dragging steps closed in.
"We were waiting Liz..." A male voice whispered coldly.
"Waiting so anxious for this day..." Another said.

"Dean??" Marie said panting. Her hands dug and stopped in the dirt
"Keep digging!! Keep digging!" Sam was running out of air.
"I can't see a damn thing, what's happening!!" Her hands got back into action.
"I don't know!! I don't know!! Dig!". He knew what was happening.

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Sam's eyes shot opened abruptly. He had heard muffled sounds. His mind was confused. Was he dreaming or awake? Was he dead, alive, semi-dead? He took a deep breath, his lungs didn't fill completely. He was alive, but dying, his air supply was running out fast.

"Keep digging!" He seemed to have heard. That sounded like Dean when he was desperate. Was it really Dean? He didn't want to believe his mind anymore.

"We're coming!!" A female voice. Marie. Dean had said she was more sarcastic than him. Sam opened a slight smile. A girl was more sarcastic than him. Lack of oxygen, Sam thought he was dreaming.

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"Time to join us..." A strong voice yelled out like a warrior declaring war. That was the green sign to go forward against the enemy.
"Nooooooo!!!!!!!" Liz shouted. The sounds of the night changed. No more dragging steps, no more moans. Marie and Dean could only hear Liz's tragic fate, she had it coming. Their hands were blindly digging, the hole was bigger now. Hopefully they'd find Sam soon.

"Hang in there Sam! I'm coming!" Dean shouted, he wished he could hear only his own voice yelling and nothing more but Liz's screams filled his ears.

They had no idea of what was actually being done to Liz, but whatever it was sounded painful, even for a ghost. The sounds they heard, mixed with her screams, were of a human body being torn apart. As if flesh was being plucked from bones, members being dislocated and removed without surgical instruments. Bones being broken, eyes being smashed in the palm of someone's hand, arms and legs being chopped piece by piece like a baguette. Yes, those were the images passing by Dean's head, they were so similar. But as ghosts, he could imagine that what they were doing was much worse than tearing a human being into little meat pieces.

"Damn it!" He said.
"MOM!!!!!" A child screaming for her mother. "Mom!! Mom!! Help me please!! It hurts!!"
"It'll be over soon". Rose's voice sounded regretful. But this had to be done.

"Sam!!! Sam!!!" Marie shouted when her nails scratched what she imagined to be wood.

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Sam!!! Sam!!! The voice got closer. Sam's thoughts were confused. He heard something scratch above his head on the wood.
"Marie?" He croaked. His voice was difficult even for him to hear. Screams, he could hear desperate screams. Not from Marie.

"Focus Sam". He said to himself. "I'm not dead". Reality, dream, illusion. He had to tell them apart. Coffin was reality, the screams could be illusion, but could be reality. Marie, was she really there? Was Dean?

"Sam?" That was Dean's voice. Reality, he heard noises on the top of his coffin. Reality, he had to go for reality. It was his only chance. He had to find the strength to yell back, to show his brother he was alive, barely but alive. Dean couldn't think he was dead and leave him there. No, Dean would never do that. Or would he?
Tears started coming down from Sam's eyes. Dean couldn't leave him there.

"Dean?" His voice came out as a whisper. "Dean?" He tried to gather his strength to speak louder. He had no strength. But he didn't want to stay there. No air, no air, he'd be dead soon. He had to shout, he had find a way to show his brother he was still alive.

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Dean made a fist and knocked on the wood. Sam had to hang in there, he couldn't give up.
Marie touched the sides of the coffin looking for the handle or something to open it. Her hands were her eyes now, light or no light, Sam was there and he was almost out. She passed her fingers through the rotten wet wood. Slowly, feeling the coffin to find what she wanted.

"Hang in there Sam!! We 're here!" Dean yelled doing the same with his hands on the other side of the coffin.

Liz's screams still echoed, along with pleased laughs from the victims... Rose seemed to be weeping and laughing at the same time.

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"Dean??" Sam also made a fist and knocked the top of his prison "I'm alive! Don't leave me". His voice was still a whisper. "Don't leave me".

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Dean heard a knock back, from the inside. "He's alive!! Sam!! I'm here. I'm here!!"
"Dean, the coffin has two locks, but they are stuck. I can't pull them to get it open". Marie said, feeling two metal things closing the wood box.

"I don't wanna go!!" Liz 's pleas were getting muffled. Marie wanted to cover her ears not to listen. A person being eaten alive by a bear was pretty much what Liz's screams sounded like. Her screams were shutting out the previous silence.

"Damn it". He touched the floor, carefully looking for Marie. He touched her thigh.
"Hey". She said as she felt him grabbing her tightly.
"Oops. Sorry. I was trying to grab your shoulder". Dean apologized honestly, but not regretting the spot he accidentally touched.
"Here!" She yelled, trying to speak louder than the screams grabbing his hand from her thigh. Dean let her lead his hands to the metal lock. He never thought he'd miss having a damn flashlight so much.

"Let go of me!!!" Liz sounded more and more desperate.
"You got it!!!?" Marie asked.
"Yes, I can feel it. I can get it open, keep calling for Sam". He said using his energy, the little he had left trying to unlock the damn thing.

"Just a little more Sam!" She shouted, also knocking on the wood.

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"Get me out! Dean! Please!" Sam kept hitting the top of the coffin with his fists in despair.

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"Just a a sec Sam! Almost there! Almost there!" Dean answered back, also at the top of his voice.

"No! No! No!! Please ! Don't!!!"

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"Can't breath... can't breath"
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"Sam!!" Dean pulled the metal lock with all his strength. "Sam!!"
"Hurry up Dean!" Marie kept knocking on the top of the coffin.
"I'm trying! I'm trying!!!"

"That's enough!" Rose shouted not being able to handle her daughter's pleas anymore. It was time to end that.

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"Dean..." Sam stopped hitting the top of his coffin, he felt as if he was drifting away. Floating somewhere, far from that box, far from that mess, far from everything that hurt.

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"Almost! Almost!" Dean shouted when he got the first lock opened.
"Come on!!" Marie was getting impatient.

"Time to go!!! A severe voice shouted. "Sweet Liz" He finished maliciously.
"Nooooooo!!!" As Liz shouted the floor started shaking strongly, as if an earthquake had began.

"What the fuck is that now??" Marie shouted not knowing where to stare, which didn't really matter.
"For fuck's sake!" Dean cussed as he felt the metal lock and the coffin shaking along with the earth below them. His hands got lost from the metal lock with the swinging. He placed one of his hands steadily on the top of the coffin to get balance and tried again, to grope the side to find the other lock. "Damn it!"

Small cracks began opening on the vast floor across the whole field, like the cracks on extremely dry sand or just like in the movies, Armageddon movies. It was almost like a live drawing on a dark painting. Things happened way too fast.

Earth started shaking...
Cracks started opening ...

And suddenly, a bright, blinding light, spread through the whole field, as if an atomic bomb had exploded and eaten the darkness, for just one quick second, and things went dark again. Marie sheltered her eyes as fast as she could, covering them with her arms.
Dean did the same, reflexively.
All they could see though, in that brief moment of curiosity, before sheltering their eyes, were the rotting victims, being sucked down. As if those cracks were swallowing them hungrily, pulling Liz and Rose along with them. One muffled scream from Liz, and it was over. Just like that, a second. The light and the ghosts were gone, disappeared like in a magic act.
The earth stopped shaking and cracks stopped opening. The farm went silent once again.
The dark cloud in the sky that had come along with the ghosts, also began dissipating, opening a passage for some light to pass through, it was dissipating slowly, like in a foggy morning, when the sun little by little, warmed the day, making the fog disappear.

"My fucking God! Where did they go to? What happened?" Marie asked still processing the image of the ghost being sucked down.

"Answers later Marie! Help me out here will ya?" Dean said, also impressed with all that had happened. He'd have time to think about it once Sam was above the ground.
Taking advantage of the dim light coming from a less dark sky, he was able to find the second lock and unlocked it.

"Be okay Sam, please be ok" He said, taking a deep breath, expecting the worse but hoping for the best as he lifted the top.
Marie immediately covered her mouth with her hands in shock. "Is he alive?" She asked in a way as if she was going to cry.

Dean took his brother in his arms, took him from the box and placed him above the ground, on the mud. Dean placed his finger on his brother's neck to feel for a pulse.

"He has a pulse, not very strong but he has a pulse". Dean croaked.
"Is he going to be ok?" Marie asked passing her hands gently through Sam's forehead.
"Sam? Come on dude, wake up. You're out, you can breath now". Dean said shaking his brother by the shoulder. "Wake up".

"Give him a minute Dean".
"Sammy please. We just went through hell here, this damn situation is finally over. I just need you to wake up and we can go". Seeing his brother like that, so vulnerable, so quiet, so weak, Dean cussed himself again for telling Sam to go finish the job alone.
"His breathing is a little shallow". Marie noticed that even above the ground, Sam seemed to feel difficulties breathing.

"Well then help him damn it!!" Dean snapped. Not even he knew what he was expecting Marie to do, what could she do to help Sam? Dean usually took all the protecting his bro job to himself, unless when he was desperate and clueless of what to do.
"You have to help him!! He's your brother! There's nothing I can do Dean, he's breathing and he has a pulse. Sam needs you, not me". Marie snapped back at Dean.

Both of them stared at Sam without blinking with high hopes. Sam had been through much more difficult situations before, he had been more injured before. He could snap out of this one too. He just had to tell reality apart from illusion. Maybe his mind was still trapped inside the coffin. Marie calmed herself down.

"He's breathing Dean, the rest is up to you. Being buried alive, can be a little disturbing, confusing you know?" Marie gave Dean some space.
He approached his brother and took Sam's hand in his, squeezing it hard.
"Hey Sammy. I know, you must be having some hard time here, inside this confused mind of yours, I don't blame you. But I need you to believe me now. Believe that its me right here, holding your hand, telling you that you're outta that coffin. You're alive, breathing and scaring the shit outta me. It's not a dream ok? I need you to open your eyes...please Sammy". Some chick flick moments were necessary even for Dean.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, I should have known better, but I wish you'd open your eyes, just to kick my ass right now".

Nothing. No reply, no reaction. Dean waited, with his heart and soul for his words to sink in. High expectations, seconds were too long. Marie started biting her nails to hide her anxiety.

A few more seconds passed by, just a few...

Sam slightly moved his eyes. "Sammy?" Dean called squeezing his hand a bit more. "Sam, wake up. You can do it".
"Dean?" Sam croaked. Marie opened a huge smile. Dean let out a relieved sigh he didn't even know he had been holding.
"I'm here Sammy. I'm here".
"What happened?" Sam asked, looking around him, voice hoarse and low. No wood, no box, no sound of dripping water. He remembered all that and got to his knees abruptly, scared, making sure he wasn't dreaming in fact.
"Liz buried me". Sam said, swallowing hard, recalling his lucid moments. His voice slowly gathering its strength to speak louder due to his worry.
Dean licked his bottom lip, like he always did when he needed to stall to say something.

"Yes, she did. I'm sorry about that Sammy, I didn't know she was planning something like that, but that doesn't matter now. We got you out, and Liz's gone, she will never hurt a soul again. Never". Dean said helping his brother to his feet. Sam could see in Dean's eyes, the old look he was so used to seeing. Guilt. Dean seemed to always be feeling guilty about something.

"You didn't know". Sam knew Dean had a shit load of guilt to carry already. "Besides, I knew my big brother would come for me". He grinned showing his brother it was ok, at least he was out and safe.

" Don't want to ruin this beautiful moment between you but...we should get going, I don't think you guys want to hang out here anymore than I do". Marie said rubbing her arms. Good old chills were back.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind going back to the car. But tell me, Liz's bones... weren't here. The coffin was empty. How's she gone?" The question came from a confused Sam, his voice back to its normal tone.

"Her mom, kind of came back with all the victims she killed, don't ask me how, and after a freaking black out, I don't know, they were sucked down by cracks that opened in the middle of the field". Dean gave Sam the short version.

"How was that all possible anyway? It happened so fast". Marie asked as they started walking, trying to make their ways outta that field and back to the car.

"The supernatural is hard to explain. Some things happen, and we don't have an explanation for it. Mainly with ghosts, sometimes they have such hatred inside of them, such strong memories of their lives, they can be pretty stubborn". Sam gave his own version of what might have happened.

"Dean! I think Rose was the one who whispered for you to take the right direction!" Marie said, thinking about the voice who whispered to Dean.
"Maybe. I don't really wanna know, Sam's ok and that's what I care about".
"Aw man, don't say you want a hug". Sam made fun.
"Shut up Sam". Dean joked back.

They walked and walked, through thee vast field, still in colors of grey. The place seemed to be even bigger now, as they wanted so bad to be out of that farm. Even being all dirty with mud, tired, hurt, freaking hungry, they walked determined, without stopping. The wish to see something else than grey was bigger than all their tiredness.

Little by little, the path was gradually, getting more... cheerful. Some green on one tree, then some grass, another tree. Until they reached the place where everything had started, in the middle of the weird trees, with the old marks carved, where the sun, was still shining.

"I never thought I would be so happy to see the sun". Sam said taking a moment to take deep breaths and feel the warmth from the sun.

"Well I sure like to see some colors for a change". Marie said.
"You guys want some time to write poetry too?" Dean said still walking. The only color he wanted to see was the shining black of his baby.

"You guys are giving me a ride home right?" Marie asked. Her farm wasn't that far but, boy her legs were too tired.
"What do I get if I do that?" Dean teased. Sam shook his head. Things were after all back to normal.

"I can't really say in front of Sam". Marie teased back. "Or maybe, Sam could join us". She completed her thought.
Dean stopped on his heel suddenly and looked at Sam... asking him... a silent question.

"No!" Sam said frowning.
"Come on dude!" Dean said catching up with Marie who had kept walking.

"I was joking Dean, don't get too excited".
"Joking about what? The sex or the threesome?" Dean asked Marie naively.
"Oh please" She said ignoring him.
"What was she joking about?" Dean asked looking at Sam.
"You're pathetic, you know that?" Sam replied.
"Joking about what??" Dean shouted as he ran to Marie's side. They kept making their way through the trees to get to the car.

The End.

Ok guys, I can't be sorry enough for taking this long to update and finish this fic. But my excuse is, well, the same I always use cause it's true!! College and work!! Now I'm on vacation from college but not work.

That was last chapter, I really hope you enjoyed this fic. I enjoyed writing it for you and I sure loved all the reviews and opinions. Reviews mean the world to me!! So big thanks!!

And I intend on writing another, it's my addiction, I can't stop lol!

Big Thanks to: Kim (for all the help and much more), Claire, Michele, Alex, Winchester494, qazuni, friendly, Rae666, Miz Predictable, supernatural fan, ephiny63, Poppyflake, dean-supernatural-sam, Cbloom, heather03nmg, mollieclarke, Eshlyn Kar, wcfan, Colby's girl, Dawn Vesper, crazy4jensen, MacCarteney, Firezombie, lakariana, Taiven.

PS: For the ones reading my other fic, I'll update it as soon as I have a funny idea.

Thanks you all guys!! Hope to see you again soon!!!

Have a great weekend!!

Lil.