Disclaimer: I do not own anything Supernatural, it is all property of the CW11 Network, and whatnot, so don't sue me, please.
Chapter 9
Bobby Singer let out a low groan as a loud banging on his front door roused him from his sleep. He hauled himself out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe, hair mused and mood deeply annoyed, he made his way downstairs.
It was 2:OO in the morning for Pete's sack, A man needed his sleep.
As he reached the ground floor, his as of yet unknown visitor banged loudly on the door again.
" Hold your horses, I'm comin!" Called Bobby with another grumble as he reached for the door knob.
" Do you realize what hour..." Bobby began as he yanked the door open but his voice died in his throat as he came face to face with the haggard and pale visages of John and Dean Winchester.
" H-Hey Bobby." Said John, his voice mostly a scratchy whisper, he stood pale and looking decades older than he really was.
Behind him, Dean stood pale and silent. Deep circles under his eyes, which were vacant and downcast, staring at the faded wood of Bobby's porch. He swayed a little where he stood.
" John? Dean? What're you guys doin' here?" Asked Bobby, very startled to see the two Winchester's.
But where was Sam, where was the youngest Winchester?
He was about to voice that question when he watched Dean's bottom lip begin to tremble as tears welled in his eyes, eyes that had yet to look up from the floor.
John followed Bobby's gaze and turned to face his oldest son... Now his only son and felt his already shattered heart shatter further.
" C-Can we come in Bobby?" Asked John temporarily turning back to Bobby.
" C'mon." Said Bobby, his voice serious and his gaze one of the utmost concern as he stepped aside to let them in.
John reached out and gently gripped Dean's arm and gently tugged his son into motion. As if on auto-pilot, Dean allowed his father to gently drag him into the house, Bobby shutting the door once they were safely inside.
" You guys can sit in the den, I'll go make some coffee." Said Bobby quietly. John nodded while Dean was still utterly silent his expression however was no longer stony, Bobby could see that the young man was tried desperately to regain his composure.
With a feeling of dred and foreboding slowly building within his own heart, Bobby disappeared into the kitchen to make the said drink.
John and Dean both made it to one of Bobby's beat up sofas and collapsed bonelessly onto the old piece of furniture.
Father and Son sat in absolute silence, the memories they'd both been battling vehemently for the last twenty four-hours returning, inevitably assailing their minds.
It had only been a few mere hours since... It had happened. After the Fire and Rescue teams had cleared the room and put out the inferno that had engulfed all of of it, John and Dean had sat in a daze for God knows how long until a pair of police officers came up and gently questioned them. Gathering whatever frayed witts they had, John and Dean came up with a false story. It had satisfied the officers and after they'd left, the two Winchester's had bailed, running to the Impala and making a clean get-away. They had driven out of the town as fast as they could, John behind the wheel, not stopping until they were at Bobby's front door.
This however, was just a small stop on the way back to Lawrence, Kansas... What was once home.
Missouri Mosely would be waiting for them. She'd called John on his cell shortly after she'd awoken with a feeling of absolute dread threatening to drown her.
The Winchester Patriarch had confirmed her worst fears in that phone call. With a teary voice, she'd all but ordered him and Dean back to Lawrence at once.
For now, both Winchester's sat on bobby's sofa, lost and alone in total misery. They'd both been to exhausted to continue but they knew that sleep was out of the question, so they stopped at the closest shelter they could think of.
A little while later, Bobby returned with two steaming mugs of fresh brew. He held one out to each man.
John snapped out of his trance first and accepted the mug with a mumbled " Thanks".
Dean slowly reached out but for the remaining mug, Bobby could see how the young man's hands were trembling.
" Easy." He said softly as he gently pushed the cup into Dean's hands instead of letting the man try to reach out and grip the offered beverage with such unsteady hands. Bobby then pulled a chair up for himself to sit down.
" T-Thank you." Whispered Dean as he took a sip of the soothing hot liquid.
John watched his child with sad eyes.
Licking his lips, Bobby spoke, choosing his words very carefully and talking slowly.
" Dean, John, what's goin on? What're you guys doing here?... Where's Sam?"
Bobby's answer was the sound of a mug of coffee crashing onto the floor. The noise was amplified by the other wise deathly silent room.
Bobby watched stunned as Dean let out a wail a sheer agony, raw and filled with anguish as the tears finally burst from his eyes.
" SAMMY'S DEAD! I DON'T HAVE A BABY BROTHER ANYMORE!!!" Screamed Dean as he broke down into terrible, heartbreaking sobs.
John quickly set his mug of coffee down on the floor before he lashed out and wrapped his arms around his son, crushing him to his chest as Dean continued to wail in anguish.
As he held his weeping son, John looked up at Bobby and stared at the look of absolute astonishment and disbelief etched across the seasoned hunter's face.
He spoke, his voice a ghost of it's usually deep and strong timbre.
" My baby boy's dead Bobby. My son's gone. My baby son's g-gone."
Then, John let his own anguish wash over him as he crushed Dean to him, holding on to all that was left of his family with everything he had, sobs wracking through his body as tears fell in torrents from his own eyes.
Bobby Singer sat stunned by this terrible revelation.
Memories of a tall, lanky kid with innocent, puppy-dog eyes the color of Moss, a big toothy grin with dimples one could dive in, assailed his mind.
A kid who was now dead and gone, according to his father and brother.
" Oh God." Whispered Bobby as he stared in disbelief at the two shattered men currently occupying his sofa in disbelief.
What the hell had happened?
Elsewhere, in a place a place just out of reach from the rest of the world...
Alkaya let out a sigh that formed into a fine white mist as she stood in the clearing of a dense forrest, in the dead of night with the starfilled night sky her only company.
Her now pale, milky white-blue eyes stared out at the empty, frost covered scenery before her.
" C'mon Samuel, don't keep me waiting." Mumbled Alkaya to herself as she buried her hands into the pockets of her flowing black, wool coat, her face partially hidden by the large hood, a few of her many braids of hair spilling out and framing her heart-shaped face. ( Think of the Girl's black coat from AFI's " Love Like Winter." )
A full eight hours had passed since Sam had surrendered to a illusionary death, now Alkaya stood waiting for her charge to make his reappearance to the land of the living.
As the minutes ticked by with still no sign of the young man, Alkaya began to feel worry seep into her heart, she prayed with everything she had that he'd been strong enough to survive the very brutal false death.
It had been death in all it's pain and blazing glory, but the illusion was in that Sam wouldn't stay dead for very long, his body, his soul, and his mind would all be reassembled and fully healed. After all, Sam had been recovering from some very grevious wounds before he'd made the choice, and started on the path against Evil, the path of eternal light.
Then, a small spark of electric blue energy crackled through the previously silently air.
" Finally." Thought Alkaya as she felt relief wash over her, now she stood back and watched.
The fireworks were about to fly.
Another spark of blue electricity crackled through the cold, night air, this one stronger then the first little flicker. This was followed by several more sparks and crackles of energy.
Then, a crash of unearthly sound boomed through the air as the ground began to tremble and shake, ominous looking clouds gathered over head as a viscious wind howled and raged, bombarding everything in it's path.
Alkaya stood firm against the chaos, her long black coat billowing around her in the wind as she waited, her gaze intently held upwards towards the sky.
With another loud crash, gigantic blue bolts of sizzling hot lightening erupted from the now cloudy heavens, they careened like missiles towards the frost covered dirt of the clearing and when these awesome bolts of energy made contact with the ground, a blinding bright light swallowed up everything in the clearing.
" I should've brought some shades." Muttered Alkaya to herself as she squinted against the light that nearly matched the own color of her eyes.
For a few seconds, there was nothing but the high luminosity and then, something small and dark caught Alkaya's within the light.
This small dark shape slowly began to grow in size and shape with each passing second as the charged air crackled and sparked.
At first, it was no more the charred remnants that had been left from a fiery demise. But slowly, the molecules and cells began to rebuild themselves and soon, bones, sinews, mucles, veins and organs were formed a new.
Then, layers of skin, finger nails, and hair reformed themselves over the newly reamde inner body.
A primal, earthshattering scream eminated through newly reformed vocal cords as Samuel Winchester returned to the land of the living, albeit very painfully.
Sam's eyes flew open, alight with power, pale and glowing ten times stronger than they had back at the cabin when he'd faced off against the Yellow Eyed Demon.
Another scream ripped itself from Sam's throat from where he stood, literally in the middle of a vortex of power.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Then, Sam's knees buckled beneath him, unable to support his weight so soon after being regenerated. He crumbled to the ground in a naked heap, unconscious and exhausted, but above all, very much alive.
The light then began to flicker and fade, the wind gave it's final howl and the earth shook one last time before it fell still.
Then, the light simply vanished into nothing, leaving a very annoyed Alkaya blinking her eyes furiously against the white spots that were dancing across her vision, making it very difficult to see at the moment.
After several blinks, her vision began to clear and she looked at the now deathly silent clearing, which lay in shambles with broken branches, tree leaves, and snow strewn everywhere save for the very center of the clearing, where the vortex had been, the ground was charred and black save for a pale, unmoving lump that lay amonst the sea of charred dirt.
With a shaky breath, Alkaya slowly took a step forwards, the ground crunched and crackled weakly with residual energy under her boot clad feet as she slowly made her way across the charred land into the center of the clearing.
She gracefully sank to her knees beside the unconscious young man, pasuing a moment to look him over( Mind you, not in a perverted way seeing as to how our beloved Sammy's got nothin on but his birthday suit.), she was gladened to see that he was without a mark on him.
Brand new.
Then, she raised her left hand halfway up into the air and with a flick of her wrist, a large woolen blanket materialized out of nowhere. With great care, Alkaya draped the blanket over Sam's unconscious form covering him up as best she could against the cold, until she got him back to the compound.
With a sigh, Alkaya reached out and ran a gentle hand through Sam's chocolate brown hair before she smiled softly and sadly at just how much this young soul had had to endure so far and what he'd have to endure in the not so far away future.
With another soft sigh, she spoke, her voice almost a whisper.
" Welcome back Bean Stalk."