Chapter 16
Up, Up, and Away
Dean shoved open the door leading onto the roof of the Hartley complex in what passed for downtown Black Rock. He was surprised to see Sam standing by the ledge overlooking the parking lot, peering down at the concrete, obvious to anyone below who bothered to look up.
"Thought you were better at the whole stake-out thing than this," Dean said, letting the door shut behind him and drawing his jacket closer to his body, grimacing at the sound of the dry corn husks he'd collected on the way over crackling inside his jacket.
Sammy shrugged. "Not really anyone out and about here, anyway."
"No one but Kristen," the older man reminded, "and speaking of-"
"Yeah, about that," Sam muttered, turning to face his brother, "she left."
"You let her leave?"
"What was I supposed to do, Dean? Jump off the roof to try and stop her?"
"Did you at least see which way she went?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. She's driving a black hummer. She headed east. If you fly-"
"We've been over this. I can't fly."
"You can't, or you don't want to?"
"I can't," Dean sighed, "I tried. And when did this become about me?"
"It's always been about you," Sam replied sadly, shaking his head. "I mean, you get all the powers of Superman and you don't even try-"
"I told you-"
"How many times? How many times did you try?"
"Once. That was enough. Look, Sam, shouldn't we be trying to find this girl?"
"She'll be fine. Trust me. You need to face your fears."
"This is ridiculous. That girl is in danger."
Sam hung his head. "You need motivation," he muttered, his voice low enough that even Dean had trouble hearing his brother's words. Looking up at the older man with sad, pitying eyes, Sam took a step back toward the ledge.
"Sammy?"
"You've gotta learn to spread you wings eventually, Dean." He took another step back.
"Sam." The elder hunter's tone was warning, but that didn't stop the younger man from taking one final step backwards and off the roof. Dean didn't think about what he was doing, he just lunged at the edge of the building as he saw his brother's body disappear over the side.
He was in free fall instantly, propelled by his own motion over the side and toward the ground. He closed his eyes, blocking out the concrete that rushed toward him too fast for comfort, awaiting an impact that never came.
Gulping back his fear at what he might find, Dean opened his eyes. The concrete of the sidewalk was about a foot below his nose, stationary, no longer rushing at him, threatening to turn him into a splatter on the street.
From behind him, he heard the sound of clapping. As soon as he turned to face the noise, Dean fell, hitting the sidewalk hard. Sam stepped out of the shadows, a large smile plastered on his face, his hands beating against one another in a slow rhythm.
"Congratulations," Sammy gushed, "I knew you could do it!"
Dean stared up at his brother, pushing himself up on his knees to get a better look at the taller man. "What?"
"You flew. Well, sort of. More like panicked floating, but it's a start. And here you thought you couldn't do it."
The older man scrambled to his feet. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have died!"
Sam shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets, his smile widening. "No. That's not gonna be a problem anymore."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked. His mind had slowed, his thoughts running like molasses, still reeling from his fall.
"I'm not gonna die," Sam clarified, "we can go after whatever has your soul. Dean, I've got a plan and everything."
"You fell off the roof."
"Not really." Sam ducked is head, avoiding his brother's slightly dazed eyes, waiting for the older man to come farther from his stupor before revealing everything to him. "You really should try to fly, Dean." he said softly, "it's so… freeing."
Dean blinked, his eyes clearing, thoughts resuming their normal speed, brain screaming at him that something was wrong. "How would you know that?"
Sam's eyes came up, shining with deception, forbidden knowledge, something dark that hadn't been there a week before. "That's for me to know, and you to find out." He smiled, his feet lifting up off the ground, body floating two feet in the air. "Catch me if you can." He flew off.