Disclaimer- Supernatural and all its characters belong to the CW and Kripke.
Sorry for the delay in posting. I was placed on the textbook adoption committee at my school Friday. I've spent most of the weekend examining and writing up different science textbooks for today.
Previously on Supernatural- Walking over to the cliff's edge, the young girl gazed down at her small friend. She smiled upon hearing a dog's bark in the distance. "Don't worry, Sammy. Help's coming" she whispered as she slowly vanished.
Muffin blasted out of the woods and skidded to a stop at the cliff's edge. Tail wagging she looked down at her friend and yipped at him before turning back and racing to the trees. Not seeing the hunters she loudly barked several times attempting to bring them to her quickly. After a minute she caught sight of the men rushing toward her. With one last bark at the group Muffin turned and trotted back to the cliff's edge to stand guard over her friend.
John was just about ready to give up on following the dog when he saw her sitting next to the last few trees in the woods. He couldn't believe it. She'd managed to lead them out of the woods. He stared as the pup turned and walked toward a cliff. His heart froze when he saw the little dog sit at the edge and look down at something. "Oh, God no, not Sammy" his mind screamed as it registered who she was gazing at. Calling on all his reserves John sprinted over desperate to get to the cliff's edge and his son. He fell to his knees as he reached the edge. Looking down John wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him. His baby boy was lying unnaturally still on a ledge a few feet down. "No! Sammy!" he cried out. Memories of his young son flooded his mind as he took in the scene before him. "I'm too late." he thought. "Sammy's gone. I've lost him." John retreated into himself unaware of the others coming up beside him.
Bobby raced toward the cliff refusing to believe that they would find John's youngest at the bottom. They had all been through too much to lose him now. "Dumb dog's probably looking at a bird's nest or something" he tried to tell himself as he came to a stop beside the dog. Hearing John cry out was all the confirmation Bobby needed. The dog wasn't looking at a bird; it was looking at Sam. Steeling himself Bobby glanced down the cliff to see Sammy lying motionless on a ledge. Hearing Dean coming up behind him Bobby turned and grabbed the boy not wanting him to see the horrible scene. Dean fought him all the way but Bobby was able to drag him away from the edge before the boy could see anything. He was still fighting with the child when he heard the officer speak.
Officer Wilson had stopped at the border of the woods when he heard John's cry. Knowing that the man had found his youngest at the bottom of the cliff the officer decided to stay back and give the family room. He didn't want to intrude on their private moment. His heart broke as he watched the small family. He was glad the uncle had at least been able to stop the older boy from seeing the scene. He didn't need to see his little brother like that. Deciding to give the family some time before he called in the authorities he sat by one of the trees to wait when Muffin came running up to him. Thinking she wanted some attention he reached down to pet her and was surprised as she grabbed a hold of his shirt sleeve and tugged. Carefully extracting her teeth from his sleeve he stared at the tiny pup. "What is it, little bit?" he asked her. She looked up at his face and whined before snatching his sleeve and pulling again. Officer Wilson detached himself from the dog's mouth and stood up. "Alright, let's go" he told her. Following her to the cliff's edge he stared at the dog as it looked at him before looking down at the child on the ledge. Taking the hint, the officer gazed down to see Sammy on a ledge not at the bottom of the cliff as he had thought. A slight movement caught his eye as he stared at the boy. Watching closely he noticed that the child's chest was moving up and down. He was breathing! Overjoyed the officer hollered, "He's alive! Sammy's alive!"
John's mind was full of images of Sammy. He was caught up in memories of his youngest when a voice penetrated the fog that surrounded him. John shook himself to clear the fog and stared up in shock at the officer. "What did you say?" he stammered.
Officer Wilson bent down and placed a hand on John's shoulder. "Mr. Winchester, your son's alive. Look, he's breathing. You can see his chest moving."
John tore his gaze from the officer to gaze down at Sammy. It took a moment for his eyes to focus before he saw the steady rise and fall of his baby's chest. Officer Wilson was right. Sammy was alive! Seeing his son breathing kick started John into action. Standing up he called Bobby and Dean over. "We need to get down to Sammy and see how badly he's hurt." he told them.
Looking around Dean noticed a rope lying near the edge. "Hey, dad" he shouted. "You can use that rope to lower me down to Sammy. Then I can hold him and you can pull us both up."
"We can't do that Dean" Bobby told him. "We can't move your brother until we know what his injuries are."
"He's right" Officer Wilson added. "I'm going to call air rescue. They'll send a helicopter to get him." Turning around to radio in, Dean's statement about the rope finally clicked. "Wait a minute. What's a rope doing out here?" he asked looking at the other two men.
John's heart sank as he took in the position of the rope. It looked like someone had tried to tie the rope to a tree and there was only one person out here besides them; Clyde Taylor. Glancing at the others he noticed that they had evidently come to the same conclusion. Sharing a look all three preceded to stare down the cliff once more. There at the bottom was a man's body.
"That's Clyde Taylor" Officer Wilson informed them. "Can't say I'm sorry to see him go."
"If you ask me, he got off easy." Bobby muttered. "I was hoping I'd get to let him know how I felt about him." he quietly added.
John smirked at his old friend's remark. "C'mon Bobby. Help me tie that rope around the tree so I can get to Sammy."
Dean followed the men as they secured the rope to the tree. "Let me go dad, please." he begged. "I need to be with him. It's my fault he got lost and hurt. I've gotta make this right."
John handed the rope to Bobby and knelt down in front of Dean grabbing him by the shoulders. "This is not your fault, Dean and don't let me ever hear you say that again. Sammy's a big boy. He knows better than to run off like that. You are not to blame. Do you understand me?" John inquired.
"Yes sir" Dean whispered. "But I still need to be with him dad. Please?"
"Alright, Dean." John said. "We'll lower you down first. Take the bag and cover him with the blanket when you get to him. But don't move him. Understand?"
Grinning at his father Dean's response was an enthusiastic "Yes sir!" As he watched the men test the rope a voice behind him whispered "Take the pup with you." Startled Dean turned quickly to see who had snuck up on him. "Must be hearing things" he thought when he saw no one was around him. Turning his attention back to his dad and Bobby Dean was shocked when the decidedly feminine voice spoke again. "Take the puppy with you. Sam needs Muffin." Spinning around in a circle and seeing no one Dean shouted, "What?"
The three men exchanged glances with each other before John spoke. "What, what, Dean?"
"Never mind" Dean answered. "Just thinking out loud." Dean watched as his dad went back to checking the rope. Feeling an icy cold hand on his shoulder, Dean stood still. Before he could call for his dad, the voice whispered in his ear. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a friend. Please take Muffin down to Sammy with you. After all if it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have found him."
"Okay, I'll take her with me." he whispered back. "Can you tell me who you are?"
The hand left his shoulder as the voice spoke, "I'm the one who saved Sam from that monster Taylor. I have to go now that Sam's safe. Please tell Sammy that Meghan said good bye." After the voice faded, Dean noticed that it was warmer than it had been a few minutes ago. Hearing his dad call for him Dean snatched the tiny dog up and deposited her in the duffle bag before walking over to the edge of the cliff.
John secured the rope around Dean's waist as he gave some last minute instructions. "Remember when you get to the ledge; untie the rope so I can climb down. Don't move your brother no matter what. Just cover him with the blanket and talk to him. Nothing more. Do you understand, Dean?"
"Yes sir" Dean replied as he took hold of the rope. Dean braced his feet against the cliff wall as he was slowly lowered to the ledge. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he set the bag down and untied the rope. Settling down next to Sammy Dean opened the duffle, pulled out a blanket, and covered his little brother. Carefully picking up Muffin he set her next to Sam before speaking. "Hey, Sammy. How're you doing? I brought you a surprise. How about you open your eyes so I can show you your surprise?" Getting no response from Sam Dean continued talking, "Okay, I get it. You're not ready to wake up yet, huh squirt? Sleep for a little longer then but your surprise is waiting for you to wake up and play. Muffin's here Sammy. Meghan said you'd like that." Dean laughed as the pup began licking every inch of Sammy's face she could reach.
Sammy slowly became aware of an annoying voice beside him. The very familiar voice droned on and on. Content to just lay there and rest he tried to tune the noise out only to realize that the annoying voice belonged to his equally annoying older brother Dean. "I wish he'd shut up so I could sleep." Sam thought. The voice ceased a second later only to be replaced by . . . someone licking him? Confused the youngest Winchester struggled to open his eyes and see what the heck was going on. After battling a few seconds he managed to pry his eyelids open a little. "Dean?" he called.
Dean held his breath as he watched his little brother's eyelids flutter. It took every ounce of strength he had not to grab Sammy and hug him when his eyes finally opened. He settled for carefully taking one of Sam's hands in his own and holding on for dear life. Hearing a whispered "Dean" he answered, "Yeah, Sammy. I've got ya. You just stay there and rest until dad gets here okay."
"'Kay" Sam mumbled. "Dean, why are you licking me?"
"I'm not licking you, dude. That's Muffin. She's sitting next to you." Dean got out between giggles.
"Oh" Sammy turned his head and looked at the tiny pup beside him before patting her on the head. "Muffin, you did it. You found Dean." Gazing around he noticed his father was now behind Dean. "Daddy!" he yelled holding out his hands to be picked up.
"Hey kiddo" John said as he crouched down next to his sons. He carefully checked his youngest for injuries. Thankfully all he found was a good sized knot on Sam's head and a few cuts and scratches. His baby had been incredibly lucky! Once he had assured himself that his child was alright, John pulled Sammy and Dean into an embrace only loosening his hold when they started squirming.
It wasn't until he was safe in his father's arms that Sammy noticed where they were. "How did we get here, daddy?" Sam questioned. Looking over the edge and seeing how far the ground below them was he added, "How are we gonna get down? I don't like it up here."
"A helicopter's on the way, sport" John told him.
"A helicopter! Cool!" Sam shouted. "You hear that Dean! We get to ride in a helicopter! Wait till I tell. ." Falling silent Sammy searched the ledge before looking back at his family. "Daddy, where's Meghan?"
"Who's Meghan?" John asked.
"Trust me dad. You really don't want to know." Dean answered.
Hearing the approaching helicopter John decided to save the discussion for later. "Sammy get the pup. Dean grab the bag." he ordered as he took hold of both boys and pulled them to sit against the cliff wall.
Sammy watched in awe as the helicopter lowered a man and a basket on a rope. Seeing how high up the chopper was and how they planned on getting him up to it changed his mind about the upcoming ride. He clutched his father tighter as the man with the basket made it to their ledge. The man talked with his father before turning to him. Sammy hid his face in his daddy's shirt refusing to even look at the rescuer.
John motioned for the man to give him a moment. He took Sam's chin and tipped it up to look in his eyes. "It's okay kiddo. He's going to put you in the basket so they can send you up to the chopper." John told him. Seeing Sam's fearful expression John added. "Don't worry. Dean's going in the basket with you."
"But what if we fall?" Sam whispered.
"We won't fall, Sammy. We'll be strapped in just like the rides at the fair. Remember the ferris wheel. It's just like that." Dean explained. "C'mon it's gonna be fun."
"Promise, Dean?" Sammy asked.
"I promise" Dean said as he crossed his heart. Winking at Sam he took Muffin and quickly stuffed her in the front pocket of his hoodie. "Let's go, Sammy."
Sam reluctantly took Dean's hand and let himself be strapped in the basket. He closed his eyes and held on tight as the basket started making its way up. After what felt like forever the basket stopped and Sam and Dean were taken out of the basket and settled into the helicopter. Minutes later John was aboard and the helicopter set off for the hospital.
AN- Hope the rescue wasn't too badly written.