"Dean??" Sam said loudly. "Dean?!" there was a click and then nothing but the dial tone could be heard.
Sam slowly put the phone back in the receiver and looked back at the door. Heart pounding in his chest, he stood up and walked over to it. He was terrified of what might be behind it, but he knew that he wasn't going to accomplish anything hiding in the room…at least this way he might be able to find a way to get back to Dean.
Sam opened the door…
…and found himself looking into room 37. Again.
Sam sighed, and rolled his eyes in frustration. "Oh, look at that," he said sarcastically, "I walked through the door and ended up back in the same spot…that worked really well."
Suddenly the bathroom door opened and Dean walked into the room—the real Dean, looking tired, worried, and…scared?
Sam smiled and took a step into the room. "Hey Dean, I'm back!" he said, expecting his brother to look up and sigh in relief.
Instead, Dean walked over to the bed and warily sat down in front of a laptop and began typing. There was a small stack of old looking file folders sitting next to him.
Sam blinked. "Dean? Hey, are you deaf or something?" he walked further into the room and saw that the rest of their hunting equipment was sitting on the floor. Dean had obviously gone out to the Impala while he was gone. "Dean!" he said loudly. His brother still didn't look up.
Sam walked over and stood right in front of him. "…Dean?" he said softly, waving a hand in front of his brother's face to see if he could get some kind of response.
Nothing happened.
Sam let out a shaky breath and backed up into the middle of the room. "You can't see me…can you?" he said simply.
Suddenly Dean looked up. "Did you find any other records?" he asked.
"No." a voice said before Sam could respond. He turned around and saw Mrs. Winters standing at the door. "I checked the rest of the basement but I didn't see any other files about disappearances in Room 37." She explained. "I did, however, find the old Ouija board that my sister and I used to play around with…since we're dealing with some kind of supernatural thing maybe it could be useful." she shrugged and sat it on the stand next to the door.
"Maybe." Dean said absentmindedly, staring at the computer screen. "Thanks for the files; they should get me started, anyway."
"Hello?" Sam said loudly, "Can anyone hear me?!"
"Did you find anything out yet…about how to get your brother back?" Mrs. Winters asked.
"…No." Dean said regretfully. "Not yet."
"I'm right here!" Sam shouted. He turned toward his brother. "Dean! I'm right here! Look at me, damn it!"
"Well don't worry, sweetie." The old woman said comfortingly to Dean, "I'm sure you'll figure something out."
"Yeah…" Dean said, typing away on the laptop.
Sam reached out to touch his brother's shoulder—and his hand passed right through him.
He jumped back, frightened, and Dean looked up.
Mrs. Winters watched Dean glance questioningly around the room. "What is it? Did you hear something?"
Dean sighed and shook his head. "I—no. No, everything's fine, I'm just a little tired, that's all."
"I'll go make you some coffee, then. Call me if you need me." she said, and left.
Sam stood there, staring at Dean. "I went right through you…shit, that can't be good." He said, running a hand over his face. "But you felt it…" he trailed off.
Sam experimentally reached out and put his hand through Dean's shoulder again. Instantly Dean stopped typing and looked up. "Yeah." Sam said, pulling his hand back. "This is new."
"Who's there?" Dean said uncertainly, his eyes scanning the room.
"Great." Sam said sarcastically. "You think someone's here but you can't see or hear me…okay, I need a second to think." he said, and started pacing in the room. "Whatever that thing was told me that the door was a portal…so why would it bring me here?" he asked his brother, knowing that Dean couldn't hear him but needing to talk to him anyway. Suddenly he stopped pacing and looked at Dean. "Before I stepped through the door I hoped that it would help me get back to you…and it did." He shook his head in disbelief. "So it takes me where I want to go…Oh wow, this is insane…"
Dean just kept typing away, no doubt trying to find something that would help explain where Sam was...that was more that a little ironic, since he was right there. "You're not going to find anything, Dean…" Sam said. "We need to talk." His eyes suddenly fell on the Ouija board. "Maybe…" he said hesitantly. "It worked before, after all…"
He walked over to it. "Here goes…" he said, and reached out his hand toward the movable piece sitting in the center. He closed his fingers around it and felt only air. Frowning, he concentrated harder.
It moved—the movement was hardly noticeable, but it was a start. Sam looked over at Dean who was too engrossed in his work to notice. He got a firmer grip on the piece and began dragging it up and down the board, making a small scratching sound. A few minutes later, Dean finally looked up at the Ouija board. His mouth dropped open as he watched the piece move slowly back and forth across the board. "O-kay…" he said, standing up slowly. He walked cautiously over to the board and picked it up. Sam let the piece go and it stopped moving. "Right then," Dean said, "I can take a hint." he sat down on the floor and placed the board in front of him. "Who's there?" he said.
Sam sat down across from his brother and put two of his fingers on the pointer next to Dean's.
Dean stared as the piece slowly spelled out his brother's name. His eyebrows shot up. "Sam?" he said. The piece moved to yes. Dean instantly felt relieved, but then got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he realized what that might mean. "Are…are you—dead?" he asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
Sam shrugged, thinking back to when the thing had told him that he was neither dead or alive, but in between, and concentrated again on moving the piece.
I DON'T KNOW
Dean let out the breath he had been holding. "You don't know?" he asked in disbelief. "Sammy, how can you not know if you're dead or alive?!"
ITS COMPLICATED
"Why can't I see or hear you, then?" Dean asked, getting frustrated.
I DONT KNOW
"Of course not…so how did you get here?"
DOOR IS A PORTAL
"That makes no sense!" Dean said exasperatedly.
"Tell me about it…" Sam muttered. He concentrated again.
I KNOW
Dean sighed. "We need to figure this out…"
Sam paused, realizing what he had to do.
IM GOING TO DO IT AGAIN
Dean frowned. "Do what?"
GO THROUGH THE DOOR AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS
"Like hell you are!" Dean said fiercely. "You aren't going anywhere, Sam!"
HAVE TO…DON'T WANT TO BE STUCK LIKE THIS FOREVER
"You won't be! I'll figure something out!" Dean said. "Just give me a few hours."
MIGHT NOT HAVE A FEW HOURS
"You have no idea what'll happen if you go through that door…portal…whatever it is!" Dean shouted frantically.
DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA
Dean shook his head and ran a hand over his face. "No." he admitted. "But that doesn't mean you have to do something stupid."
ILL BE FINE
"Sam, you don't know that for sure. Don't you dare leave! Do you hear me?! You stay here!"
Sam looked at his brother. Dean looked terrible. He knew that he was worried about him…he was always worried about him. It really wasn't fair. Why did Dean always think he was responsible for everything?
Suddenly it hit him, and Sam's eyes snapped up to rest on the door. He knew where he wanted the portal to take him. The thing had told him that he could have a second chance to change something—and he knew what he wanted to change. He looked back down and concentrated again.
TRUST ME
Dean sighed, "Sam, please…"
I HAVE TO GO…MAYBE I CAN FIX EVERYTHING
Dean continued talking to him, begging him to stay, but Sam just looked away guiltily and stood up. He had to do it, after all. He had to.
He opened the door and—
Dun-dun-dun!
Author's Note: Hi everyone, thanks for reading! I want your opinion on the direction of this story. Sam is going to go back in time using the portal, so do you want him to:
A: Visit several of the tragic moments in his life (there are sooo many, after all) and try to fix them
OR
B: Just skip to the one moment that I have in mind and have a shorter story
Tell me what you think!