"Rise and shine, baby," the cool voice cooed as Dean came to. He shook his head groggily and looked around the room. Holly was standing in front of him with a humungous smile on her pretty face. Blood covered her robe and hands. The knife lay on the floor near the briefcase, completely covered with tacky red liquid. The last thing he could remember was Holly shoving the long knife into his stomach.
"What'd you do?" he asked, looking her up and down. One hand was held behind her back.
Holly giggled like a schoolgirl. "Don't worry. If your brother comes through for you, you won't be missing anything."
"But until then…?"
"Until then," she smiled, stalking up to him, "I'll be keeping this." She nodded back over her shoulder, to the thing hidden in her hand.
"Mind telling me what it is?" Dean asked, though he wasn't completely sure he wanted to find out.
The smile widened as Holly revealed her prize. "Look familiar?"
Dean's eyes widened with shock as he looked down at his stomach and chest, which had been split open by the knife after he'd fallen unconscious. A section of his flesh and ribcage had been pulled away from the rest of him, leaving the left side of his insides completely exposed.
He looked back up at Holly and the item she was holding in her hand. "Oh, come on, lady," he muttered, fighting back fear as he gazed at his own, unbeating heart, "that ain't even freakin possible."
"That's what I thought," Holly grinned, poking mercilessly at the organ, "I mean, I'm amazed you even woke up. It's not even beating. Dean, it's cold."
The hunter glanced back down at the hole where half of his body used to be. He had to admit to himself that it had been kind of cool at first, realizing he couldn't die. Now it was just really disturbing.
"Just out of curiosity," he muttered, watching his left lung as he tried to slow his breathing, "what're you gonna do with me?"
"That depends on what your brother decides," she said coolly, turning the hunter's heart over in her hands, "I wonder what he'd think of what's become of big brother."
"You wouldn't."
"Watch me," Holly smirked as she headed out of the cell, tucking Dean's heart behind her back as she went down the corridor to where Sam was undoubtedly being held.
Sam had to admit that he was enjoying his current stay in the evil psychic cult's basement. Sure, he was chained up and being heavily guarded, but at least no one was torturing him.
He was worried about his brother, however. He could have sworn he'd heard Dean screaming, and just before that he'd smelled something burning. It was that sickly-sweet smell of roasting flesh.
But Dean couldn't die, right? Right. He'd also been exhibiting a higher tolerance for pain in the past 24 hours, so Sam was confident that whatever they were doing couldn't be hurting his brother too much.
Still, the smell and the scream were unnerving.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor and Sam tensed, ready to face whatever news came through his cell door. He was surprised to see Holly, covered in a large amount of blood, come stalking into his cell, smiling.
"What do you want?" he asked, gruffly, trying hard to not show the worry and fear that was gnawing at his stomach as he realized just how much blood coated the young psychic.
She smiled, shrugging, and Sam noticed for the first time that she was holding something behind her back. "I just wanted to show you something, then have a little talk concerning what you can do about it."
"What is this, show and tell?"
Holly nodded, stepping closer, that large, unattractive smile never leaving her face. "Tell me Sammy," she cooed, "do you know what this is?" She pulled her hand from behind her back, revealing what looked like a human heart.
Sam felt his eyes widen as his body suddenly went numb. His mind scrambled for an answer, something other than the obvious, but couldn't find it. He suddenly knew why he'd heard his brother scream, and realized that, angel or not, no one could live without a heart.
"You didn't," he muttered weakly, breath hitching in his chest as he stared at the organ in her hand, "you…"
The firestarter laughed, an evil cackle that reverberated through the room, echoing down the corridor. "Oh, Sammy, I did. But there's good news. Your brother isn't dead."
Sam blinked hard, trying to hide tears that threatened to pour from his eyes. He wasn't going to cry in front of her, wouldn't give her the pleasure. "What are you talking about?"
"He's awake. Do you want to go see him?"
"Do I have a choice?" Sammy asked as two hooded figured glided into the room and took hold of his arms, unshackling him.
"Not really. Trust me, though, Sam, you'll want to see this. It's fascinating."
He was dragged from the room by the two psychics and forced to follow Holly down the concrete corridor to his brother's cell. She pushed open the door and walked into the cell while Sam's escort held him back.
"There's someone outside who wants to see you," she cooed.
"Bitch," Sam heard his brother hiss. It was all he could do to just stand still and let himself get taken into his brother's cell. It was impossible. There was no way…
And then Sam saw him, arms shackled up over his head, blood coating the light blue pajama pants he'd been given. The wall he was chained to was scorched and black, as if someone had taken a blow torch to it. But he was alive, and for that, Sammy was glad, if not a bit disgusted by his brother's current condition.
It looked as if someone had stabbed Dean in the stomach, right above his navel, and then proceeded to slash up towards his throat. The hunter's sternum had been cut roughly up the middle. The incision moved up towards the left after hitting the collar bone, and that whole side of Dean's chest had been pulled away, revealing bones, organs, and a large hole where his heart had once been.
The psychics let go of Sam and he rushed to his brother, slipping slightly in the large pool of blood that had formed on the cell floor. Dean didn't seem too perturbed by his injury; in fact, the only indication that he'd even been hurt at all, besides the large cut, was the paleness of his skin. That was to be expected, though. He'd lost a lot of blood.
"Sammy, hey. What's up?"
"Oh, crap, Dean, what the hell did they do to you?"
Dean shrugged. "Far as I can tell, cut me open and decided to perform open heart surgery. Just like on 'Grey's,' only without the following stroke. You all right? You look kind of sick."
"Look who's talking," Sam gasped, always aware of Holly standing behind him, poking at his brother's heart like it was some kind of toy.
"I'll be fine. It doesn't even hurt that much, which is lucky, I guess."
Sam shook his head and turned away from his brother, back to Holly, who was watching them with mild interest. "What do you think, Sam? Cool, huh?"
"What do you want from me?" Sam demanded.
"We need you to join us," Holly grinned, "it's not as bad as you think. We'll help you control those visions. You'll be safe and warm and loved. You'll like it here, Sammy. I promise."
"What about Dean?"
Holly shrugged. "Well, if you agree to join us, I'll just put this right back where I found it, get Claire in here to heal him up, and send him on his merry way."
"And if I don't?"
That evil grin was back. "I'd like to see how far this immortality thing can take him. Honestly, Sam, how many limbs and vital organs do you think I can cut away before he dies? If it comes down to it, I guess I can always take the head off. If that doesn't kill him, I guess he'll make a nice paperweight."
Sammy sighed, turning back to his brother. Determination shone in the older man's eyes, masking subtle fear. That definitely hadn't been what he'd wanted to hear.
"Whatever they do to me, don't give in," Dean hissed, pleading with his brother as best he could.
"She stole your heart," Sam pointed out, glancing down at the hole in his brother's chest.
"Well," Dean smirked, "can you blame her? She is really hot."
"Dean," Sam scolded, fighting back tears, "this isn't funny."
"I know," the elder grimaced, "I think you just spit on my small intestine."
Sam shook his head, whirling around to face the monster that had taken his brother's heart. He wasn't going to let her take anything else. No matter what, he couldn't let Dean go on like that. For once, Sammy was going to play savior, whether Dean liked it or not.
"I'll do it," he said, voice steady and determined, "just fix him."
"Excellent," Holly nodded as Dean muttered every curse he could think of, "Mark will take you up to your room. You'll find your robe on your bed. Get dressed and meet us in the entryway at seven for your initiation." She turned back to the men that had taken Sam from his cell, "Jake, go fetch Claire and tell her she's needed again. After she's done, let the freak with the wings go."
Sam felt a strong hand on his shoulder and turned. Mark led him out of the cell and away from his protesting brother, who was obviously very unhappy about being used as leverage.
Oh well, Sam thought as he was taken out of the dungeon and met by a chorus of cheers from the hooded members that were milling about, he'll live.
Brief note: I know absolutely nothing about human anatomy, so if one of you is a doctor and currently laughing about my stupidity... sorry.