Sam gasped, and panic suddenly entered his heart as he felt water enter his mouth and nose, the suffocating liquid filling his throat, making him cough and splutter.
He flailed around, fingers hitting plastic close to him, sending him into a twirl of panic as he tried to claw his way through.
'Sammy! Sammy please, you have to calm down!' he heard his brother's deep voice as thought he was speaking from miles away. Dean couldn't help him; he was going to drown...
'Sam! Oh god please dude! Just stop moving! Put your head up, you can still breathe!' Dean yelled, his own face turned straight up so he could breathe through the narrow slit at the top of his plastic prison.
Sam stopped moving slightly, and tried desperately to look through the plastic to find his brother.
Through the stained, water logged clear plastic, he could see Dean in anther tank opposite him, his face turned up so he could breathe, everything else completely submerged in water.
'Dean! Help!' he yelled, then he cursed himself; he knew Dean couldn't help him.
'Sorry Sammy...I'm kinda busy at the moment!' Dean chuckled through the water, but he too was bristling with panic.
He watched as his little brother coughed again, and a feeling of complete helplessness engulfed the oldest Winchester. How could he help Sammy when he was in here?
Both brothers's looked round when they heard a thick metal door opening to the side of them, the bottom of the door scratching painfully on the stone floor.
Sam tried to turn his head to see who had entered the room, but water kept splashing into his nose, making him splutter.
'I wouldn't struggle too much if I were you Sam. I think your going to need your strength later' the man said, his soft and lofty voice echoing through Sam's plastic prison.
'Let us out! You've had your fun!' he gasped, treading water to keep himself afloat. He desperately looked across at Dean, who had a livid expression on his face.
'Let us go you son of a bitch! We haven't done anything to you! Who are you?' he added, thinking with a thrill of anger that they didn't even know who he was.
'Who am I? Oh, I am just a watcher, a keen observer if you will. I've been watching you two for quite some time, and I must say, what bravery and intellect you two men have shown! Your dedication to one another-you just can't match it!
So I devised my own tests, and I must say you two are doing quite well, though I think Dean is in the lead Sam, your going to have to do something spectacular to beat his score!' he chuckled.
'Score? What do you mean, score? This isn't a game! This is our lives!' he gasped.
'Oh but this is a game! The winner walks away, the loser-dies. It is as simple as that' he stated, before walking to Dean, who gave a disbelieving chuckle.
'I'm gonna kill you first before you kill either of us!' he growled.
The man just laughed and tapped on the plastic, the water vibrations sending water up his nose.
'We'll see, we'll see...' he said, before walking to the side.
Neither of the brother's could see what he was doing, but suddenly there was a high pitch whirring sound, and seconds later all the water was starting to drain out of Sam's prison.
As the water level went down, Dean looked down at his own cage, hoping the same would happen to him, but the water stayed where it was.
As the water level completely drained out, Sam's feet hit the floor and he started to pound at the plastic.
'Oh no, not yet-not until you've heard your task' the man chuckled, walking in front of Sam and regarding him with a cool chuckle.
'What task?' Sam asked, anger now coursing through his veins now he was free.
'I'm glad you asked! Well, in a few moments time, Dean's plastic cage will be replaced by a bigger one, and more water will fill it, until there is no more room for him to breathe.
Your task it to find the key that will unlock his cage before he drowns! Sounds simple, doesn't it?
Well, it could well be, but you'll have to try and find it through all the other, identical looking keys in the pile over there!' he said, pointing at a small table, where a huge pile of small keys were piled on top of it.
'You son of a bitch-let him go!' Sam yelled, but the man shook his head and chuckled.
'Are you ready? Then-go!' he said, before walking to the door and opening it.
Sam stood still for a second, and then quickly opened the door that he was sure was locked moments before.
As Sam raced up to the door to kill the twisted crazy that was trying to kill them, the door closed with a snap, and Sam could hear a heavy lock being put across it.
'Damn it!' Sam yelled, before he turned back to his brother, hands running across his hair, pure fear rushing through his body.
'Sam! Help me!' Dean gasped, kicking wildly out in his prison, trying to kick it open.
He stopped moving when he heard a low rumbling, and suddenly the cage was split in two, water gushing out as Dean fell to the floor.
Before either of the boys could react, seconds later two bigger panes of plastic replaced the ones before, snapping together like a key in a lock.
'What? No! No!' Sam yelled, his voice suddenly higher as he pounded at the harder plastic surrounding his older brother.
'Sam- find the key!' Dean instructed in a calm voice, trying to calm Sam down, get him focused. He couldn't let on how scared he was; they would both be doomed if he did that.
'The key...I'll find it Dean!' he promised, before dashing over to the table, and started to sift through the mammoth collection of keys.
As Dean watched his little brother work, he heard water gushing back into his cage. The water was filling the cage quicker than he expected, and in only a few seconds the water was knee-high.
'Sammy hurry up!' he yelped, trying to not sound too panicky, but to instil some haste into his brother's job.
'I'm coming, I'm coming-hold on in there dude!' Sam yelled back, wet fingers slipping as he tried desperately to keep a hold on the keys.
He grabbed a handful and raced to his brother's side, dumping them on the floor, and picking them up one by one to check if they fitted the lock.
Key after key, Sam threw it behind his shoulder, getting increasingly frustrated and anxious as each key jammed in the lock.
'Come on Sam!' Dean begged, watching in complete fear as the water level reached his chest.
'I'm going as fast as I can...hold on...' Sam gasped as he tore back to the table to grab more keys.
As Dean watched his brother try to save him, Dean felt nothing but fear, unable to quell the rising tide of helplessness tearing into his veins.
'Hang on dude...' Sammy's voice sounded so far away, as if he was moving backwards as he said it.
The water had now reached his neck, and he had to start treading water so he didn't go under.
Sam was now starting to panic, his fingers shaking as he grabbed the remaining keys.
'Please...Sam...hurry!' Dean gasped, now having to stretch his head above the water, the liquid reaching his chin, frothing over the bottom of his nose as he moved.
Sam looked desperately at his brother as he fought to keep above the water.
'Oh god- hold on Dean!' he said, panic completely taking over. Horrified, rushed tears now fell down his face as he searched for the key.
Above him, he heard a few guttural splutters, before the noise stopped completely.
Dean? Come on dude!' he gasped, standing up and pressing his body against the plastic, slamming his fists against it as he watched his brother go under.
Dean scrabbled at the plastic, but it was no use. He couldn't breathe at all, and if Sam wasn't quick, he was going to drown.
Panic now fuelled his body, but he knew he shouldn't move too much, he opened his eyes and stared helplessly at Sam, hoping that he would help.
Sam choked back a sob and fell to his knees, sorting through the remaining pile of keys.
He sorted through them until-
'Yes!' Sam gasped as the key slid easily into the lock. He looked up at Dean, but with a thrill of horror he saw his brother, eyes closed, just floating in the tank, his back hitting the top.
'No! No! I've got it!' he yelled as he turned the key in the lock.
The doors flung open, and a huge amount of water fell on the youngest Winchester, but Sam wasn't worried about that; he caught Dean as he fell, letting him land on his body as they fell into the water together.
As the water sloshed and moved around the room, Sam knocked Dean off him and fell to his knees beside him.
He moved Dean so he was facing him, and felt for a pulse.
'No!' he gasped as he failed to find one.
He sat on his haunches and prepared to give his brother CPR; he placed his mouth over his brother's mouth and nose, and blew three times, watching his brother's chest rise and fall.
He then moved on to the chest compressions, placing his hands over Dean's sternum and pushing down thirty times, repeating them both at intervals.
He knew that if he didn't get Dean's heart started in three or less minutes, then there would be a good chance he never would.
After a few more compressions, Dean suddenly lurched sideways, water pouring out of his mouth and he coughed and gasped for air. His fingers found Sam's shirt, and they intertwined themselves around the material tightly as he fought to control his breathing.
'You're ok Dean...I gotcha...your ok...' Sam reassured him, pulling Dean up so he could breathe properly.
Dean immediately leant his head against Sam's shoulder, gasping into his shirt, face pressed into his neck.
'Sammy...' he gasped out, but Sam stopped him. 'Don't talk-breathe'.
'Thank...you...' Dean said anyway, moving back slightly to look his brother in the eye.
'Thank you Sammy!' he repeated.
'Don't be stupid!' Sam brushed off his thanks, and then helped his brother get up shakily.
As Sam supported his brother, they suddenly heard clapping from behind them.
'well done' came a voice as Sam whirled round, but before he could say anything the door closed with a metallic click.
'What do we do now?' Sam gasped, but Dean shrugged helplessly.
'I don't know...I don't know...'he whispered.
A few seconds later, the room went black, sending the boys into darkness.
The next-and final- test, was about to begin.
Sorry for the wait, but I got complete writers-block on this story, so I had to have a long think of what to do!
I hope this chapter was worth the wait though!
Please review, they all mean a lot!