"I bet he didn't even fight that much" Dean muttered.
Sam wasn't back from the trip to the library through the whole night. Come morning, when Bobby persuaded Dean that Sam was not the type to go out for the whole night without telling anyone, they tracked his phone to an alley behind the local bar where they also found the fruits of Sam's work in paper and his computer in that godawful leather bag.
And traces of sulfur. It had Dean on edge right away. He didn't want to say he had suspected that but he kind of had. He always expected the worst now. Sam was out somewhere with a bunch of demons.
Except the phone was cracked and there were smears of blood on the screen.
Dean's anger was his defense mechanism.
"Oh yeah?" Bobby has had enough. "Because you would sure do better taking on a couple'a demons barehanded. You had the knife and he hasn't drunk any of that crap since Famine and you know that. How did you expect him to get out of this?" he says sharply and Dean recoils.
"Who the fuck knows what he does anymore? I don't know if he drunk it or not and I don't care. He's gotten his ass kidnapped and now we'll have to go find and rescue him and probably stick him back in the panic room too. After all he's surrounded by demons." he says and turns to walk away.
"Dean." Bobby stops him but the younger hunter doesn't turn. "I don't know what happened in Heaven but whatever it was you act like Sam's not your brother anymore. You shouldn't believe what you've seen there. It's the angels' domain, you know that."
"Oh, so I should ignore that every memory Sam had there was of a time he was away from his family and say everything's just fine and dandy? Because it's not. I don't even recognize the guy that sits next to me in the car. I don't recognize him since I came back from Hell and he was gulping down demon blood and sleeping with that bitch Ruby. And that was all before he started the Apocalypse!"
"It's not all his fault, you know, boy? I hate to remind you that you were the one who broke the first seal and he's been coerced into breaking the last one as much as you had been." Bobby said coldly. This was not the kid he knew, that fussed over ever scratch his younger brother had and tucked him in for the night. This man was angry and full of resentment towards Sam which was unfair seeing as both boys made their mistakes and the old hunter had never seen anybody working so hard for his redemption as Sam Winchester worked.
Dean stiffened and threw Bobby a glare before stalking away to his room.
/txtbreak/
In the end it was a group effort. Bobby and Dean found a bunch of places that fitted into their theory and Castiel went to look them up. As soon as he found the one they were looking for he came back and they all took the Impala. It wasn't very far and they would need all the weapons they could get.
Dean was still angry. He preferred being angry over being scared for Sam anyway. The kid was like a stranger and he didn't like that feeling, didn't want to think that about his little brother, ever, but that's just how they fucked up. Their supposedly unbreakable bond of love or some other crap didn't survive all the lies, hurt and pride both Winchesters harbored.
He was angry up to the point they entered.
Bobby was worried. Dean could tell. The old hunter was like a second father to them both. It must've hurt, watching them tear each other apart. That seemed to be all they were doing nowadays. Day after day and instead of getting better it all just went further down between him and Sam. It was spiraling out of control.
Dean was surprised at Cas' dedication though. When he'd first met Sam the angel had called him an abomination, straightforward and from the get go. It seemed his opinion of Dean's little brother had been changing over the time but Castiel got really invested in finding Sam this time. Only to keep him from saying yes to Lucifer? Perhaps. But it seemed more than that. After they came back from their little stroll through Heaven and Castiel lost all his faith in God the angel was broken and lost. All his world turned upside down.
Dean had only came into a room only to find Sam talking to Cas on the phone, comforting him. Dean had scoffed and ignored him, always the touchy-feely and talkative unless it comes to the real important stuff, right, Sam? but it seemed to have helped.
The demons didn't stand a chance. Once all Dean, Bobby and Castiel went feral and pulled out all the stops at the mere sight of Sam it took them less than ten minutes to have the place cleared.
Half of that time Sam dedicated to trying to even lift his head. His gaze was unfocused and glassy but he seemed to recognize the people that came for him. Some strange expression appeared on his beaten face but it disappeared as soon as it got there so it was possible Dean just imagined it.
He had more pressing matters on hand, like getting Sam to the nearest hospital ASAP. Castiel looked frustrated at himself that he didn't have enough mojo to heal the kid but between all three of them they managed to get Sam into the Impala without too much trouble.
Bobby drove. Cas got shotgun.
Dean suffered through lack of space in the backseat but he stayed with Sam.
The youngest Winchester would've been so happy to see that he still may have a chance with his brother. Too bad he was unconscious for the whole ride. And then they finally reached the hospital and Sam was wheeled away on a gurney, a flurry of movement around him, leaving behind his whole family feeling like the ground slipped from underneath their feet.
And all they could do was wait.
/txtbreak/
Sam had seven broken bones. His left ulna, his cheekbone, two fingers of his right hand and three ribs. His wrists were badly burned and cut from the steel cables the demons used to tie him up. He also had some knife wounds, not very deep or threatening but they bled left without a proper care and one cut got infected. His whole body was bruised, especially the abdominal area. The doctors were concerned about Sam's internal organs from the second they saw how rigid that area was. Then Sam started coughing up blood. It turned out he had a contused lung, courtesy of some well-placed kicks.
That all coupled with how malnourished he was and they were very concerned. Then it turned out that the necrotic fragment of the lung had to be surgically removed and when Dean, Bobby and Castiel were finally allowed to see him on the ICU Sam had the ventilator breathing for him and he had to be transfused with blood. The antibiotics were fighting his infection via another intravenous and his bed was surrounded by beeping and bliping machines constantly checking his vitals.
Dean had frowned in concern when he had first saw his brother's battered body slumped in that chair but he had had more pressing matters on hand at that moment. He had gotten worried when Sam, barely keeping his head upright, blinked owlishly trying to decipher what was going on in front of him. He got panicky when, after they were done with all the demons, he went to Sam and shook him by his shoulders, to what his little brother reacted by promptly passing out. That was when Dean had gotten his first good look at the kid and it wasn't pretty.
Covered in bruises and blood, some leaking from his parted lips as he fought for every shallow breath he apparently lacked.
The barren room the demons had kept Sam in was chilly and it stank with blood, sweat and damp mold. There was nothing there except some suspicious stains, on the floor especially. Sam had spent a week and a half in there, surrounded bu demons, taunted and tortured.
Obviously no demon blood had been ingested, that was about the only thing good about the whole mess. Dean knew because, as Bobby pointed out, if they had given Sam any he'd have broken free. Instead the kid was half starved and dehydrated to hell. A week wasn't enough for a man of his posture to loose much of his muscle tone but he did look thinner and completely exhausted.
And surprised.
He didn't think you'd come. Had been the last words of the leader of the demons. She gasped them out smirking moments before Castiel took her out but Dean still heard her. At first he had thought she'd lied. Demons lie. But the more he thought about it, about Sam's face at the sight of them and at their relationship before his kidnapping and it occurred to Dean that maybe this time she didn't have to lie.
The truth sufficed to drive a spike of pain through his heart just fine.
/txtbreak/
It wasn't supposed to be more than a oneshot. But seeing as all the response I got was follows I decided why not?
Awesome Bobby because I love the old guy and in my head he's always seen things as they were and not as others wanted him to see them.
Torture, pain, yay. I like this chapter. What do you think?