The Nutcracker.
Summary. . . . . . Trying to bring some Christmas cheer to a sick Sam, Dean unwittingly places his brother in danger.
Disclaimer. . . . . . Still only on loan from the evil genius that is Kripkie.
A.N. . . . . . . . Well by now, most of you will have heard about, or even read some of the Winchester Single Shots, if not take a look, you could be surprised!
John could feel his heart thudding against his chest the closer he got to the nutcracker. So consumed with revenge and gaining it's own body back, the fiend continued chanting oblivious to the danger that lurked behind it's back; a danger whose rage was steadily increasing the closer he got to his son, and was able to see just how damaged his boy was. Sweat glued his youngest sons normally unruly hair to his head, and coated every inch of his body, a body that was ominously still considering the fever that raged within it. Divested of all but his boxers, John could see what a weeks worth of illness had done to his normally healthy looking son, his bones protruding starkly from beneath his skin, his cheeks hollow his cheekbones prominent. John heart sank as his eyes met Sam's, initially scared of a reaction that would alert the nutcracker to his presence, that fear dissipated to be replaced by sorrow, when all he could see in the normally expressive eyes was a dull glazed deadness. He pushed his feelings aside, determined he wasn't going to loose his sons tonight, he stepped forward.
Still focused solely on Sam, the chanting increasing in strength the closer he got to the end, the nutcracker never stood a chance as John quickly dowsed his partially wooden frame with the lighter fluid, the click and rasp of his lighter ominously loud in the now quiet room as he pushed on the flint, thanking whoever was looking over him, when it ignited first time. Without a second thought he pressed the flame to the saturated wooden body, and quickly retreated. The fluid erupted immediately, flames hungrily consuming the nutcrackers wooden parts causing John to stand and stare, a satisfied look upon his face; a look that quickly disappeared as Sam screamed. Looking over at his son, John was momentarily struck dumb as he watched Sam writhe and squirm upon the alter, screams of agony ripping themselves from his throat, the skin on parts of his body becoming raw and blistered as though fire was eating away at him. Breaking free from his haze, John started to ease his way towards his son, only to stop as a raspy, pain filled voice rang out.
"You kill me, you kill your son!" The nutcracker spoke before a cackling laughter erupted from inside the beast.
Torn between his obviously hurting son, and a beast that deserved to die, John hesitated briefly before turning towards the nutcracker. Taking off his jacket he quickly covered the burning body, rolling the wooden being across the floor in an attempt to put out the flames, his anger increasing as the beasts laughter still rang out. Standing as the flames were eventually dowsed, he turned his back on the charred figure and began to make his way to Sam, his son's screams abating now that the flames had died. He hadn't counted on the unnatural strength of the beast though, didn't hear the creaking and groaning of scorched wood as the beast stood, it's burnt, blistered hand grasping the handle of the knife John had stashed in his jacket pocket. He only realized his mistake as he felt the cold metal dig and grind it's way through the flesh and muscle of his back until only the hilt remained. He dropped to his knees as searing pain radiated throughout his being, a cry of complete agony escaping the confines of his mouth, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. He tried to move, tried to stand and help his vulnerable son as the nutcracker moved stiffly from behind him to look him in the eye, his voice chilling as he spoke.
"This will be so much better, I will feed off your fear, your anguish, your sorrow, as I take the life of the one you love." He ran a cold hand across John's face before turning towards Sam again, only to be halted as another voice rang out.
"I think you're missing a few items to continue on with there boy." Bobby ground out before averting the nutcrackers attention to the now bare alter.
As the beast screamed in pure rage, Caleb struck binding the beast tightly with rope before placing it on the alter that had previously held Sam. As Caleb dealt with the nutcracker, Bobby made his way over to John, his trained eye not liking the look that shone from the hunters eyes. "John? John? I need you to snap out of this."
"I hurt Sam, I hurt my baby boy."
"You didn't know that was going to happen, you didn't know. Sam needs you know though John, he's hurting badly and he needs you, so I need you to snap out of this and go to your son."
Glassy eyes turned Bobby's way, pain radiating from them. They blinked slowly, once, twice before light began to register in them again. A shaky hand rose to wipe away wetness from their rims before they looked from Bobby, to the alter, and back again. "Where's Sammy? Where's my boy?" John inquired, fear threatening to overwhelm him.
"He's by the entrance, he's safe for now. But he needs you."
Attempting to rise, John was immediately reminded of the wound to his back, crying out in pain as the blade moved within him. "Pull it out!" John ground out.
"I can't do that. It'll do more damage." Bobby replied.
"I'll be fine. I can't help Sam like this. Pull it out!"
Knowing how stubborn John could be, knowing if given the chance he would pull it out himself, Bobby acquiesced, ripping his own outer shirt off before pulling the blade out. Packing the shirt tightly against the wound, he bound it in place with John's own before helping the wounded man over to where his seriously ill son lay, his chilled body wrapped firmly in Caleb's jacket. Easing to the floor, John settled himself as comfortably as possible, his eyes requesting Bobby help as he pulled Sam into his lap. He struggled to contain his emotions as he softly stroked Sam's sweat soaked hair. As his hand ghosted over his sons sunken cheeks, John looked agonizingly towards his friend. "He's so cold Bobby, we need to get him out of here, he needs help."
"I know John, but we can't before we deal with the nutcracker."
"But we don't even know how to kill it. We can't burn it, I tried and look what I did to my son in the process. How the hell are we going to get rid of it, without killing Sam in the process?"
"We have an idea!"
To Be Continued. . . . . . . .
A.N. . . . . . . Well that's it for now. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you as always for reading. Catch you soon with chapter 14, Peanut x