Dean was pretty sure he was dead.
He felt like he was floating, stuck in a void with no anchor to anything. It was calm, and it was peaceful.
Then there was a tug.
And another one, stronger this time, pulling him out and away from the void. Dean resisted at first, but there was something about it that sparked Dean's curiousity.
Suddenly, he was standing in a room. It was dirty, though the inhabitant obviously tried to keep it well-kept. There was a mattress on the floor and a few candles were settled here and there on the floor, though none of them were lit.
"What the hell?" he whispered. Suddenly, there was a creak, and Sam walked in.
"Sam?"
Sam turned his head and he saw him. His eyes widened and he gaped at Dean. "Holy crap. D-Dean?" Dean nodded. "What...? What the hell happened to you?"
Dean threw his hands up in the air. "I have no idea! I was checking out an alley when some freak with black eyes jumped me. Now I'm here, and- why are you looking at me like that?"
Sam pursed his lips and looked Dean up and down. "Dude...you're kinda, like..see through." Dean blinked a few times and looked down at himself. Sure enough, his entire body was slightly see through, giving him a ghostly appearance.
"Son of a bitch," he swore. He looked at Sam, aghast. "Am I dead?"
Sam swallowed nervously. "Uh..if you're going through the same thing as Sasha, then I think you're in a coma. Like...and out-of-body experience or something."
Dean wrinkled his nose. "Ugh. Well, why am I here?" Sam shrugged, and Dean sighed. "What am I supposed to do? If someone sees me, I'm screwed." Sam held up a finger, forehead scrunched slightly at he thought about something.
"Actually, I'm not sure if anyone else can see you. I think you are going through the same thing as Sasha, but if she's like you, then shouldn't someone have noticed her walking around all ghostly and stuff?"
Dean rubbed his temples. "Then how can you see me?" Sam shrugged again and Dean made a face. "Awesome."
Suddenly, Victoria walked into the room and the two of them froze. "Sam, have you seen Jasmine? I thought she..." Victoria trailed off and she watched Sam for a minute. "Hey, are you okay? You look kind of pale."
Sam snapped out of his reverie and licked his lips. "I'm fine. Thanks." He smiled at her and she frowned but she left without any protests. Dean raised his eyebrows. "I guess she couldn't see me. So it really is just you."
Sam groaned. "This is not good."
Dean snorted. "You're telling me."
Sam cast him a glare. "Dean, I have to work tonight, remember?"
It suddenly clicked in Dean's mind and he scrunched up his face. "Oh, ew, man. That's not somethin' I wanna see!" Sam raised his hands in surrender.
"Believe me, I don't want you to see it either, but if you're tied to me somehow then you're probably going to go where I go."
Dean huffed. "Can't I just stand outside or something?"
Sam sighed. "I have no idea. Look, I got to go to work." Dean closed his mouth, figuring that it was the end of the conversation, at least for now. Sam walked out of his room and Dean followed, glancing around Sam's home.
"It's really broken down," he noted. Sam exhaled, looking uncomfortable. He spotted Heather down the hall and he sped up, leaving Dean to catch up. "Heather!" Sam called, and she smiled brightly when she saw him.
"Do you know if Kitty still has the condoms?" he asked. Heather thought for a moment.
"I think so," she said slowly, "But the box is almost out, so Victoria ran out to get another one. If you wait, you can get one from her."
Sam shook his head. "Nah, it's okay. I really need to get out there. Where's Kitty?" Dean watched with rapt attention as Sam talked with the small girl.
Heather shifted from one foot to the other, and Sam frowned. "Heather?"
She bit her bottom lip. "She was in Ben's room." Sam's face darkened and Heather quickly scurried away. Dean watched her go before turning back to his brother.
"Ben? Who the hell is Ben?"
Sam took a breath. "A really big jackass." He turned on his heel and walked down a different hallway that twisted and turned so much Dean thought it might never end. Sam suddenly stopped at one of the room and stuck his head in.
Dean realized for the first time that none of the rooms had any doors.
Sam just hoped him and Ben could simply glare at one another, trade some insults, and Sam would get him to relinquish a frickin' condom and he'd be on his merry way.
"Hey, Ben!" Sam barked. There was a rustle and a guy with bright orange hair lumbered to the doorway, smirking at Sam.
The corner of Sam's mouth turned down. "Hey, Sam. You want somethin'? Oh, wait, I know why you're here. You want a condom." Ben snorted. "You're a dude who gets nailed by other dudes, what the hell do you need a condom for?"
Sam gritted his teeth and Dean did the same.
"You know why," he ground out. The words dripped with hate and Dean drew back.
Ben stilled and blinked. "Oh, yeah. But, dude, it's really not that big of a deal-" Sam punched him in the face and Ben went sprawling, his back making a loud thud on the floor on impact.
"Jesus! God, Sam, you can get it treated!" Ben cried, holding his jaw. Sam seethed fury and Dean had to wonder what the guy did to deserve so much anger, especially from his little brother.
"We don't have the money for that kind of stuff. You know that, too," Sam said quietly. He huffed. "Forget it. I'll wait for Victoria to get back."
Sam stalked out of the room, ignoring Dean's demands for an explanation. As soon as Sam stepped foot into his room, Dean yelled, "Sam! What the hell is wrong with you!"
"Why the fuck would you care!" Sam spat.
Dean bristled. "Because I'm your brother!"
"Fat lot of good that did me," Sam retorted.
Dean threw his hands into the air. "Seriously, Sam? What are you, bipolar? One minute you're chatting with your friends, the next you're assaulting some guy two halls down!"
"You don't know what he did," Sam hissed.
"Then tell me," Dean said, almost pleading.
Sam stopped, and shook his head. "Look, I don't give a damn about what you think you have to do or say to me in some weird way of an apology. I don't want it. All I want is for you to go away and never come back."
Dean swallowed hard.
"I have gone through so much shit since I've been here, you have no idea. You think you can just show up and that everything'll be okay? Do you have any idea how hard this is for me, to see you after all this time? So fuck you, Dean. Fuck you!"
Sam voiced cracked on the last sentence, and Dean saw his forcibly blink away tears. His expression softened. "Sam..."
Sam shook his head. "Don't," he whispered shakily, "Don't you dare look at me like that."
It took a while, and Dean was willing to wait, for Sam to compose himself enough to start talking again with his emotional mask back in place.
"We should, uh, figure out how to get you back in your body, and kill whatever did it."
Dean nodded. "I'm up for that, though I'd like to get in my body first. I don't you going against that thing by yourself." Sam shrugged in partial agreement, though he'd never tell Dean that, and he pulled his pack of Malboros and lit one up.
His brother scowled. "You smoke now?" Sam exhaled, smoke swirling in the air.
"It's calming."
"They'll kill you."
"I know."
"Then who don't you quit?"
"They're addicting."
Ah, the real answer. Dean sat down on the floor, and after a moment, Sam sat down next to him. He briefly wondered how Dean would feel if he found out that Sam wasn't only on cigarettes, but cocaine too.
He'd be pissed.
Dean glanced over at him,eyeing Sam's cigarette distastefully.
"Once I get my body back, I'm getting you to kick those things."