The minute Dean reached the outskirts of the city, screams were heard. He looked around for the source of the threat before remembering he was what everyone was afraid of. And why shouldn't they be? He felt ridiculously huge standing in the street as he towered over shops and reached the top of sky scrapers. But he didn't have time to dwell on that now, he just had to get to the hospital.
"Shouldn't there be more people in a city?" Dean quietly asked Lillian, who was still safely cupped in his hand next to Sam as she pointed out the right direction. Each step he made was calculated and careful, but aside from a few cars speeding away as fast as they could and some people running back indoors, he expected to have to deal with a lot more traffic. He stepped over a wire of traffic lights and continued down the road.
"A civil emergency message was sent out. Everyone's supposed to be on lock-down," came her answer as she peeped over the edge of his fingers. "My parents wanted to make sure everyone was out of the way in case the soldiers did make it into the city. Don't worry though, the hospital is always open regardless. You're just about there, just keep going down this street!"
And then they arrived. It was a tall, new building with (thankfully) large parking lots, and before Dean's hand fully touched the ground Lillian was jumping off to run inside.
Two attendants came out with a stretcher soon after, faces paling as soon as they took Dean in, and they almost looked as if they would bolt back indoors but Lillian barked at them to do their jobs and get Sam inside. Dean had to hide a smile at that. Then his brother was carted where he couldn't follow, and the small moment of amusement was dashed against the rocks of worry again.
Lillian almost followed them, but then she remembered something. "Dean, show me your hand," she said, turning back to face the crestfallen giant of a man. He looked at her in confusion before raising the hand he carried them on. "No, your left one." She jutted a chin at the other hand. "Let me see how many times you got shot when you saved Sam and I."
Dean's eyebrows raised; in all the action the stinging in his palm had faded with adrenaline. "Ah it's nothing," he told her, brushing it off.
She crossed her arms and gave him a bitch-face that made Sam's look weak in comparison. "Don't you give me that," she scolded him, raising an eyebrow in expectation.
Dean felt the corner of his lips twitch up at her sternness. She looked so small even as he sat, but was full of spitfire. He was so glad she wasn't afraid of him; those first few moments when they met had been brutal, to be the one to cause fear to crack through her tough demeanor had made his stomach sick. Huffing out a fake-annoyed sigh, Dean offered his other palm to her.
He barely felt the weight of her hands as she rested them on one of his fingertips to lean over and look at the four red spots where the bullets had sunk into his palm. The bleeding had stopped now, and they mostly just stung. "See? It's fine, they're just like big splinters. I'll live."
Lillian shot Dean another peeved look, "Well they aren't splinters, you're going to at least need them removed. I'll get someone to help you and don't even think about arguing with me about this." Even after spending most of the day with him it was still so surreal to see him, to have her fingers barely make an impact on his skin. "And after they're done you can wait in the back parking lot and I'll keep you updated on Sam." She didn't even give him a chance to reply before she turned away and briskly walked inside to fetch someone brave enough to get the bullets out of Dean's hand.
The waiting was terrible.
After a doctor (who honestly looked like he was on the verge of fainting) helped removed the bullets, Dean had moved to the back of the hospital where the parking lot was bigger and filled with less cars, just like Lillian told him to do.
It was so strange, to be taller than a whole hospital building sitting down, to have cars look like toys – it all gave him a faint headache. The streets were quiet now, only an occasional person will go past a window to stare at him before ducking back behind the curtain. He saw a couple of police officers pretending they weren't keeping a close eye on him. That was it though, which surprised Dean. Whatever Lillian told her parents they must've listened, because luckily none of the officers were trying to attack him.
Although, that would've at least gotten his mind off worrying about Sam.
And so, Dean sat waiting, absently drawing on his palm with the sharpie he had taken from his duffle bag.
"Bloody heaven!" Came a small voice.
Dean looked over in surprise to find a tiny boy standing next to a bike a little way away from him. The kid looked to be around twelve and was staring up at him with wide awe-filled eyes. "Hey," Dean said with a smile, setting down the sharpie and giving the boy a little wave.
"Hi!" The kid exclaimed as he walked his bike closer, craning his neck back to continue to stare openly. "The news wasn't jokin' – you really are a giant!"
Dean chuckled, "Uh, yeah – I am here at least. What's your name?"
"Jeffery."
"Hi Jeffery, I'm Dean – that's a nice bike you got there," Dean said with a smile, crouching down a bit.
The boy grinned with pride as he looked down at his red bike. "Thanks! I got it for my birthday!"
"That's awesome!" Dean looked around at the empty streets in thought then back down at Jeffery. "Hey, not that I don't like your company – talking to you is great actually – but are you supposed to be out here? Where're your parents?" With the threat of the army gone, and the other 'threat' being himself, Dean wasn't worried about the kid getting hurt. He was more worried about parents being worried, and he didn't want to cause any trouble.
"They're at home," Jeffery told him matter-of-factly, leaning the bike against his side as he talked. "I slipped out of the house because I never get to see anything cool – so I didn't wanna miss out on the action. I even made it past all the reporters a couple streets over being held back by the police – they had badges and everything it was so cool!" He took a deep breath. "My parents were all upset about the emergency call everybody got so it was easy to get past them. Mum is mostly worried about our new friend Sam who was supposed to be out on a walk but he never came back and she thinks with the shutdown he might be in danger or lost or somethin'. I'm gonna go look for him."
The boy's name clicked in place at that. "You're the kid who found Sam!" Dean put together with a smile. "Well don't worry – I'm his big brother and I'm with him now."
Jeffery's eyes widened. "You're Sam's brother?! That's so awesome! I wish I had a big, big brother, Sam is so lucky!"
"I'll have to tell Sam you said that," Dean said with a chuckle. "Well, you should probably get home so your, uh, mum, doesn't worry anymore. Sam saved the city, but he got shot. He'll be better soon though." Because Sam was gonna be fine. Lillian hadn't been out in a while to update him, so that meant everything was going alright. No news was good news after all – right?
"Sam saved the city?! This is the best day ever!" Jeffery crowed out. "I can't wait to tell everyone in school that I'm friends with two superheroes!"
Dean felt a little bit of the tightness in his chest loosen at the kid's praise and cheerful attitude. He hesitated, then decided to go for it, and reached out a finger to gently tousle Jeffery's hair like he always did Sam's. "Well, ride back home and me and Sam will stop by before we leave," he promised, giving the small boy a wink.
Jeffery just smiled even larger as he brushed his hair back and looked up at Dean again. "Alright!" he said excitedly. "I'll tell Mum!"
With that, Jeffery hopped back onto his bike and took off, leaving the parking lot behind. Dean watched him go, smile slowly fading as worry crept back in.
Then there was movement just below eye-level, and Lillian stepped out onto a balcony.
"What do you think?" she asked, spreading out her arms to display the balcony with a smile. "Being princess means I get to ask for whatever fancy recovery room they have, so I chose one that gives us better access to talking to our gentle giant." She winked up at him, laying her arms across the railing.
Dean smirked, but couldn't help look past her to the room beyond. "Sam's out of surgery?"
"Yes, he's fine, he's actually waking up!" Lillian said with a huge smile, moving back to open the double doors wide so Dean could get a good look into the large room where Sam lay.
Dean bent closer and peered inside and found Sam starting to sit up in bed. "Hiya Sammy," Dean greeted in a hushed voice. "You gave us quite the scare there."
Sam looked over to the open doors, feeling more relaxed now that he could see his older brother. He felt weak and tired, and didn't remember how they even got him to the hospital beside small fragments from his memory of worried, whispered voices and pain. "Hi," he croaked out, both to Dean and Lillian. He tried not to wince as he got comfortable, but he could feel the pull of his skin around the stitches as he moved. "Kind've gave myself a scare, too."
"Well it's all over now, the doctor said you'll make a full recovery," Lillian said, sitting down on the couch across from Sam's bed to keep both brothers in sight. "Everyone is safe, thanks to you two," she gave them each a sincere smile. "So thank you – truly- you boys might not have enjoyed getting here, but you came just in time to help, I couldn't have done it without you."
Lillian saw Sam open his mouth to say something, but just then the door opened and the doctor stepped in, followed by a nurse. They both gave her a small head bow and Dean a reproachful look before setting their sights on the patient.
"Hello Sam," the doctor said, walking up to the bed to set her clipboard down. "I'm glad to see you're awake, that's wonderful. How are you feeling?"
"Uh, a little rough but I guess that's normal after getting shot," he tried to joke, but it fell flat among the serious doctor and nurse; he heard Dean give a small, appreciative chuckle outside though.
The doctor nodded, then turned to look at Lillian, "Excuse me, your highness, but can I talk to you?"
Lillian frowned, but nodded, letting the doctor lead her over to the far corner of the room.
Then the calm atmosphere shattered.
Sam saw the glint of surgical steel a second before she struck. He threw himself across the room in a heartbeat, grunting in pain as he tackled the small doctor before she could plunge it into Lillian's neck. He felt blood soak his hospital gown as the stitches ripped. They smashed to the floor and slid into the couch, Sam trying to wrestle the scalpel out of her hand, but it was like she had supernatural strength.
'Supernatural. Oh, shit.' Was all Sam could think before she tossed him off him like he weighed nothing. He crashed against the wall and crumpled to the ground. He looked up to see the doctor come at him again, but Lillian stepped up behind her and smashed a vase into the side of her head– it didn't even phase the demon.
"Sam, Lillian– what's going on?!" Dean asked frantically from outside, hands clenching into fists. He saw Sam tackle the doctor, but with the noise and quick movements he was having a hard time seeing everything.
"She's a demon!" Came Lillian's frantic call, and it was all Dean needed.
He grabbed the balcony with one hand, thumb on the platform and the rest of his fingers below as a brace, poured all his helpless frustration into it and ripped the balcony from the building. Cement chunks fell to the ground and he dropped the rest beside him. Now that the opening was bigger he could see exactly where the doctor was. Quickly but carefully Dean lunged his fingers inside, feeling around for a second before he snatched the doctor out by her lab coat.
She dangled in midair from his fingers, screaming and kicking with demonic fury. Then Dean dropped her into a fist, enclosing the demon completely so its screams were muffled but the vessel wouldn't be injured.
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas," Sam yelled out, having picked himself off the floor while Dean handled the demon. He stepped up to the double doors, barely hanging on their hinges now, and continued the exorcism with conviction. "Omnis incursion infernalis adversarii, omnis congregation et secta diabolica, ergo draco maledicte." He felt Lillian step up beside him to offer support he didn't even realize he needed until he gratefully slumped against her. Sam took a deep breath, then finished with a mighty: "Ut ecclesiam tuam secura, tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, AUDI NOS!"
Dean opened his fist as, with one last ferocious scream, the doctor's mouth opened and the demon's black smoky form left her body and smashed into the ground beside them to be banished back to hell where it belonged.
Silence fell as the three let it sink in that the demon was finally gone.
Then the doctor moaned from where she lay cradled in the palm of his hand, blood trickling from a nasty cut on her head where Lillian had struck. Dean quickly brought her up to the doors before she could realize where she was. "She's gonna need looked at," Dean quietly told them as they helped her back into the hospital room.
Lillian ushered the extremely pale nurse over to help her with the small woman. She didn't want Sam to shoulder any more of the weight, he was starting to look pale himself. "Take her to another doctor, won't you? And call for someone new, we need to address Sam – I'm afraid a few stitches may have popped," she told the man, who nodded quickly in understanding before he led the dazed, mumbling doctor out of the room.
"That went great," Sam said as he looked over at Dean, "but what I don't understand is how you kept the demon from fleeing the vessel again when I did the exorcism?"
Dean held up his hand with a grin to showcase markings of a demon trap written in sharpie covering his palm, drawn over even the minuscule bandages he had on. "I was bored, and thought I'd be prepared just in case. Figured it'd be helpful against a pint-sized demon."
"That's awesome!" Sam laughed out, before stopping abruptly with a wince as the movement sent fresh jolts of pain across his stomach.
"Let's get you back into bed then," Lillian said, turning to Sam and noticing the way Dean was hovering close to the building. It was so incredibly surreal to see such a large eye peaking in and his huge form casting a shadow over the room, but it was more of a comfort now really.
"I'm fine," Sam insisted, though it didn't come out with much conviction.
"You Winchesters," Lillian tutted in reprimand as she fluffed the pillows behind him. "This whole 'denying your injuries' thing is going to get you both killed some day." She gently pressed Sam's shoulder so he would lay back, then pulled the sticky hospital gown up. She flushed a bit as she remembered he only had his boxers on underneath, but quickly ignored the embarrassment and focused on his stitches. It wasn't too bad, but three had popped, just as she had suspected.
"Sorry, mum," came Dean's snarky rebuttal.
Sam smirked, and Lillian rolled her eyes.
AN: Yay the demon was finally exorcised with a little teamwork!
Chapter 10 is the last one! *sniffle*
