Tick Tock

By

Ava Brett

Disclaimer

None of the characters mentioned in the below piece of fiction belong to me in any shape or form. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.

Author Note

Here's the next chapter so enjoy!

Who would of thought I could write such evil letters… eek!

Overall Summary

Dean is gone and time is running out because someone is playing a game with Sam and Castiel, someone wants them to lose but the price of losing is Dean's life. They have to find the clues and win. The clock is ticking… can you hear it? Because Dean certainly can…

Chapter Summary

First task is received…

Overall Romance

Castiel/Dean Winchester, possibly Sam Winchester/OFC

Chapter Romance

None yet… but its coming

Chapter Three

Task One

Sam looked around him, eyes narrowed as he searched for any clue as to why he was here and who the man would choose to approach him.

It was eight fifty five in the morning and there was nothing about the busy street which looked out of place from any other morning which he had spent there. People milled about, caught up in their own lives paying little to no attention to him or to the Angel who stood so stiffly at his side. Sam had thought that there might have been something which would have stood out but if there was then he wasn't able to see it.

Sam reached up, running a hand through his hair as he swallowed, the noise sounding surprisingly loud in his ears.

Sam was prepared to do whatever it took to keep his brother safe and alive wherever he was, at least until he found him. Sam had searched the streets well into the early hours of the morning but he hadn't found anything at all, there was no sign that Dean had even walked the streets or stepped foot in the town. It was as though the older man had simply disappeared off the face of the planet, remembered only by him self and Castiel.

If the man asked him to kill someone then Sam wasn't sure what he was going to do. Killing a human was against everything he and Dean stood for regardless of whether the human was a complete and utter dick who might have deserved it and yet if he didn't then Dean would die. Sam would have to kill them whether he wanted to do it or not, there was no other option for him. He couldn't live without his older brother. He had tried so many times but the emptiness had always threatened to consume him. A world which didn't contain Dean's infectious grin or determination to live was a place Sam wasn't sure he wanted to be in.

If the man killed Dean then he had better hope he killed Sam as well before Sam reached him because he would make whoever it was suffer.

He had to find his brother and soon.

"There is only a minute left until nine Sam" Castiel said, his voice low, blue eyes skirting around them searching for anything. Sam forced him self to focus on the matter at hand.

"Do we happen to have a plan"? Sam asked, looking at the Angel. Castiel glanced at him for a moment, his face completely expressionless which somehow made him look threatening.

"I shall take care of the man who has taken Dean and harmed him" he stated matter of factly as though he was discussing the weather with Sam, his voice cold enough that it caused Sam to shiver despite the fact it was a warm morning. He couldn't remember ever seeing Castiel like this, the Angel looked so close to losing the control which had always seemed like such an integral part of him.

"As long as you save some for me and allow me the first shot at him then you can have whatever left over with my blessing. The bastard took my brother, he's not getting away with it, not while I'm still breathing anyway" Sam answered calmly.

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you but are you Sam by any chance?" A young voice said from just behind them. Sam swung round, his eyes landing on a boy who looked as though he was in his early teens. There was a questioning look on his face as he tilted his head to the side. "Sam Winchester?"

"I'm Sam" he replied watching as a look of relief passed over the boy's features.

"Great news" the boy remarked, sticking his hand into his jacket pocket. Sam tensed ready to launch into action if the boy tried anything. Sam had learnt the hard way never to trust anyone regardless of how innocent they might have initially looked. "This would be for you then" he said, pulling out a crumpled envelope which had clearly seen better days from his pocket and holding it out to him with an expectant look on his face.

Sam stared at it for a moment before he reached out and took it from the boy.

He barely had time to blink before Castiel had his hand wrapped around the boy's wrist causing a cry of shocked pain to escape the boy's mouth.

"Cas" Sam began, stopping when Castiel spoke over him.

"Who gave you this letter to give to Sam?" he demanded, the boy looked back at the Angel with a half defiant, half fearful look on his face as he tried desperately to pull his wrist out of Castiel's grip. Castiel barely seemed to notice the boy's struggles.

"Look I don't know alright" the boy answered, an undercurrent of desperation to his voice. "He was a stranger; I haven't seen him around here before"

"So what happened exactly? How did you end up with this letter?" Sam asked.

"I was just walking to school and this dude who I haven't seen before approached me saying he would give my fifty bucks to deliver a letter to San Winchester. He said you would be here outside the diner waiting for it. The diner on my way to school and it was fifty bucks and fifty bucks is a lot of money so I told him yeah, I'd deliver his letter for him, no problems."

"The man who approached you, what did he look like exactly?" Sam demanded, wincing in sympathy when Castiel's hand tightened on the boy's wrist calling him to hiss in pain. Sam glanced around quickly but none of the people walking by them seemed to notice anything unusual about the scene.

"I don't know I didn't really look okay" he said loudly, his words rushing together in his desperation to answer Sam's questions. "I told you before that I've never seen him. He wore some sort of hat and he kept it low over his face and he had sunglasses on"

"Was there anything else?" Castiel asked.

"He was tall, like not stupidly tall like you are" he said glancing at Sam. "But more like your height, maybe slightly taller and he was white. Other then that all I noticed was the fifty dollars he was waving in my face. I don't know anything else, I swear it."

Sam stared into the boy's dark eyes searchingly before he nodded his head.

"I believe you" he stated simply "Let him go Cas, he's told us everything he knows" Castiel's eyes flickered over to him for a moment before he nodded, letting go of the boy's wrist. Sam watched as the boy automatically grabbed it, rubbing at the tender red skin while glaring at them.

"The pair of you are fucking crazy, you know that right" he announced.

"One more question before you go" Sam said, blocking off the boy's exit before he could use it. "Answer it and you can go, we won't bother you again" he promised. The boy looked between him and Castiel before they focused back on Sam with a sullen expression. Sam took his silence as permission to ask his question. "Did the man say anything else to you other then to bring me the letter? Anything at all"

The boy frowned thoughtfully, his fingers tightening on the straps of his bag as he slowly nodded.

"He did say to tell you that he's having fun with Dean, more fun then he had anticipated. He said… your brother excited him or something like that. The dude was kinda creepy so I didn't stay to hear anything else" he said glancing down at the ground before he looked at Sam. "Can I go now?" he demanded.

Sam nodded; stepping back and allowing the boy to step pass him. He watched him until he had disappeared around the corner before he turned to Castiel.

"What the hell is he doing to Dean?" he demanded. Castiel remained silent, a far away look in his eyes which made Sam wonder whether Castiel was even with him. Sam shook his head and opened the envelope with a shaky hand, pulling out a single piece of paper covered with the same bold bulky writing as the previous one.

Congratulations Sam,

You are actually where you are meant to be. It's nice to know that the famous Winchester brothers can obey orders from others after all. All anyone ever had to do was to threaten you Sam with what you hold most dear in this world which of course is your brother. Perhaps it's because Dean isn't so much your brother as he is your Dad. I mean wasn't it Dean who raised you, teaching you and caring for you while Papa Winchester went off for days at a time, killing the baddies and ignoring you. But it didn't matter did it because you still had Dean; Dean was always there for you even when you grew older.

That must leave you with so many unresolved issues.

Well I am a man of my word if nothing else and because of your obedience you have earned Dean another hour to live.

I'm keeping him safe for you Sam though he has managed to break his arm and obtain some other injuries but what else could you expect from the famous Dean Winchester? He does have quite a lot of fight and passion in him doesn't he? I quite enjoy seeing it flare up. He's not talking much to me which is disappointing but perhaps that is because of the drugs in his system. I'm doing it for his own good though, I don't want my prize to hurt him self before the grand finale do I? It would be such a waste.

First task is a simple one for you Sam. I need you to obtain something for me and bring it to me. An ancient book of spells entitled 'r iiyfr chan chyfareddau. Perhaps your friend Bobby Singer has one. I've seen his collection. It's rather impressive isn't it? All those books, do you think he's perhaps trying to compensate for something?

Enough of that though, I'm digressing.

You have three hours exactly to finish this task.

Be back in front of the diner at midday or Dean will die and I promise you Sam I will make sure he dies slowly. Those hell hounds which ripped him apart, dragging his screaming soul to hell will have nothing on what I will do to him given the chance.

I so want to hear him scream Sam, I can't think of a sound in this world which I want to hear more.

Does it hurt Sam to feel so helpless? To know that Dean needs you and his Angel oh so badly and to know that you simply can't find him?

He calls for you both when he's drugged up. He might not say much but the stuff he does say is highly intriguing.

Are you curious because you really should be?

Enough talk though, you have a job to do and a timer which is running out.

Tick Tock Sam.

Sam stared down at the letter, his stomach rolling. He forced himself to swallow past the sudden lump in his throat, licking his lips nervously as he turned to Castiel.

"Any suggestions?"

Author Note

Thanks for reading!