So here I am again, with another one that was written in just a few hours. I think I may have rambled on a bit though. But I had a good idea, and sometimes the story just keeps coming. :P Once again, thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, and everyone who left me their fantastic ideas. I love them all, and I will hopefully be able to write a chapter for every one of them, cause they're all brilliant. Thank you guys! You are all freaking awesome. *hugs*
This is my first time writing an actual "hunt" fic, so I really hope it worked out. *eee*
This one is for SD17, who asked for a little scared Dean. Hope you like it hon! :)
Once again, the usual sap warning. Not as much as usual, but still a generous amount. ;)
Disclaimer: Still don't own 'em.
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"So what, some guy saw a figure on fire?" Dean pulls off his boots, drops them beside the bed, and leans back on his arms, watching Sam.
"Yeah," Sam says absent-mindedly, his eyes fixed on the screen of the laptop. "His name's Ross Black."
"Poltergeist?" Dean guesses.
"Maybe." Sam doesn't even look at him.
Dean sighs. He's bored.
A figure on fire. Big whoop. It's probably some vengeful spirit or something –and by the way, they just took care of one last week - and he so wants an exciting hunt. "What else did he say?" he asks, laying on his back and watching the ceiling.
No answer.
He lifts his head, looks up at Sam. Sam's still watching the laptop like it's the only thing in the room worth paying attention to.
"Sam!" Dean says loudly, and Sam whips his head around.
"Huh?"
"Um, hello? What else did he say?" Dean gives him a wide-eyed what-the-heck-are-you-doing look and lays back again.
"Nothing much. He just said he was out hiking in the woods, at night, and he saw this weird shape on the ground, and it was on fire." Sam shrugs.
"Weird shape? On the ground? I thought you said it was a figure?" Dean says.
"It was a figure. A figure on the ground," Sam replies.
Dean rolls his eyes. "So you think this is a job for us?"
"I'd say," Sam says, scrolling down the page. "He also says that when he saw the figure, he was overcome by an 'unexplainable, extremely intense fear' until he was far away from it. If that's not spirit stuff, I don't know what is. He's in Minnesota. I say we go for it."
Dean sits up. "Alrighty. Bring it on."
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"Two questions," Dean says as the boys leave Ross Black's house, "One, why the hell would you want to go hiking at night, and two, what's so scary about a little flaming thing on the ground? Is this guy even sure it wasn't just a pile of wood or something?"
Sam shrugs. "I don't think he'd be scared of a pile of wood, Dean."
Dean points at him. "Don't jump to conclusions, Sammy. People are scared of weird things sometimes."
Sam smirks. "He said it was moving, Dean. Piles of wood don't move."
"Don't jump to conclusions," Dean says again, his green eyes shining with amusement, and Sam laughs in spite of himself.
"I say we head out there tonight and check it out," Sam says, getting into the passenger seat and tugging at his tie to loosen it.
"Aww, Sammy, have I ever mentioned how much I hate the woods? Especially at night?" Dean starts the car with a sigh.
"What's the matter, Dean? Scared of a flaming pile of wood?" Sam teases, and Dean gives him a sideways glare.
"Haha."
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"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the woods at night?" Dean grumbles as they head along the trail, tripping every once in a while over a root.
"I think I remember you mentioning it once or twice," Sam replies. "Actually, try fifty." He shines his flashlight back at Dean, catching him in the eyes.
Dean winces. "Funny. Where did Ross see that thing again? And how do we know where we're going?"
"Well, he said that he dropped his backpack when he ran. So I'm guessing it should still be there," Sam says, pointing the flashlight on the ground, beside the path.
They walk on in silence for a bit, broken every few minutes by an occasional curse from Dean. He's so busy watching his feet and trying not to trip over the roots - How many frigging roots can there be in a forest anyway? And why are they all growing right where I'm walking? – that he walks straight into Sam without noticing that he's stopped.
"Dean!" Sam says irritably. "Watch where you're going!"
"Sorry!" Dean grumbles. "It'd be nice to have a warning though."
Sam huffs loudly. "Ross didn't mention this."
"What?" Dean looks past Sam. "Oh."
The path goes off in two different directions. Both look equally dark and creepy. With plenty of roots.
Dean sighs. "Great."
Sam shines his flashlight down each one a couple of times, then sighs loudly too. "Now what?"
"I guess we're splitting up," Dean suggests, shrugging.
Sam stares at him. "No, come on man! We're in the middle of the woods. It's way too easy to get lost."
"Dude. It's a hiking trail. Eventually it's gotta wrap back around to where we parked, right?" Dean reasons.
"Not necessarily," Sam argues, hands on his hips.
Dean rolls his shoulders, shivering a little. "Come on man. It's getting cold out here. I really wanna get this done. Can we just split up? If something happens to you, just scream."
Sam huffs again. "I still don't think this is a good idea."
Dean claps him on the shoulder. "It'll be fine, Sammy. I promise I'll scream too if something gets me. I'll see you soon." He heads down the left path.
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A few minutes later, he has to admit this isn't the brightest idea he's ever had. He can't see the beam from Sam's flashlight anymore at all, and the darkness is almost heavy it's so black. The roots are even gone from the path, and he has to admit he almost misses them. At least it gave him something to concentrate on, not tripping over them.
Now he's just walking. In the middle of the forest. At night. By himself.
He's just started to hum "Turn the Page" when he sees something ahead of him. A light. He stops dead, squints at it.
Maybe it's Sam – maybe the paths meet up or something. He can always hope.
As he stands still, he can see that the light is getting closer. It's perfectly round, and appears to be floating.
Crap. What the hell is that? Doesn't look like any spirit I've ever seen.
Suddenly, it bursts into flames and falls to the ground, making him jump. He backs up a step, narrowing his eyes. Now it's longer, a thin shape, and it's definitely getting closer, moving along the ground like some kind of fiery caterpillar.
He pulls out his gun, ready for it. If a gun even works on this thing. He's never seen anything like it before.
Soon it's almost right in front of him. For all he can see, it's just a line of flames. What the hell?
The flames flare brighter, and now the thing isgrowing. Dean backs up, wondering if he should run – the flames are now as tall as he is, and still going.
That's when he's suddenly flung off his feet, as though there were an explosion, and he flies through the air and lands several feet away, hitting the ground hard. He stares in shock, coughing – the flames are now filling the whole path, they're taller than some of the mid-size trees around.
He's suddenly struck by such an intense fear, he's up and running before he even realizes he's moving.
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Sam huffs loudly. He's been walking for at least twenty minutes and hasn't seen any stupid backpack. He can't see Dean's flashlight beam anymore, and the woods is kind of creepy at night. He glares back down the way he came, flicking the flashlight at random trees.
Great idea of Dean's, splitting up. At least if they were together right now he'd have company. Even if it is Dean's constant whining about hiking.
He's just about ready to start his own whining when he sees something, far off in the trees. It looks like fire. But not a little bit of fire, more like a full-size blaze. Uh-oh. "Dean?" he yells, even though if Dean's by the fire, he's way too far away to hear him.
He shifts desperately for a minute, wondering what the hell he should do. Run back down the way he came and head down Dean's path? Wait here for Dean to come? Like hell. Run through the woods toward the fire? With that many trees, is he even going to be able to run? It's still faster this way than going back.
He makes up his mind and dives into the forest, branches already catching his face and clothing as he runs. "Dean?" he yells again, as loud as he can. No answer.
He's getting closer – the fire is huge - when he hears something coming through the woods towards him. Fox? No, way too big. Before he can think of what else it might be, he collides with it, hard, and finds himself on the ground, on top of it. "Ooof!" The air is knocked out of his lungs. Whatever he ran into lets out a sharp yelp, and he realizes belatedly that it's Dean.
"Dean? Dude! Are you okay?" Sam rolls off him, wheezing a little. Dean scrambles up and away from him so quickly that Sam jumps. "Dean?" He gets up too - cause it looks as if Dean's about to go off running into the woods – and grabs his arm.
Dean struggles for a second then says "Sam?" His voice sounds funny, and he's trembling in Sam's grip and backing up.
"Yeah Dean – it's me – are you okay?" he asks again, struggling to hold his brother still.
Dean's silent for a moment, breathing fast. "No," he breathes after a second, and Sam shines the flashlight toward him. His eyes are huge and dark in his white face, and he looks terrified. He's looking back towards the fire, pulling away. "Sammy, we need to get out of here right now. Please!" He pulls hard at his arm, but Sam stands still.
"What is it, Dean? It's not coming," he says firmly, pulling Dean towards him.
Dean reaches out to push away Sam and yelps again, like when Sam landed on him, but louder and sharper this time, and yanks back his hand. Sam jumps in surprise. "What? Dean what is it?" He shines his flashlight at his brother again and sees, to his horror, that Dean's hand is bloody. "What happened?"
Dean doesn't answer, he just pulls away from Sam, hard. "Sammy we need to go, please!" He's begging now, and Sam can never resist that. "Fine. We go back to the path and then I want to see what happened, got it?"
Dean doesn't answer, he just starts walking, fast. Sam keeps a firm grip on his brother's arm until they reach the path again, and then he stops him. "Let me see, Dean." He pulls Dean around to face him, and sees that both of his hands are bloody, not just the one. Dean's trembling hard, his breath coming in sharp gasps, and he keeps looking around behind him and shifting.
"Dean. Can you calm down, man? What's the matter?" Sam's digging through his backpack for anything he can use for a makeshift bandage.
Dean swallows hard and backs up a little, Sam has to grab his arm again to keep him from running. "Dean. Look at me." He waits until Dean's huge eyes meet his own, which takes a surprisingly long time. "I really need you to calm down, man. There's nothing to be freaking out about. What's the matter with you?" He can't see any possible reason for Dean to be that scared. Yes, he's never liked fire. But it doesn't scare him like this.
"What happened back there Dean?" he asks, but Dean's already pulling away from him again, looking past him into the woods. Sam turns around. The fire's gone. "What the hell?" He almost lets go of Dean he's so surprised, then grabs the edge of his jacket at the last second.
"Dean!" he yells, almost making himself jump. Dean flinches like Sam's hit him. "Would you just stay still!" Sam's at the end of his patience. "I don't want your hands to get dirty or infected, so we need to get them wrapped up. And I can't do it if you won't stop moving around! Dammit, for once would you please pay attention!"
Dean flinches again and goes still, eyes wide and wounded. Sam knows he went overboard, but he's confused, he doesn't know how the hell a huge ball of fire just disappeared in the middle of a dry woods, Dean's acting like he's never been on a hunt in his life, and he really wants to get out of this freaking woods.
He finds the clean rags at the bottom of his backpack and gets Dean to kneel with him so he can leave the flashlight on the ground and still have light. At closer inspection, it appears that Dean's hands are burnt. Sam stares for a long moment. He'd at first thought Dean must have fallen or something, but it was clearly the fire. He glances up at his brother.
Dean's not looking at him, he's looking away into the woods where the fire was. He still looks afraid.
Sam wraps the rags around Dean's hands as gently as he can, but Dean still winces and almost whimpers, and his eyes are shiny with unshed tears. Sam knows how much burns hurt, and his heart twists a little.
When he's done, he helps Dean up by gripping his arm. "You okay? Come on, let's get the hell out of here."
They start walking, and Dean's pressed against Sam's side like a frightened animal the whole way back, trembling and shivering and looking around at the surrounding woods with wide, frightened eyes.
Sam's beginning to feel guilty. He suspects now that something else is going on. After all, Dean's never freaked out like that before around fire. It doesn't make sense. And now he remembers what Ross Black said, about how he felt intense fear around the fiery figure.
Sam curses mentally, angry at himself for snapping at Dean. He probably can't help being afraid right now.
They make it back to the car, and Dean huddles in the passenger seat, his bandaged hands in his lap. He's still trembling, and turns away from the window as though he's afraid there's something out there.
Sam chews his lip and worries the whole way back to the motel.
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By the time they're almost back to the motel, Sam's relieved. Dean's fear has all but evaporated now that they're away from the woods. He's sitting in the passenger seat, staring down at his hands, hissing every once in a while.
Sam's still feeling guilty, still seeing Dean's huge wounded eyes in the dark forest. "You okay?" he asks.
Dean glances at him sideways. "Yes, for the fifteenth time. Well, not really. This hurts like a bitch." He experiments with moving his hands and then winces, squeezing his eyes shut. "'Kay… not a good idea."
Sam looks over sympathetically. "Don't move them, man. We gotta get them bandaged properly and some burn ointment on. That's so not good. Maybe we should take you to the hospital."
"No hospital," Dean says immediately, giving him a long look. "You can take care of it, man. I'll be fine."
Sam feels for a second like he doesn't deserve Dean's trust. He snapped at Dean out there when he needed him the most, and still, Dean trusts him.
Sam pulls up outside their room, and jumps out of the car to open Dean's door for him. "I can do it," Dean says, and then shrugs under Sam's 'oh really' look.
In their room, Dean immediately collapses on his bed. He looks exhausted and a little pale still.
Sam opens his mouth to ask if he's okay, but decides that he'd like to not get punched in the jaw, and closes it again. He retrieves the burn ointment from their first aid kit, and applies it as gently as he can. Here in the light the burns don't look as bad.
No matter, Dean is still trembling and sweating by the end of it, his face flushed and his eyes too shiny again. "Crap, Sammy," he whispers as Sam wraps his hands.
"I know it hurts man." Sam smiles at him sympathetically. "You should go to bed."
"No arguments," Dean mutters, but Sam still has to help him get off his jeans and shirt before he collapses under the blankets, face screwed up in pain.
"Painkillers, dude. I'm gonna get you some," Sam says firmly, and heads back to the first-aid kit.
Once he's got them into his brother, Dean passes out pretty quickly. Sam chews his lip and watches his sleeping brother for a moment, then crosses to his laptop and sits down.
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"It was a what?" Dean asks, sitting up in bed. It's the next morning, and Dean's so doped up on painkillers for his hands that he's a little out of it.
"An Elemental," Sam repeats, glancing at his computer screen. "I don't know why I didn't think of it before."
"Oh no Sam, neither do I. Those are perfectly common," Dean says, raising his eyebrows.
Sam smiles. "No, man, I mean I've read a lot about these things before. It all fits. It was probably a Salamander."
Dean looks at him blankly. "Come again? That wasn't a lizard, Sam. It was kind of just a tad bigger. And on fire."
"I don't mean literally a salamander, Dean. But that's what the fire elementals are called. Salamanders. They can change their size and shape at will, so that's how come it started out so small and got so big that fast. Plus they can control the emotions of anyone they're around. Which explains why you were so scared." Sam nods, pleased with his conclusion. It all makes sense now.
Dean nods too. "An Elemental, huh? Wow. Isn't that like that thing from the second Hellboy?"
Sam shrugs. "Yeah I think so."
Dean shakes his head. "That's kind of cool actually."
"Yeah, cool if it didn't practically burn you to death. It's gotta go." Sam bites his lip.
"How do we get rid of it?" Dean asks, watching Sam with narrowed eyes. Sam thinks for a moment that he's glaring at him, but a second later realizes he's having trouble staying awake.
"I'll figure something out, Dean. Just go back to sleep." Sam smiles at him and goes back to his computer.
"Sammy?"
"Yeah Dean?"
"You aren't gonna go take care of it yourself, are you?" Dean's laying on his stomach, hands laying limply next to him, his head turned on the pillow so he can see Sam. "I wanna help." Dean always sounds so young and vulnerable when he's on painkillers.
Sam smiles again. "I won't, Dean. Promise."
"'Kay. Thanks." Dean gives him a tired but grateful smile, closes his eyes again.
Sam watches him for a second, then picks up the laptop and puts it on the end of the bed and goes over and sits down on the bed next to him. "Dean?"
"Mmmm?" Dean cracks open one eye.
"I'm sorry about earlier. For yelling at you."
"Dude I'm not f-five," Dean says, smothering a yawn in the pillow.
"I know you're not, Dean," Sam huffs lightly. "But I still shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I didn't even think…"
"You didn't know," Dean says, opening both eyes to look at him. "I probably would've yelled at me too."
Sam shakes his head. "You didn't deserve that."
"But I do deserve some sleep, right?" Dean's eyes are light, a sure sign that he's not upset.
Sam still feels bad. "Come on man. I'm trying to apologize here. I feel bad."
Dean smiles at him, eyes barely open. "It's ok Sammy. Promise. I'm not upset."
"Okay Dean."
Dean squirms a little, then settles down with his side pressed against Sam's hip and one of his hands resting lightly on Sam's knee. Sam smiles and rubs Dean's back for a second, then carefully reaches for the laptop and pulls it onto his lap.
Now to find a way to kill this thing.
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"What are we doing again?" Dean yawns into the headrest of the passenger seat, then blinks hard and shoots an I'm-so-awake look at Sam.
"A banishing spell. It's supposed to work," Sam replies, stopping the Impala and climbing out. He rounds the car and opens Dean's door, catching him with one hand when he almost falls out. "Don't think this is a good idea, Dean."
"You just said it's supposed to work," Dean says easily, leaning heavily on Sam's shoulder for a second, then finding his feet.
"I didn't mean that. I meant you coming with me," Sam sighs, walking to the trunk.
"Sam, you tell me one more time that I should 'be in bed resting' and I will end you," Dean says in a friendly way. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. But if this goes the way you say it should, I shouldn't have to do anything anyway. I'm just there to watch your back."
"Whatever." Sam has to admit he's glad Dean's coming along with him, even though he knows his brother really shouldn't be out here. But let's face it – the woods is creepy at night.
It takes them a long time to get to the path, cause Dean's a little woozy and is getting tired fast, and Sam's basically carrying him, one arm wrapped around his waist.
"Hey Sam?"
"Yeah man."
"Kinda tired, actually."
"I know you are. We're here."
Dean leans against a tree nochalantly as though he hasn't just admitted he's tired, and Sam gets to work setting up the candles. By the time he's finished, Dean is huddled at the bottom of the tree, hands resting on his knees, shivering a little. He glances worriedly at his brother, and then starts to light the candles.
"Sam?"
"Yep."
"It's coming." Dean sounds like he's trying hard to keep his voice from shaking.
Sam's head snaps up, he can see a perfectly round ball of light in the distance. "Are you sure Dean? That looks like a flashlight."
"I'm sure." Dean's voice wobbles a little.
Sam throws him a reassuring look and pulls out the spell he's written down. "Don't worry, Dean. That son of a bitch'll be gone before it even gets here."
Dean doesn't say anything, his eyes are huge and dark again, and fixed on the approaching light.
Sam stands up and starts the spell, glancing up from the page every few seconds. The light's getting closer and closer.
He reads faster.
It bursts into flames suddenly and falls to the ground, then inches closer. Sam forces himself to say the words clearly, not think about the approaching Elemental.
It's getting bigger quickly, but Sam finishes the spell just as it's reaching his height, and it makes an odd ringing sound and then implodes. He feels the heat even from here, and pulls back.
The Elemental is gone, it's dark again, except for the candles. He turns to look back at Dean. His brother is shaking, but seems to be okay. Sam sighs loudly. "Whew. Well. That takes care of that."
He heads over to Dean, drops down beside his brother. "You good?"
Dean nods stiffly. "Think so."
Sam leans back against the tree so their shoulders are touching. "That was a lot more exciting than a vengeful spirit, huh?"
Dean rolls his eyes a little. "Yeah, a lot more exciting. Too much exciting." He looks mournfully at his hands. "Damn ball of fire."
Sam nudges him. "You'll be fine. It could've been a lot worse."
Dean thinks about it, then nods. "Yeah I guess."
They get up, start the long walk back to the car. Dean's leaning heavily on Sam again, and when Sam stops to re-adjust his backpack Dean turns his face into Sam's shoulder, leaning there silently.
Sam rubs his back. "You okay man? Gonna be able to make it back?"
"Think so. Just tired. Hands hurt."
"We'll get you some more painkillers when we get back." Sam gets him walking again, and they're almost back when Dean speaks again.
"Hey Sam?"
"Yeah."
"No more figures on fire for a while, okay?"
Sam huffs. "I agree."
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Please let me know your thoughts on the chapter!
I'm always glad to hear from you. :)
Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you on the flipside.
~ Deanandhisimpala
