Saving Sam
Chapter 6
"Did you find anything strange about any of the victims?" Dean turned from the mutilated body that had been pulled out for him to see. It definitely looked like a werewolf attack but the hunter needed to be sure.
"You mean strange like the fact that after never having a single wolf attack we suddenly have half a dozen corpses to deal with? There is also the fact that each victim is missing bits of their brains." Dr. Reed had been a coroner for many years, but never had he seen anything like the past few weeks.
"Really, well that is interesting. Any chance the pituitary glands are intact?" The look of confusion on the coroner's face told Dean that he might have been correct.
"Well, no. All of the victims are missing their pituitary glands, but how did you know?" He had moved the deceased man's head to the side only slightly to show the agents the sizeable hole where the victim's midbrain had been removed.
"I just had a hunch; I worked on a case similar to this a few years back." Dean let out a sigh as he remembered that case, many months ago.
"Do you think the two are related?" Dr. Reed pushed the metal slab back into the bay and closed the door before meeting the eyes of the two agents.
"I'm not sure. Thank you for your time Dr. Reed, We'll be in touch."
Gabriel followed Dean out of the police station, he had opted to stay quiet and observe as the hunter inquired about the victims. He had a feeling that they were not dealing with a werewolf, the evidence pointed to what he knew to be on the hunter's mind. It was a Kitsune, a young one apparently, with an axe to grind.
Dean pulled his phone from his pocket to call Sam, as he waited for the younger hunter to pick up he noticed something from the corner of his vision. There, standing across the street was a woman; Amy Pond was watching him with her dead eyes, judging him. A car passed between the two and when it was gone as was she.
"Dean? Dean! Are you there?" Sam's voice called out from the speaker of his phone.
"Oh uh Yeah. Sammy we aren't dealing with a werewolf. I'll explain when we get back."
"See you in a few."
The ride back to the motel was silent, Gabriel was anxious to see Sam again, while Dean sat there brooding about what they had found out. The motel came into view and soon the gentle purr of the Impala's engine died down. Neither of them spoke as both men made their way towards the door of 6c, which seemed to know that they were coming; or rather it was the younger hunter that had opened the door that had seen them come. Sam closed the door once the pair had entered; Gabriel took his place beside Sam while Dean walked over to the bed that Cas was sitting cross-legged on.
"So what was that all about back there Dean? You spaced out and then you looked like you saw a ghost." Amber eyes surveyed Dean as Gabriel questioned the hunter, who now sat on the foot of one of the beds.
"Not a ghost, a memory. I know the reason that this is happening, and it is my fault. My actions caused their deaths." His head was cradled in his hand, elbows propped on his knees, he felt Cas's hand on his back but he didn't turn to face his angel.
"Dean what are you talking about? What did you find out about the victims, are we dealing with a skinwalker? Dean! What is it?" Dean had just been shaking his head, so caught up in his own mind that he hadn't even noticed the younger hunter approaching him, the vigorous shaking pulled him from his thoughts. His eyes went up to meet concerned hazel ones, Sam let his hands drop from Dean's shoulders as he waited for an answer from his brother.
"It was Jacob. And I saw her, but I know I killed her so it couldn't have been her. The look in her eyes, the shock of me killing her, I watched the light fade from her eyes… And now Jacob is killing because of me, if I had listened to you Sam those people would have still been alive." Pain filled his voice as it broke; a single perfect tear fell as he turned his gaze back to the floor.
"It wasn't your fault Dean, you only did what you felt was right. Dad taught us to kill first and ask questions later." His heart felt for his brother, even though he had disagreed with him killing Amy, he hated seeing Dean beat himself up over something that he couldn't control. Gabriel had moved toward the bed, he could feel the guilt coming from the man in waves.
"Dean, we'll figure something out. I say we have some dinner, call it a night and start fresh in the morning." Cas had moved to sit beside of the elder Winchester, whom he pulled into his arms trying will away the other man's guilt and pain. Dean didn't fight the strong, yet gentle, embrace.
It had taken the three of them a number of hours to convince Dean that he should join them for food. He had only one condition, he'd come with them if they went drinking afterwards. Reluctantly Sam agreed to that condition, knowing that if the three of them were there with Dean they could keep an eye on him.
Once the group finally made it to the diner they picked a booth near the back, Sam and Dean decided to sit facing the door while their angel counterparts sat across from them. Sam had been keeping an eye out for the waitress, but someone caught his eye when he had scanned the small restaurant. Sitting at the counter, staring straight at his was none other than Lucifer himself. Gabriel noted the stunned look on the younger hunter's face and turned to see what Sam had been looking at, but failed to see anything out of the ordinary. Sam watched as Lucifer smiled and waved to him as a person moved into Sam's line of vision, when that person moved Lucifer had vanished.
"Sam? What are you looking at?" Amber eyes studied the shocked hazel ones across from him as he waved his hand in front of Sam's face trying to get his attention.
"Huh? Oh nothing, I thought I saw someone, I was mistaken." he blinked and shifted his gaze to the waitress that had just come to their booth. The group ordered their food and the waitress hurried away, leaving most of the focus of the group back on Sam.
"Who did you think you saw Sam?" Dean asked the hunter to his side wondering if the crazy was catching back up to his brother.
"Amy" He refused to look at anyone at the table, knowing that his eyes would betray him. He knew that Gabriel had been intent on burning a hole through his head with his concerned gaze.
"You sure Sam? Cause I saw her earlier today. I thought it was just my subconscious being a douche." Dean had felt a weight lift when he heard his brother saw her too, and that it wasn't some hallucination of the devil. Oh course Sam was probably lying, to stop people from worrying about him, because that's what Sam does when he starts to get in over his head. Gabriel watched Sam nod in reply to Dean's question but also figured he would prod the taller man for the truth once they returned to their room.
The four of them ate in silence, which Sam was particularly glad about, and once they were done Dean paid the bill while Sam left the tip on the table. As they were walking out Sam caught a glimpse of Lucifer again, sitting at the table beside the exit, who just gave Sam a knowing look.
Dean had still insisted that they go drinking, Sam fully agreed after seeing the man who haunted him from hell waving to him at various points during the trip. When they reached the bar the first thing Sam noticed was Lucifer, who was leaning against the wall, beside the door. The four of them walk toward the bar and enter; Sam entered last and glanced over at Lucifer just before going through the door.
Sam noted that his hallucination had followed him into the bar, chattering away during the whole time. Sam pinched the bridge of his nose as he ordered a round of shots, something strong, from the bartender. Gabriel watched his hunter from afar, knowing something was going on, why else would he have lied to his brother?
'You sure about that Sammy? Will that make me disappear again?' taunted Lucifer who sat beside him hovering rather close to the taller man, who had just started on his second round of shots. 'Do you really want to be rid of me, I think you enjoy these sessions we have.'
"You're not real" whispered Sam as he threw back a shot, followed by another, the whiskey burning on the way down. He opened his eyes, not really sure when he had closed them and looked around for the devil. A sigh passed through his lips as he calmed down, only to be startled when he felt a hand grip his shoulder. He quickly turned to face the person behind him, hoping like hell it was not who he thought it was, scared hazel eyes met with concerned amber ones.
"Whoa relax Sammy, you ok?" He turned the taller man to face him as he glanced over to the rounds worth of empty shot glasses on the bar.
"Come drink me " Sam was not just a little tipsy, he was really drunk and actually in a similar state as Dean. The elder Winchester was currently being lead out to the car by Cas. Sam managed to knock two more shots back before Gabriel found words.
"Sam, Come on let's get you home. You're pretty smashed." Sam had made a grab for another shot, only to have his hand swatted away by the angel. Gabriel positioned himself beside Sam with his arm around the taller man's waist and on hand on the wrist of the drunken man's arm currently over his shoulder. He then half carried the taller man from the bar; Sam wasn't sure if it was the booze or if Lucifer was actually standing beside the Impala waiting on them.
Gabriel helped Sam into the passenger side, Dean and Cas occupied the back, and then the archangel slid behind the wheel. Normally he would have just snapped his fingers to teleport them all back to the hotel, but he figured he would save the two hunters the extreme motion. He could tell from Sam's face that his world had already begun to spin, though he couldn't quite make out Dean's expression. Cas cradled Deans head in his lap, the rest of the hunter was sprawled out across the entire back seat.
When they reached the motel, each angel took their inebriated human back to their respective rooms. Sam looked at Gabriel with a wide grin as the angel helped him onto the bed to lie down. Dean had passed out some time between Cas helping him out of the Impala and the time they reached their room, so Cas just helped him to bed and cuddled up near him.
Sam awoke abruptly; he tried to sit up but rather rolled from the bed, sending his world spinning again. He stumbled over to the bathroom, making it for the most part but felt he would have a bruised rib from falling into the bathroom door knob. He had to just about crawl the rest of the way toward the toilet, heaving himself up he barely had time to brace himself before the contents of his stomach emptied.
"Sam?" a rather sleepy sounding Gabriel called from the bed; he was only answered by another round of sickly noises from the bathroom followed by a groan.
'Tsk tsk Sam, this is what you get when you try to drink your problems away'Lucifer was positively relishing the fact that Sam was currently weakly clinging to the toilet. Gabriel turned on the light to the bathroom to find Sam spewing what was whiskey from his stomach. Pity filled the sleepy angel as he approached the hunter on the floor, sitting down beside him.
"Gabe?" was all the tall man managed to say before more sickly noises emitted from his body, he was so tired. Gabriel rubbed his back; something about the gentle motion seemed to calm the storm raging in his stomach. After about ten minutes of having nothing coming back up Gabriel pulled the weakened hunter from his death grip on the toilet. Sam lay there on the bathroom floor; head cradled in Gabriel's lap, the angel kept rubbing his back until sleep won out.
'Aww I think they are sharing a moment, isn't that sweet'Lucifer all but purred out as he caused a loud bang right by the sleeping boy. Sam's eyes shot open as panic cause him to look around, though he was still weak from being sick for the last hour.
"Goaway Lucifer" Sam whispered as he was lulled back to sleep by the angel that kept rubbing his back and repeating to him that things will be ok. Gabriel had frozen a second as he heard Sam's whisper, those three words confirmed that the hallucinating had resumed. Gabriel focused on the tall man currently curled into a fetal position of the bathroom floor, sending a wave of his grace over the scared sick hunter. Sam seemed to relax in his slumber, a relief to the worried archangel who merely continued to soothe his companion.
A/N – I was going to write more to this chapter, the original plan was to make the hunt encompass a single chapter, but then I decided to revert to Crazy!Sam, which thus far has been easy to write. Hallucifer is back but it seems that Dean is also finding this case unsettling.
The drunken bathroom scene is dedicated to my ex-keyboard I really didn't mean to get drunk and make you inoperable, your blue backlight brightened my late night writing sessions. I can attest to the fact that Sam is feeling pretty horrible praising the porcelain throne like he was. Been there done that, but I didn't have the Sexy Gabriel to make it all better lol.
