Title: Reader's Special: Second Edition - One Shot Reward Fic Collection
Author: Disasteriffic Kaz
Info: A collection of 1 Shot Reward Fics for Prompters of my Reader's Special: Third Edition. Features many seasons, hurt/limp/awesome/caring!Sam/Dean/John/Bobby See each chapter for specific info for each 1 shot reward fic.
Author's Note: The Reader's Special: Third Edition was a smashing success! Prompters of the story were offered a One Shot Reward story of their choice. These are they. None of the chapters contained in this collection are connected. Each one is a stand-alone one shot per the Prompters request. Thank you to all of you who prompted the Reader's Special! You were fantastic as always!
Chapter Info: For LynnHarpoeth – Post 8x15 "Man's Best Friend with Benefits" - hurt!sam, awesome!dean, general angst. An isolated location somewhere. Some rekindling of the brotherly relationship it once were. The rest is up to you.
A/N: Hope you enjoy this one! :D I had fun writing it.
Do please Review once you've read. :D Every comment and vote of support helps keep me writing. Not to mention if I've pooched anything, someone can always tell me. :P
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Dean drove along the quiet, country road with the occasional glance toward his brother sleeping in the passenger seat. He wasn't looking forward to sleeping later when they eventually stopped for the night. Spencer's mystic crap had given him a whirlwind tour through his worst memories, mainly his time in hell, and he didn't figure he was going to make it through the night without at least one nightmare. He was watching Sam because he knew damn well that witch bastard had stirred up his memories of the cage and that, frankly, worried him. He still didn't quite understand all Castiel had done to 'fix' his brother, but he knew Sam still carried a couple hundred years' worth of abject torment in his head, but somehow…had his sanity intact.
As if sensing the direction of Dean's thoughts, Sam suddenly moaned and twitched in the seat. "Shit." Dean slowed down, glad they were the only car on the road and looked over as his brother's movements picked up and then a strangled 'no' escaped him, and Dean swerved over to the shoulder and into the grass, stopping. He turned and grabbed Sam's shoulder and gave him a shake.
"Sam. Sammy, wake up." Dean shook him again and it was like he couldn't wake up. Sam just kept struggling in the grip of the nightmare with his face screwed up as though he were in pain. "Dammit." Dean hastily climbed out of the car and went around to the passenger side. He opened the door and stopped Sam's topple out of the seat since he'd been leaning on the door. "Come on, buddy. Wake up already." Dean gave him another shake and tapped his face a few times.
Sam came awake on a shout. "NO!" He thrashed and would have fallen out of the car if not for Dean's hold on him. He gasped air in and out and stared at his brother as the nightmare vision slowly faded. "Shit!" He said it with an explosive breath and curled over his knees to hold his head.
"Ok, take it easy." Dean kept a hand on his shoulder as he hunched over and frowned when he heard a pained groan. "Sam? You alright?"
Sam heard the concern in Dean's voice and wanted to reassure him. He got one leg out of the car and tried to turn and look at him, but the world spun underneath as he raised his head.
"Shit!" Dean caught Sam as he toppled out of the car and practically into his lap. He hastily rolled Sam to his back, propping his head on his elbow and tried to rein in his own panic. "Sammy? Talk to me. What's wrong?"
Sam's eyes were closed tight with pain. "Head." He whispered it and rolled his face into Dean's arm as a lone car passed them and the lights speared behind his eyes.
Dean scowled. He ran his free hand around Sam's head, tunneling his fingers under his ridiculous hair and hissed in a breath when he got around the back behind his left ear. There was a sizeable lump, and he remembered how they had both been thrown across the bar and that Spencer, the asshole witch, had used Sam to demolish a table. "Shit, Sammy. No wonder your head hurts." Sam sucked in a breath on a moan as Dean's fingers pressed on the bump and the pain ratcheted up. "S-stop." It turned his stomach, and he grabbed frantically at his brother's jacket.
"Oh, crap." Dean understood instinctively from a lifetime of dealing with the various phases of sick Sam. He tipped him up so he was sitting as quickly as he dared and leaned him over just as Sam started to heave. They hadn't really eaten in a while so there wasn't much for him to throw up but bile and soon enough he was spitting it out onto the grass and collapsed back into Dean, exhausted. "Easy."
"Sorry." Sam wrapped a hand around his pounding head. "Must've…hit my head…harder than I thought."
Dean nodded and held on to him. "Well, no shit. You got a lump the size of my fist back there." He shifted and tried to wiggle a rock out from under his butt and rolled his eyes. "You just let me know when you're ready to try gettin' up again." Sitting on his ass in wet grass on the side of the road in the middle of the night wasn't quite how he saw this night ending.
Sam pulled on his arm. "I'm good. Ge'me up."
Dean snorted. "Yeah, try that again with your head up and your eyes open, genius. Sit still."
Sam subsided with a quick nod that cost him another round of pain. "Feel stupid," he muttered, sitting in the grass with his big brother holding him up like he was a child again.
"You look stupid." Dean cheerfully confirmed for him and chuckled.
"Shut up." Sam would have glared up at him if he could have done it without his eyes crossing. He unwrapped his hand from his head and took hold of the seat above him instead. "Up."
"Geez. One knock to the head and you revert to childhood." Dean smirked as he pushed Sam up so he was sitting on his own, stood and helped ease him back up into the car. "If you're gonna hurl again, you tell me. No pukin' in my baby."
Sam groaned, half in the seat with his feet on the ground and curled back over his knees to hold his head. "Shit."
"Dammit." Dean leaned around him and popped open the glove box. He rummaged through until he came up with the penlight and leaned back. "Head up for a sec, dude." He curved a hand around the back of Sam's neck and clicked the light on while Sam carefully tipped his head back and slit his eyes open to look at him. Dean shone the light in his eyes, knowing it was going to hurt him but needing to see his eyes. To his relief, Sam's pupils were normal, and he quickly took the light away as his brother slammed his eyes shut and rocked forward again. "Easy." Dean let Sam's head thump into his shoulder and tossed the light in the car. "Sorry, buddy. Had to check."
Sam nodded once and then snorted. The snort turned into a chuckle in spite of the pain. "Could have been worse," he said and kept his voice down so he didn't hurt his own head with the sound. "'least I didn't get strangled."
Dean was startled into a laugh because Sam was right. His throat was usually target number one for pretty much everything they came across. "Always finding the bright side," Dean said and rolled his eyes, then sobered because that was true too. Even with the trials and whatever hell Sam was going to have to endure yet, he had still found a bright side there as well, a light at the end of the tunnel. His brother had been doing a lot of that all their lives…for them both.
"I'm ok," Sam said as he felt Dean's hand tighten on the back of his neck in concern. "Just…too many knocks to the head in one day." He grabbed Dean's shoulders and used them to push himself up so he was sitting and gave a short nod. "I'm good." To prove it, he pulled his legs in the car.
Dean watched him cautiously and when he didn't topple over again, sighed and stood. "Alright." He pushed the door shut, being careful not to slam it or make too much noise and jogged around to the driver's side, sliding back behind the wheel. "You sure? 'Cause we can sit here and you can have some more nature appreciation time, or whatever." He smirked as Sam snorted a laugh.
"Shut up and drive already." Sam leaned back and let his head rest on the seat as the engine rumbled to life and smiled. It faltered as he remembered why he had woken up; it hadn't been the pain. It had been the tour through his memories of the Cage, remembered agonies he couldn't even describe, torments Lucifer and Michael both had visited upon him…
"Hey!" Dean shook his shoulder when he saw his brother scowling and heard his breathing start to race.
Sam jerked and opened his eyes again, lifting his head up. "Sorry," He said breathlessly and was surprised to find they were still sitting on the side of the road, unmoved.
Dean watched him for a moment. He had seen a very clear expression of fear cross his brother's face for just a second. He put the Impala in gear and rather than head back onto the road, he turned her into the field and drove slowly out into the middle of it before shutting off the engine. "Come on. Out."
"Huh? Dean, what…" Sam was left talking to himself as Dean climbed out of the seat. "Ok." He opened his door and climbed out, having to hold his head as it pounded with the movement. He heard the trunk bang closed, and then Dean was at his elbow, pulling him to the front of the car. "What are we doing?"
Dean pushed him around to the hood and then hopped up onto it himself and set the little cooler he'd grabbed beside him. "We're takin' a break, Sammy." He pulled out two beers and raised a brow. "You don't get one 'til you sit down."
Sam shook his head, regretting it with the headache banging at him and slid up onto the hood and back to the windshield. He took the beer Dean handed him and looked up into the night sky. "What prompted this?"
Dean tossed the folded blanket he'd grabbed up behind his brother for a head rest and leaned back himself with a sigh and took a healthy swig of his beer. "Honestly, I'm kind of not interested in finding a motel and sleeping just yet." He shrugged and watched the stars twinkle. It was true, having had his own trip down tortured memory lane, but he was only admitting it so Sam wouldn't decide to play hard-ass about his own. Nothing softened the big girl up faster than caring and sharing bullshit. He snorted softly. Sam was turning him soft.
Sam stared at him for a moment in surprise and then lay back, grateful when his aching head landed on the folded blanket. He watched the stars and tried to let them and his brother's presence at his shoulder soothe away the pain and the fear. It was nice…just lying there on the warm hood in the cool night and watching the stars. It felt normal and safe and even the silence was comforting with nothing but the breeze through the grass around them.
They sat companionably for a while like that, just drinking their beers and letting the night soak into them. Dean kept an eye on his brother and watched the tension slowly ease out of him and the tightness around his eyes smooth away that said the pain from the concussion was finally letting up. He smiled and emptied his beer, set it aside and folded his arms behind his head. "I'm startin' to see it, Sammy."
"Huh?" Sam rolled his head sleepily. He'd been close to dozing off when Dean spoke. "See what?"
Dean shrugged. "That light at the end of the tunnel." For just a moment, he'd been able to picture sitting here like this with Sam when they were old. It had been quickly crushed under reality, but, for a moment, he'd seen it and found he wanted to have a shot at that…wanted to believe he COULD have a shot at that.
Sam breathed in and blinked furiously for a moment until he was sure he wasn't going to make an idiot of himself and nodded. "Good," he said softly and smiled.
Dean rolled his eyes and smirked. He'd known Sam all his life and had clearly heard him sucking back tears. "You wanna go?"
Sam closed his eyes and held out his beer to Dean. "Nope."
Dean took it with a chuckle and took a swig then passed it back. "Me neither."
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The End.
Next Up: N008137
It's that time of year again fans! The annual Author's Note Convention is coming up! July 7th at the Metamorphosis in Roanoke, VA. This year, in addition to SPN and NCIS authors and fans, panels, awards, raffle, auction and karaoke, we have a live musical guest! Hunter Wolfe & ARE!
Hunter will be bringing his classic black '67 Chevy Impala for photo ops and will be cosplaying Dean as well. This year is going to be epic! Don't miss out!
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ANCon2013 Sunday July 7th - Roanoke, VA
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