Johnny Angel Ch. 5

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Supernatural~~Supernatural~~Superntural~~

Previously: "You're wrong Sam. You are needed more than you know. Your brother and friends are lost without you." Castiel refuted, knowing just how untrue the words were. "Please let me prove it to you."

"You don't understand Cas. I can't go back and ruin things for my brother. Dean is finally getting the normal life he deserves instead of having to take care of my sorry ass all the time." Sam rebutted in an attempt to make Castiel understand his reasoning.

"Are you sure that is the life your brother wishes to live?" Castiel quizzed the young hunter.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Sam implored, as he looked at the angel with questioning eyes.

"Is that not the life you wanted for yourself Sam Winchester?"

"Yeah, it was something I wanted." Sam admitted as he wrung his hands together nervously. "But Dean did wanted it too. I know he did. I know it because I saw it in his dreams the day we swallowed some of that dream root."

"If you had taken the time to look more closely, you would have seen that Dean needed you too Sam. Dean cannot envision a life without you by his side." Castiel argued.

"Cas I…" Sam's voice trailed off as he felt two of the angel's fingers placed against the side of his forehead ….. Suddenly, Sam found himself outside a bar he didn't recognize. Surveying the areat warily, his eyes lit upon a despondent figure, that of his brother, leaning up against the wall as he twirled an amber colored bottle between his fingers. "Dean" he gasped as he took in the shattered look in his brother's eyes. He had never seen his brother look so broken before. Watching as his brother heaved the bottle in his fist and smashed it against the brick wall behind him, it nearly broke him when he heard his brother sob brokenly. "Damn it Sammy, why did you make me promise? I can't do this without you man." ..… "Do you still believe that Dean can live a life without you Sam? Have you not just witnessed his pain with your own eyes?" Castiel inquired as he watched Sam come back to himself after the forced memory he had shown him.

"He's hurting now, but Dean will eventually get pa-past the pain." Sam argued, though his mind was telling him different. "He has Lisa and Ben, they'll pull him th-through."

"Are you certain of that?" Cas asked as he once again placed his fingertips to Sam's temple." ….. This time, Sam found himself beneath the underpass of a bridge as a group of drunks stood around a barrel with trash burning in it in the middle of winter. Scanning the faces of the men, he hissed upon seeing his big brother. Sure, it was an older version of Dean, but he would recognize him anywhere. "Dean?" he rasped as he watched him guzzle down a bottle of whiskey, some of the fiery liquid spilling from his mouth and soaking his filthy shirt. "No, no, no, this can't be happening." he stated in denial as he watched his brother drink the entire contents of the bottle before falling to the ground, his breathing beginning to falter as the alcohol coursed through his system." ….. "Do you still think that Dean is better off without you after witnessing his future Sam?"

"Oh God, Dean." Sam whispered reverently before another voice started to assault his senses.

~~Supernatural~~

Walking into her patient's room, Dr Alison Thomas smiled as she walked over to his bed. "How are you doing today Johnny?" She asked as she smoothed the long bangs back from the catatonic man's eyes. "You know, you could sure use a hair cut. Would you like that Johnny?" They had thought about calling someone in to give Johnny a much needed trim, but then somehow, longer hair just seemed to suit the man better.

Glancing towards Johnny's cardiac monitor to check his vitals, Alison was surprised to see an increase in his pulse rate since it had remained nearly the same since he had slipped into his catatonic state. "Something going on inside that head of yours Johnny?" She asked as she focused on his level of alertness more closely. He still held the blank stare, but his eyelids seemed to blink closed just a little more often now. Her hopes raising at the slight change, she decided to see if she could rouse her patient.

"Johnny, can you hear me?" Alison questioned as she palmed the side of her patient's face, praying for some sort of response. "Come on sweetie, give me a sign that you're still in there somewhere." Crestfallen at receiving no response, Alison picked up Johnny's medical chart and started noting the slight medical improvement in his condition. Sure, it wasn't much, but it meant that he was still in there, fighting to make it back.

Thinking about the small improvement, Alison couldn't help but wonder if maybe a new medication would help facilitate a quicker recovery. She knew from research that certain medications had shows significant results in other patients, so maybe they would give Johnny a fighting chance too. Focusing on her patient once again, she said, "Johnny, I think I'm going to start you on Lorazepam today and see if we can't get somewhere with that. Is that okay with you sweetie?"

"Lorazepam." Johnny muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Wh-what? Did you say something Johnny?" Alison gasped in shock, sure that she had heard the young man's voice.

"Something." Johnny uttered, as the word clicked in his mind.

Smiling brightly, Alison knew right away that Johnny was experiencing what is known as echophenomena, or more precisely, echolalia where a catatonic patient spontaneously repeats an examiner's utterances. "That's fantastic Johnny. We're going to get you back yet, I just know it!"

~~Supernatural~~

Sitting in front of her computer screen at her desk, Detective Janie Fletcher typed all of the information she had into the national database for missing persons. Surely there was somebody out there somewhere who was looking for the tall gangly man who had captured the heart of her town's people with his selfless act of heroism. Thinking about the fire, she couldn't help but shiver as she remembered the young man stumbling out of the burning building, her niece cradled in his muscular arms.

"Sorry Janie, you can't go in there." Captain Tom Anders, told the female detective as he wrapped his arms around her to keep from approaching the burning building.

"No, you've got to let me go Tom. You don't understand. The other kids said Maddie is still in there." Janie cried as she tried to pry the fireman's arms from around her waist.

"My men are in there looking for her and the man who helped save the other kids Janie, they'll get her out," the captain soothed as he held tight to the upset woman.

"Please Tom, my sister will never survive if she loses her only child. Maddie is her…." Janie's voice trailed off as she watched a tall young man covered in soot stumbling haphazardly from the building with Maddie cradled in his arms. He had only made it as far as the two fireman approaching him before passing out in the street."

Shaking herself from her memories, Janie typed in the last of the information she had on Johnny Angel. "Please let there be something." She whispered to the Heavens above as she leaned back in her chair and waited for the database to do it's thing. She couldn't stand the thought of Johnny waking up in the hospital with no family beside him to offer comfort.

~~Supernatural~~

Keying open the lock on his front door, Bobby wrapped an arm around his injured side as he wearily trudged into his house. The hunt had been a hard one, and he was looking forward to a couple days of downtime. He needed the time to recuperate and get his bearings back. Slinging his duffle bag beside the desk, he decided to wait until the following morning to clean his weapons since his body was craving food and a nice hot shower.

Trudging to the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator and grumbled at the lack of edible food there. He hadn't been doing much grocery shopping lately since he no longer had the Winchester boys dropping by and his refrigerator was about as bare as Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard. "Damn it, guess the food will just have to wait until tomorrow." Bobby cursed as he slammed the door shut hard enough to make the refrigerator shake.

Making his way across the kitchen and over to the stairs, Bobby sighed at the thought of having to climb the damn things to get to the shower with the shape he was in. "Stop your complaining you old coot," he reprimanded of himself as he lifted his foot and placed it on the first wooden step. He knew his aches and pains were nothing compared to the pain Sam Winchester was suffering in hell.

Arriving at the top of the steps, Bobby walked the few steps down the hall to the bathroom and started the shower. Stripping his grungy clothing off, he applied a waterproof patch to the stitches on his side to keep them dry and then stepped into the shower and sighed contentedly as the pulsating water helped to ease the ache in his muscles. Finishing his shower nearly ten minutes later, Bobby quickly toweled off and then went to his room where he pulled on a clean pair of boxers and a terrycloth robe.

Feeling more refreshed after the shower, he made his way back down the stairs and started a pot of coffee to brewing before going out to the front porch and whistling for his dog, Rumsfeld the Second. Filling the dog's bowl with water and food, he made his way back inside and poured himself a steaming cup of coffee before finally settling down on the couch to read the local newspaper.

Yawning as he finished the paper, he was about to make his way back up the stairs to go to bed when he heard the familiar rumbling sound of an engine he would recognize anywhere, one that he thought he would never hear again. "It can't be." he thought as he changed direction and quickly made his way over to the door and snatched it open.

"Dean." he whispered, as his throat clogged with emotion at seeing the kid he hadn't seen in too long. Unable to contain his excitement, he jogged down the steps and across the yard as Dean parked beside his old Chevelle. "Damn boy, it's so good to see you," he gasped, before pulling the younger hunter into a bone crushing hug.

"It's good to see you too Bobby." Dean replied once Bobby finally released him from the hug.

"So what brings you here Ace?" Bobby asked quizzically.

"I need your help Bobby. I need you to help me find my brother." Dean voiced, tears misting his expressive eyes.

"Dean, Sammy's gone. You know that." Bobby uttered brokenly, his concern skyrocketing for the man in front of him.

"No he's not Bobby. He got out somehow, I can sense it. Please, I need you to help me find him. You're the best tracker I know." Dean beseeched, needing the hunter to believe in him.

"If there's one thing I know boy, it's that you've always had a special connection to your brother. Let's go see what we can find out." Bobby said as he motioned Dean towards the house. He didn't know if Dean was right, but he did know one thing for sure…it was going to be a long night!

TBC