More Than You Can Chew

After the diner, the four go back to the motel. Before Bobby disappears with John he slips Sam an envelope…the envelope and tells him that after the hunt is over he expects Sam to talk to him all the while Sam's head is bowed his hair in his face (so no one can see his expression) and he gives a subtle nod. Inside Sam's heart is pounding…this could be it…the chance he's been waiting for, so why is he so frightened? He barely has time to pocket the envelope inside his jacket before he is face to face with Dean, who is already inside their room and turning around to call for Sam to get his ass in gear. Dean's eyebrows rise because Sam looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Sam…you okay?"

"Yeah, Dean M'fine."

"Yeah, you look it"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me. You've been kinda quiet ever since Bobby got here."

"I'm just thinking about the hunt, Dean…and not disappointing dad again."

It's not a complete lie that should count for something. Sam is thinking that if he does good on this hunt maybe it will soften the blow about him wanting to leave. He means that if his dad is in a good mood maybe things will go smoother. Not giving Dean the chance to say anything else, Sam turns around and heads out the door…

"I'm gonna go see if dad wants me to do anything."

"Sam…"

The door closing effectively cuts Dean off. Dean's fast approaching his limit in patience. He swears his little brother is going to be the death of him one day…can't the kid see how much he means to Dean. Sure, Dean might have ditched him at Pluckie's and the library a couple of times to hook up with girls—surely Sam's noticed that Dean only hooks up with girls that have little sisters now because he wants Sam with him. Yeah, the 'rough patch' that lasted for four years is now over as far as Dean Winchester is concerned—you know, the four years from age 16 to 20 that a guy doesn't want his little brother hanging around, completely done. It hurts when Sam doesn't share things with him now and Sammy is not allowed to have his 'rough patch'—Dean Winchester rules of brotherhood (do as I say not as I do). This brings him to his current situation: What is Sam hiding from him…what does he not want to tell Dean? The questions are about to drive Dean to the Looney bin and he doesn't have that far to go.

The evening sees them preparing for the hunt. John and Bobby are on their way to take up their positions to come in swinging while the boys are on their way to the local watering hole to play bait. Dean has no problem looking like 'riff raff' but Sam with his 'fresh faced' innocence needs a little help. Dean's leaning up against the bar nursing a beer when Sam enters the bar and Dean's a little miffed that his little brother pulled that off (no one must have looked that closely…Sam on his best day couldn't look more than maybe 19 and that's pushing it). But as Sam draws closer to him, Dean's floored! He wouldn't have known it was him if Sam hadn't chosen that moment to smile at him, his elusive dimples coming out to play.

"What the hell did you do to yourself, Sammy?"

"Nothing…do I look like 'riff raff'?"

"Dude, oh my God…you look like dad on a bender!"

"Okay, I'll take that as a 'yes' on the 'riff raff' then"

"Dude, are you wearing jewelry?"

"It's just a chain"

"Where'd ya get it?"

"I'm not tellin ya"

It's at this time that the bartender comes up and asks Sam what he's having and without missing a beat Dean's quick to answer for his brother.

"He'll have a Pepsi—he's the designated driver for tonight"

After which, Dean smirks and Sam rolls his eyes. They head to the pool tables to try to hustle some of the locals and maybe catch the attention of their 'prey' for the night (that's the bad thing about some monsters; you can't tell they're monsters until they go to eat you). Some guys in the corner catch Sam's eye and he silently lets Dean know that the show is on. They have been playing pool with each other and now Dean decides to make it interesting, turning to Sam and saying…

"Wanna put some money on this game, dude?"

"Sure, I think I can take ya…what say $20?"

"Sounds good to me"

Dean replies with a subtle wink and a nod. They set about to reel in their catch as the afore mentioned guys take an interest in their game and slowly make their way over to where Dean and Sam are playing. Little do the boys know that these guys that are approaching them are, in fact, the very things that they're looking for and that the two men have already 'made' them as hunters (hunters give off a certain scent). Sam becomes uncomfortable under the scrutiny and he leans in when Dean's lining up his next shot and utters…

"Dude, let's get this show on the road—these guys are seriously creepin me out"

"Take it easy, Sammy. We've got to make this look good…follow my lead"

Dean stands up and pushes Sam causing him to stumble, quickly following this with a pulled at the last second punch. Even though the punch is pulled, Sam still staggers from the impact and now Dean's in his face, ranting…

"Dude, you made me miss my shot! That's cheating…that how you figure to win by making me…"

Dean's cut off by Sam's own punch and snarled…

"Don't you f'ing touch me, Man!"

They are causing quite a scene and it doesn't take long for them to be thrown out of the bar. Now outside, the boys silently wait for their 'quarry' to exit the bar and it doesn't take long either. The boys make a big show of 'blowing up' and stalking away from each other and in that exact moment, Dean has an unsettled feeling in his stomach that something's not right about this. He turns and watches Sam heading away from him towards the back of the bar's property. He's about to shout out a warning, when Sam's stopped by the two men from earlier and Dean's blood runs cold when he hears one of them utter, "Hunter".

Sam's on the defensive now and he backs away slightly from the two of them so he can draw his knife (only way to kill a Kitsune) when one of the two lunges at him. He barrels into Sam causing the kid to lose his balance and Sam can hear Dean shouting at him when the ground falls out from under his feet and he is falling. It would be funny if Sam's heart wasn't beating a mile a minute that when you fall everything does go into slow motion but at least Sam can take a second to pat himself on the back for making sure there is one less Kitsune in the world, since he managed to imbed his knife in the thing's heart.

Dean was already in a dead run and throwing his knife at the other Kitsune and hitting his mark by the time Sam disappeared from his sight. Dean's pretty sure he stopped breathing…everything happened so fast. One minute Sammy's there and one minute Sammy's gone, Dean's world just flew off its axis. It wasn't supposed to go down this way; Dad and Bobby are supposed to be here. Where the hell are they? Sammy wasn't supposed to face that thing on his own…Dean was supposed to be there not what seems like thousands of miles away. Dean comes to a skidding stop at the edge of what looks like a…a…a cliff! What the hell? Dean's brain has taken a walk off the map and he starts shouting his brother's name, over and over again…

"Sam…Sam…SAMMY…SAMMY answer me! Don't do this little brother…answer me!"

It's just so still, silent…nothing and Dean can't take much more of this. He can't see a thing, it's pitch black down there—Dean's on auto pilot right now he's got to find a way to see down there he's got to find a way to get to his brother he's got to…he's got to…Dean's about to pass out from shock when he finally realizes that his dad and Bobby are there and the sheer look of terror in the older men's eyes when they ask Dean where Sam is and Dean's only response is to look down into the black abyss…

TBC

A/N: Sorry guys for it taking me so long to update but my husband's grandfather passed away in December and I've kind of been in a 'funk' but I'm slowly coming out of it. My birthday was Wednesday, the 13th and we got informed that we have a SPN season 9 to look forward to (what a bday present, YAY). Is this cliffy enough for you? Think maybe John's up to his old tricks again…hum?