BECAUSE Y'ALL WERE SO NICE TO ME & REVIEWED A LOT ... I THOUGHT ABOUT UPDATING TONIGHT:

Storm's Last Season

Chapter 4 ~ Sam

previously on BruisedBloodyBroken:

To his surprise (well he didn't exactly knew if he should be surprised or not) everything seemed untouched. The window was still closed too. So SAM couldn't have taken off through them ...

He walked over to the bed and put the shake carefully on the nightstand. He then squat down and lurked under the bed ... there was nothing except spider webs and dust.

He rose back to his feet and was – with a couple of long strides – in front of the small closet, slamming the doors open.

Nothing but the clothes Sonny and Bobby had bought.

It was empty. So was the bathroom.

Now was probably the right moment to start to panic ...

NOW:

Dean was on the foot of the stairs in no-time and dashed into the kitchen.

It was sheer panic that rose inside of him, adrenaline pumping into his bloodstreams and let his heart race.

"Bobby!", the hunter yelled, "Sonny!"

Bobby turned around, both eyebrows raised. "What is it?", he asked instantly as he saw the young man panting and high alert, nearly frantic. "Sam?"

"He's ...", Dean gulped in a breath of air, "He's not in his room. He's gone."

Bobby frowned and shot a glance at the doorway of the kitchen, where a sleepy Sonny entered.

"Who's gone?", his voice was rough from sleep.

"Sam. - Sam's gone. He ain't in his room ..." Dean was about to explode, Bobby could tell.

The grizzled mechanic and Sonny shared a short glance. "He can't be far. - The house's on lockdown since yesterday evening?", he asked towards Bobby, who gave him a sharp nod. "He has to be somewhere inside. - No way he got outta here."

Sonny looked at the hunter, still sleep-dazed. "Fine. We split up. - No yellin', no barkin'. Just searching for him. - Everyone got his phone?" He looked into the round.

Everyone nodded. "Good. - The one who finds him calls me, 'kay? - Don't yell for me. The omega's sure as hell scared shitless ..."

Everyone nodded again.

"Dean. - Basement. Bobby – Attic. I'll check the ground-floor and upstairs.", Sonny spoke calmly.

Then they split.

Dean suppressed the urge to call for Sam. SAM. Hell, he didn't need to call him omega anymore, or the number of the bar code. Sadly SAM didn't know about his luck yet and wouldn't react if he'd call for him. Besides he doubted that he would show anyway. Not by a long shot.

The hunter pushed his thoughts away to deal with the problem at hand. Sonny and Bobby were right. Sam couldn't be far. He had to be somewhere inside the house. There was no way he had been able to get outside, not on his own ... at least the alpha thought so. Then again ... the kid sure as hell wasn't stupid. He was just scared (what was bad enough anyway), what mostly was even worse. Scared people did shit (like jumping from a building because of a fire, or from a sinking ship even if there would've been boats).

Hell, Dean didn't know why he ticked out like that. It was as if something suddenly had been ripped away from him ... and he didn't deal with shit like that well. Never did. What brought him to the thought that he was actually thinking, that Sam wasn't just any omega.

He caught himself of thinking, that Sam was somehow HIS ...

Oh god ... he had to get his alpha-brain back on track before shit would hit the fan and he'd be screwed six ways to sunday.

Ever so slowly, Dean climbed down the wooden stairs into the basement. He pulled the small flashlight from his back-pocket and switched it on, letting the beam of light wander around. Everything seemed untouched ... maybe the omega had just crept and holed up in one of the corners ... besides, his scent got stronger.

There shouldn't be so much omega in the air down here. Not if he wasn't here.

"Sam?", he called silently, not wanting Sonny or Bobby to hear. "It's okay, kiddo. - I'm not gonna hurt ya' ..." Dean actually didn't think that it would have any positive result, but he simply felt the need to call for him, trying to reassure him that he wouldn't do something Sam didn't want him to.

He didn't want to appear as a threat to him. He wanted to be his friend (wherever the hell that came from, Dean wasn't sure.)

There was a rustling noise in the very back of the room, where Bobby used to keep some of his tools and other stuff. So the hunter figured he either would find Sam or a bunch of giant rats there.

So he tip toed his way over there carefully, taking in his surroundings closely.

There was the clinking of metal and some movement he saw from the corner of his right eye through the darkness. Sounds he didn't need to locate the omega anyway ...

The hunter wouldn't shine right there. He chose to keep the flashlight down, so that he'd see where he was going.

Dean didn't know how – but he knew he'd find Sam in the possibly darkest corner of the basement. The man wasn't even visible in the darkness, but there was movement, and there where silent hiccups and sobs, and the even stronger scent the closer he came.

So yeah. He had actually found the omega, crouched and completely terrified in the furthest and darkest corner of the basement. Hiding from him and Sonny and Bobby. People who actually wanted to help him ...

Dean well knew that it sure wasn't that easy for Sam. He probably didn't know what was wrong or right or who he could trust ... So yeah, the hunter knew he had to be careful. Had to keep calm and reassuring and just had to SHOW him that he wouldn't hurt him.

"Hey kiddo.", Dean squat down about two yards away from the corner and moved the beam of the flashlight forward, until he saw ten toes, feet and the hem of Sam's pyjama bottoms. "You know ... I'm not gonna hurt you, do you?", the hunter asked softly. "I may be an alpha, but I sure as hell am not an asshat. - Not like the people you were with before the hospital.", he carried on, though he knew it probably wouldn't reach the man. "Just don't ... don't try to run away, okay? - We're here to help you."

The toes, his light shone on, curled inwards. There were faint thin scars on them, probably years old ... A pair of big hands appeared and their fingers curled around them, as if to protect his toes.

Dean frowned a bit and thought for a moment, but stopped himself. He needed a clear mind to get Sam out of there and upstairs again.

Hell, the basement was pretty cool ... and even after just a couple of minutes, Dean could already feel the cold nagging at his bare feet.

"You don't need to be afraid." Dean sighed and inched closer a bit. "You honestly don't. - I just want you to get back upstairs. It's warmer there ..." A couple of other inches and then he extended his arm, showing his empty palm to the omega. "I swear I won't hurt you in any way, 'kay?"

The fingers tightened around the toes on the floor and got pulled back just a bit more. A not so silent hiccup echoed through the basement and filled the silence with agonizing fear.

Though, Dean didn't pull back. Because how was he going to build up trust if he would go away like that?

"See ... we picked a name for you, you know?" The hunter narrowed further, he was now just a couple of inches away from the toes. "We want you to feel like one of us, you know? And we want you to feel safe when you're with us. - I mean ... I don't know everything that happened to you, but ... we are the kind of people who try to help others that are hurtin'. I'm going to listen, when you want something to tell me. Or show me ..." Dean sighed deeply and laid the hand he had extended palm-down on the cold concrete, so that his fingers nearly brushed Sam's knuckles. "What are you afraid of? What made you hide down here? Were we too loud?"

The hunter's mind was racing hundred miles per hour again. He wanted – He NEEDED to know what set the kid off. And then maybe ... it wasn't that important anyway. Maybe he'd get the answer at his question some time later ...

Dean was ready to pull away and about to sit back on his haunches, when he felt something ghosting over the nails of his fingers. He looked up slowly, and saw Sam's uncurled hand and his fingertips brushing over the hunter's. He flashed the younger man a fond smile.

"See? - It's okay, huh?" Dean didn't dare to move, not even a little bit.

Sam shifted in the corner and he let go of the toes on his other foot. His fingertips ghosted carefully over the hunter's back of the hand and back down to his fingers. Sam shifted again, and pulled his hand back slowly.

Dean's smile faded at the lack of contact. He didn't want the omega to pull back. Though he could smell the thick scent of fear that radiated from him.

The hunter lifted his hand and turned it around, so that Sam could see his open palm, that it was empty. Maybe he'd recognize it as what it was: An offer.

Worthy minutes passed by and then, finally the omega's hand appeared again in the illuminated circle and he laid his bigger hand in Dean's.

A stupid but happy smile lit up on his face, and he bowed forward slightly, guiding the light further up, on the side of the omega, so it wouldn't glare into the man's eyes.

"You wanna come with me? Upstairs?" Dean's voice was filled with hope.

The man shook his head frantically. No. Because Alistair would be there. They had called his father, had told him that he had survived, that he should come and end it finally.

But this man? The alpha who had found him down here ... he seemed nice – somehow. Sure, he couldn't trust his own judgement, and the omega knew that, but there was something about the alpha ... or it was just imagination after all.

"Huh ..." The hunter sniffed. "Can I come closer?", he asked then. When the prophet wouldn't come to the mountain, the mountain had to come for the prophet.

Sam cocked his head to the side, hiding it a bit more in the shadows. Big hazel-green eyes blinked at the hunter warily. But finally he nodded slowly.

Dean flashed him a thousand watt smile, when he sneaked up beside the omega's left side, resting his back against the cold wall. A shudder ran up his spine, as a piece of uncovered skin made contact with the wall behind him.

"That okay?", the hunter asked.

Again the omega seemed to think before he nodded hesitantly.

They then sat there like that for a long while, until Dean cleared his throat and moved slightly so he would have better access to the phone in his right front-pocket.

"I gotta call the others, tell them that I found you ...", Dean's voice trailed off.

The omega instantly tensed beside him and shook his head. Though Dean pulled his phone out and slid it open. "I have to, kiddo. - They're searching their asses off right now ..."

Suddenly Sam's hand was on the phone, covering it. He shook his head again.

"You don't want me to tell them, huh?", Dean glanced at the man beside him worriedly.

The omega nodded again.

"But it's cold down here ... you've to freeze already. And I'm getting cold ..." The alpha frowned.

Sam shook his head again.

"Okay ... if you say so ... but we've to get up there at some point, you know?" Dean tried at least to explain.

Now the man looked hurt and his eyes face up, as if he was going to cry again. Then he turned his face away, hiding it from the alpha again.

THAT was something Dean couldn't let happen. Okay, he might could, but it wouldn't bring them any further out of the cold hole that was called a basement. So he reached over and laid his palm on Sam's cheek and forced him gently to look back into his direction. Though the omega tried to pull away from his touch, but Dean wouldn't let him.

"You know, we chose Sam.", Dean said with a soft smile, trying to catch the omega's gaze. "We'll call you Sam from now on ..."

He blinked up at the hunter for a brief moment, surprised and questioning.

"You like that name?", he asked, not wanting to let the moment and Sam's attention slip away.

Sam cocked his head to the side and caught the hunter's gaze for a brief moment, before he looked down again. Then, after a while he nodded.

"Fine. - Because the douchebags upstairs wanted to call you Alejandro ... or some old shit. You look way more like a Sam." He chuckled and shook his head. "You'd never want to be called Vincent, would you?"

Sam's eyes narrowed and he seemed to think for a moment. Then he looked back up, still questioning.

"Or Alistair?, huh? - THAT would've been real bad ..." Dean's voice trailed off, as Sam's eyes narrowed further and confusion and something like fear settled over his features as soon as the name came over his lips. He had practically jerked away slightly ... "Sam's better, isn't it?", though Dean kept his voice light.

The very moment of tension and fear when Dean had said a particular name out loud, not going by unnoticed by him.

Sam nodded.

"Good."

After a while, the omega started to lean into Dean's shoulder and some time later, he rested his head on it, staring into the darkness ahead. It actually got damn freaking cold on the filthy floor and the cold wall against their backs.

Dean turned his head towards him, so that his nose was practically buried in Sam's hair and he sucked in a deep breath, letting the omega's pheromones kick his brain into action.

There was the creak of the door to the basement, that echoed through the room and made Dean look up. Also Sam jerked his head towards the wooden stairs and he pulled slightly away from the hunter, staring in the direction where the noise had come from.

"It's okay!", Dean said loudly, "We're okay." He looked at Sam, who stared fearfully at the dark silhouettes that appeared in his line of vision.

Instantly, the omega was back at Dean's side, pressing his body against him, as if he wanted to get between the wall and the hunter.

"It's fine, Sam.", Dean reached for the omega's hand and took it in his. "They're friends ... good friends."

Sam shook his head.

"Sure they are, kiddo. - Trust me, okay? I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." He gave him the most reassuring smile he got. His words sounded, like there was no way that they were a lie.

Flashlights beamed into their direction, and Dean squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden light. Sam buried his face int he side of the hunter's shoulder.

"Thought we'd call each other when one of us finds him?" It was Sonny's voice. A bit concerned, but mostly pissed. This case seemed to put the old man on edge.

Dean nodded, shifting a bit, so that his body blocked most of the light from Sam. "No signal down here. Sorry guys.", he answered lightly. "There's no way you two brought a blanket or somethin'? - Sam's gettin' cold ..."

He hard the grizzled mechanic huff. "Anything else we can get you, princess?"

Dean chuckled. "Nah, we're cool." He glanced at the shaggy mop of hair. "Aren't we, Sammy?"

There was this cocky Winchester-grin painted all over his face, as he looked back at the both men, when Sam had nodded into his shoulder.

"You ready to go?" Dean covered the omega's hand with his.

Sam hesitated, but nodded nonetheless.

Slowly the both of them rose to their feet. Dean was supporting the younger man, who tried – despite his tallness – to hide behind him. It would've looked ridiculous wouldn't it have been for the circumstances he was in ...

Fifteen awkward minutes later, Sam was back in his room and wrapped up in a cocoon of soft fabric. Dean sat beside him on the mattresses and the omega had his head resting in the hunter's lap, his eyes wide open.

Sonny stood in the doorway, eying the picture before him pensively, watching Dean fascinated as he stroke Sam's head gently.

Dean smiled softly, when he looked up at the man in the doorway, who gave him a nod, what meant as much as we gotta talk when you're done over there. And then Sonny was gone, closing the door behind him.

A long giant hand rested on Dean's thigh, right beside Sam's hand. The omega breathed slowly and deep as if he was drinking in the alpha's scent with every intake of air.

It took quite some time, until Sam fell asleep, and Dean was able to ease out under him. He then took the milkshake from the nightstand beside the mattresses and placed it right before it on the floor, so that Sam had something to drink when he'd wake up.

When he came downstairs, Sonny was pacing in the kitchen forth and back. Bobby was sitting in the chair at the table, turning a glass of whiskey in his hand. Both men seemed troubled to say the least. And the Winchester felt bad all of a sudden ...

"Look.", Dean didn't stop in his tracks and started to talk right away when he came in, "I'm sorry, okay? I know I should've called you guys ...", his voice trailed off and he pinched the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh, ", ... I didn't mean to scare you ... It was just ... I can't explain it, okay? It just didn't feel right." ... it was like Sam needed this.

Sonny rose his right hand to stop Dean from babbling. And the younger alpha did.

Then there was complete silence.

Sonny seemed to refuse to look at Dean for a long while. "You gotta leave.", he said then silently.

Dean's face changed, he thrust his jaw forward in protest and shifted as if to stand a blow.

"No." Dean's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Sonny looked at him, as if he had known that this answer would come.

Bobby just sat there, gulping the whiskey down in one go.

"Figured as much ..." Sonny chuckled nervously and rubbed over his mouth, something he always did when there were troubles ahead.

Dean's look darted back and forth between the men, trying to read their expressions. "Why would you tell me to leave? Huh?"

"Test.", the grizzled mechanic answered simply and shook his head, his mind obviously far away.

"What?" The hunter frowned, now more confused than he had been thirty seconds before. "What the hell? What's that about?"

Sonny sniffed and walked over to the counter, leaning with his butt against it. "Nothin' ... just ... It's ... does he smell like any other omega to you?"

Dean tilted his head back, standing there more casually now. "How should I know? - Haven't smelled an omega in years ...", his voice trailed off, trying to remember what it had been like.

Bobby and Sonny shared a look for the first time ever since Dean had entered the room.

"You sure there's no hunt you could go after?" Bobby's eyes narrowed.

"Dude ... are you crazy? - I can't leave when ..." And that was when it hit the youngest among the three men, and he paled the very next moment, his eyes widening as if someone had told him he became a daddy ...

... to be continued

Are you up for some BONDING in the next chapter? ^^

Chapter 5 ~ By Your Side