Summary: AU: Stanford Era: "Dean … Sammy's in trouble." A late night phone call sends Dean Winchester and long-time friend, Caelan Hagan in a desperate search to find Sam before the unthinkable happens; uncovering lies and secrets involving the youngest Winchester, that have been years in the making.
Warnings: Violence, swearing, physical abuse, torture, implied adult themes.
Disclaimer: I don't own the supernatural characters.
Author's Note: Just another possibility on why Sam left for Stanford. Hope you enjoy. I have no knowledge or training in medical areas. I have tried to keep everything as realistic as possible, but, as medical knowledge is not my area of expertise, just beware that there may be some mistakes in the next few chapters.
If there is anything I have left out or you are still unsure about, please feel free to message me. You never know, I may have left it unintentionally unresolved for a reason (possibly a sequel).
Special Note: Thanks to Mimmi85, Kas3y and Cheetah Grrl for your kind words. Here's another chapter just for all you guys who have taken the time out to read this story and to all the people who have this story on their alerts or have put it on their favourite lists. Thanks. It means a lot. Thanks to everyone for their patience and continued interest.
DEMON SPAWN: THE PHONE CALL
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Dean returned Caleb's phone, a sense of calmness and relief filling him after talking to his Dad. Dean had had little time to think about the condition of his father after a call had informed him of John's stab wound and car accident, but now Dean was more in control, more determined in his goal of getting out of this hospital and reconnecting with Sam now that he knew his Dad was out of the hospital and speeding his way toward them.
There was a structure to his family unit; John issued the orders, Dean followed the orders, Sammy bitched about the orders and Caelan – when he joined the Winchester family on a hunt – was a happy medium between Sam's bitchiness and Dean's blind obedience. And Dean didn't feel entirely complete and comfortable until all factors of his family unit were in play.
The knowledge of his Dad returning to lead them once more, gave Dean a sense of peace and normality he hadn't felt all day. This was the way it was supposed to be and meant to be; Dad taking charge and leading the Winchester family on hunts, dividing up the various elements of a hunt between them; Sam almost always did the research, Dean and Caelan conducted interviews with possible witness' and victims and John going over every bit of information they had, double and then triple checking to make sure they hadn't missed any evidence and was one hundred percent positive of the supernatural being they were hunting.
This was Dean's normal. His family performing the family business of hunting things and saving people while tracking down The Demon who had murdered their mother all of those years ago and ganking is yellow-eyed ass! His family working together, goofing off, having a laugh, travelling the country in his beloved Impala, free spirits wandering, travelling, killing, saving people, alive and breathing, their family unit strengthened and unbreakable because of the profound love and loyalty that they all had for each other. This was Dean's happy place, his normal.
Of course, in a perfect world Dean wouldn't let Sam go on the actual hunts at all. He wished he could wrap Sam up in bubble wrap and protect him from everything out there that could potentially harm or hurt him. And, of course, Sam and his Dad wouldn't argue so much; they would grudgingly admire and respect each other.
But Dean didn't live in a perfect world. And as much as he wanted to protect his baby brother from everything, Dean knew that his brother would never willingly let Dean face any danger alone. He was obstinately stubborn like that. And Dean knew that his father and brother could never stop their arguing and bickering toward each other because they were too much alike and their temperaments couldn't help but clash when they came together.
Still, Dean would take all of the imperfections that made up the mix of his family, all of the danger, blood, gore, endless hours of driving, hell … he'd even take all of the bickering and constant arguing, because at least that would mean that he family was alive and together.
"Johnny okay?" Caelan asked, quietly interrupting Dean's chick-flick thoughts.
Dean offered Caelan a see-saw motion of his hand. "He tried to down-play how much his injuries were bothering him, but I could hear the subtle edge of pain in his voice."
"Like father like son, huh?" Caleb looked at Dean meaningfully before replacing his phone in the front pocket of his jeans. "You really are John's son, aren't you Winchester?"
"Damn straight!" Dean grinned proudly; not bothering to answer Caleb's other remark because it would be redundant. Dean already knew that he had picked up that trait from the old man of not wanting to worry his loved ones any more than necessary. If you were able to make it your feet and move, then you had nothing to worry about.
"He's about forty minutes out with Bobby, worried as hell about all of us, but he ordered us to touch base with him in fifteen minutes."
Caelan smiled. "He must be all right then," Caelan let out a long, low breath of relief. "Giving orders is like breathing air to Johnny. So, if he's giving orders then we have nothing to worry about!" Caelan teased, bumping Dean's shoulder lightly.
"You're not wrong there!" Dean snorted in agreement.
"Okay troupes; let's get this show on the road, shall we?"
The three Hunters quickly, but quietly made their way down the hospital corridors, following Caleb's lead and the lay out Peter Stewart had given him of the hospital, ducking out of sight whenever they heard footsteps coming their way. It didn't matter if the footsteps belonged to a doctor, nurse, orderly, patient or visitor; the three Hunters weren't taking any chances. Besides, without really knowing who exactly this organisation consisted of, they had no choice but to suspect everyone might be a potential enemy.
They were making good time, Caleb gesturing to them that they had five more turns and two flights of stairs to go down before they made it to the main doors and would be out the front door, their freedom guaranteed. The only problem was, the last stretch of their journey was wide out in the open, which meant they could be spotted at any time.
Still, they were professional Hunters, and as such, they took things one step at a time, instantly adapting to any deviations that had to be made of their escape route due to extreme foot traffic.
Dean's left arm clutched at his mid-section, trying to keep the pain that he could feel at the stitches pulling to a tolerable level, his posture leaning heavily to his left side, sweat beginning to glisten upon his off-white complexion, knowing that if he stopped to think about it he would be barfing up in the corner, hunched over in misery and pain.
Even though Dean was feeling considerably worse as one minute rolled into the next, he never faltered or slowed the other two Hunters down. He gritted his teeth together and persevered through the pain and discomfort, knowing that the end result of this would be seeing his younger brother once more.
"Dean, how are you holding up man?" Caelan asked in a hushed tone, concern evident in his voice when the three men had stopped for a quick breather, Caleb having to regain his direction when they were pushed further back because of the foot traffic.
"I'm … okay …" Dean replied with a grimace. "Will be … even better … when I can have a cold … beer." He grinned weakly at Caelan.
Caelan appreciated Dean's attempt at trying to lighten the mood and chuckled dryly. "Yeah, I'm hearing you brother, can't wait to have a cold one myself."
"Ten more minutes Dean," Caleb turned to give the younger man a calculating look, not liking the pallor of his skin or his almost protective hunched posture.
"Dad … won't like that," Dean said, his face contorting with pain. "Will be past the dead-line …"
"We'll worry about John's infamous temper late," Caleb shrugged unconcerned. "Once we've escaped from enemy territory." Caleb paused, rising his eyebrows at Dean questioningly, a challenging gleam within his eyes. "Think you can stay on your feet for ten more minutes, Winchester?"
Dean glared daggers at Caleb, accepting his challenge. "Watch me," he growled.
"Good." Caleb smirked, pleased with the younger man's fighting attitude, eyes flicking back toward the map once more to make sure that they were headed in the right direction. "Okay then, let's get going."
Dean's expression hardened in determination, falling in between the two Hunters when the three of them continued to move through the maze of corridors of this mammoth hospital.
Caelan kept his eyes trained both on Dean and their backs, becoming more worried about Dean the longer their mission continued. The young man was dead on his feet, needing to rest and have some good pain meds in order to recover from the gunshot wound that he had received only hours ago.
Caelan would honestly be surprised if Dean hadn't at least pulled a stitch or two out from this arduous journey through the hospital. This was taking far longer than he expected it to. But if it came down to it, Caelan would carry Dean out of here if he had to. There was no way that Caelan would ever leave Dean behind.
Dean concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, blinking the blurriness from his vision, knowing that he was on his last reserves of strength, when his big brother senses started wailing at him, screaming that something was wrong … something had happened to Sam!
Dean stopped dead in his tracks, heart pounding in fear, looking around as if he could spot his kid brother and determine what kind of danger he was in. But, of course, all Dean could see was empty rows of corridors, no sign of his brother anywhere.
"Dean … are you okay man?" Caelan's worried voice sounded muffled in his ears as Dean felt an intense wave of panic and fear descend upon him. He instinctively knew that these feelings weren't his own; they belonged to his baby brother.
"Sammy," Dean murmured, fear twisting in his stomach, frustrated because he should be with Sam, damn it! His job was to protect and look out for his younger brother … and where was he? Stuck in this damn hospital without any clue of where the hell Sam was!
"Dean!" Caelan hissed, shaking Dean's shoulders to get his attention, surprised at the amount of tension he could feel in his friend's body. If Caelan didn't know any better, he'd say that Dean was gearing up for a fight of some kind. "What the hell is wrong with you man? We've got to keep moving!"
"Sammy," Dean repeated, eyes widening, a startled gasp escaping him as he turned to look back at Caelan in shock. "Cal … did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Caelan looked around, not spotting any danger nearby; having no clue what had spooked his normally level-headed friend. "Dean, there's no one here."
"I could have sworn …" Dean swallowed hard, his complexion losing all colour as he "heard" his frantic sibling screaming his name, screaming for help.
Oh God, Sammy!
He had to get to Sam, now!
But … Dean had no idea of where to go what to do, other than the fact that he needed to get to Sam … immediately!
Dean's emotions were on high alert, all of his senses were over-loading, bombarding him with useless information, everything in him tuned into one person; Sammy. Somehow, Dean sensed that his brother was in trouble and his every instinct was urging him to get to his brother as quickly as he could, no-matter-what.
Dean stood there, indecisive for several long seconds and then, just like that, his big brother radar went off-line. It was as if someone had taken a giant switch and turned it to the off position.
Dean blinked, an empty, hollow feeling of dread inside of him at the loss of the connection that he'd had with his brother. Oh shit, did this mean that Sam was … out of commission?
Dean swallowed down his overwhelming panic, determined to remain calm and in control. His little brother needed him to remain strong; in control; indestructible. He wouldn't be doing anyone any favours if he fell to pieces now.
"Hey guys …" Caleb's footsteps returned back to Dean and Caelan, phone held in his hand, looking slightly less stressed than before. "I've just received word from Nirkish. He and Sam are outside in the parking lot. He can be in our position in five minutes. So, I suggest that we hang back here and wait for Nirkish to find us."
Dean's head snapped up at Caleb's words, his heart beating faster in hope now instead of dread. Did Caleb just say that Sam was out in the parking lot?
An extra reserve of strength Dean didn't know he had, pumped through his exhausted, tired and aching system as he darted past Caleb and ran down the flight of stairs as fast as he could, completely ignoring the cries of both Caleb and Caelan for him to come back.
He didn't care if he was risking the mission, of being caught out in the open. All he cared about right now was getting to his brother and making sure that Sam was okay, because his big brother instincts were never wrong. And they had sounded the biggest alarm within Dean, urging Dean to get to his brother now and to help him before it was too late.
DW CH DW CH DW CH DW CH DW CH DW CH DW
"Dean! Where the hell are you going?" Caleb demanded in a loud whisper as Dean side-stepped past the older Hunter and made it to the stairs before Caleb had time to react.
"Dean! Damn it! Get back here!" Caelan ordered, automatically stepping past Caleb in order to follow the younger Hunter.
"Wait!" Caleb managed to grab Caelan's arm before the man slipped past him, bringing Caelan to an abrupt halt. "What the hell is going on? Where is Winchester going? Damn it, the kid is going to blow everything if he's spotted!"
"Cut him some slack Hawkes. He's been worried sick about his brother all day. And then you come along and tell him that his brother is just outside in the parking lot waiting for him. Of course nothing's going to stand in his way. Plan or no plan, when Sam's in danger or threatened, Dean forgets everything else but his younger brother's safety and well-being." Caelan shot back, defending Dean's reckless actions as strongly as a mama bear would protect and defend her young.
Caleb sighed, exasperated. "Yeah, I get that Hags," he blew out a frustrated breath. "But we need to get him back here and calmed down before someone spots his ass and reports in to Senior Stewart. I don't want John's wrath to be on my head when we fail to bring out his first-born son in one piece. Thanks, but no thanks. I love my life too much to die today!"
Caelan pulled himself loose from Caleb's hold. "You weren't there when we found Sammy today Caleb. You don't know what Dean's been through or been put through because some crazy Hunters from a secret organisation want to punish and torment his kid brother for reasons unknown!" Caelan couldn't help but snap back at Caleb, knowing how stupid Dean was being at the moment, but if Caleb hadn't stopped him, Caelan would be following Dean right now.
And if it happened that they were caught in a trap because of it, then so be it. Because Caelan could understand Dean's anxiousness in getting to the youngest Winchester ASAP because it was the exact some instinct that was crawling within Caelan right now as well.
There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for the Winchesters … and that included Sam as well!
Caelan let out a long, pent up sigh at his friend's frustrated and confused expression. "Look, Dean's got some kind of sixth-sense-radar when it comes to the kid. All I know is, Dean uttered Sam's name a couple of times before he went as white as a sheet and then took off. He thinks Sam's in danger and I'm sorry Caleb, but nothing on earth is going to stop Dean now until he gets to his brother's side.
Now, I don't know about you, but I'm going to follow Dean so that his impulsiveness doesn't get him caught and his impatience doesn't get him killed. Follow me or not Caleb … the decision is yours man." Caelan held his friend's gaze for several long seconds, letting Caleb see that Caelan wasn't backing down on this one, before he proceeded down the stairs Dean had shot down just minutes ago.
Caelan could hear Caleb's muttered oaths behind him and smiled knowingly, not surprised when a few seconds later he heard Caleb's hurried footsteps behind him. Caelan glanced at Caleb, his eyebrows raised questioningly.
Caleb shrugged. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." He answered in reply to Caelan's unspoken questions. "Besides, the Winchesters are my friends too. If Dean's decided to go postal and descend into this recklessly, self-destructive act that is basically going to get him caught or worse … he won't be doing it alone." Caleb declared, his expression set in stubborn determination.
Caelan nodded in gratitude. "Thanks Hawkes, I appreciate it man," he grinned to take the awkwardness out of the situation; both Hunters uncomfortable with showing any real emotion which might make them look weak.
Caleb returned Caelan's grin. "You would totally crash and burn without me Hags!" Caleb teased. "But before we take off recklessly into enemy ranks … I'll just send John a quick text message, to report in."
Caelan nodded almost distractedly as he spotted Dean running – well, shuffling as fast as his injuries and exhausted body would allow – around the corner. "Yeah, you text Johnny Caleb, I'll catch up to Dean and then you can meet us, okay?"
Without bothering to wait for a reply from his friend, Caelan put on an extra burst of speed in order to catch up to Dean before he fell flat on his face or did something stupid to get himself caught or killed.
CH SW CH SW CH SW CH SW CH SW CH SW CH
Through the nothingness of the darkness, Sam began to see shapes, colours and noises that didn't fit where he belonged. The now familiar, non-feelings that he experienced, that he knew didn't belong to him, smothered him like tendrils through his mind, and Sam knew, before he became enveloped completely, that he was once again connecting with Sicko's mind.
Now that he knew what was happening, Sam wasn't as freaked out as before, but it still unnerved him the way that he seemed to be taken completely over by Sicko's thoughts and emotions as if they were truly his own. And the odd sensation of himself being taken over by another made Sam feel disorientated, still considering himself as being a part of Sicko – becoming more difficult to differentiate between the two individual personalities, as Sicko's thoughts, memories and feelings merged into his own.
No!
Sam didn't want to see any more of this! He didn't want to be inside of Sicko's mind, experiencing his sick, dark and twisted thoughts.
Sam fought it; fought to escape, desperate not to fall back into this father and son's demented views and opinions, but there was nothing Sam could do as he felt himself slipping and merging into the aggressive, sadistic mind of his tormentor and torturer …
Sam was excited … maybe a little apprehensive, but more excited as he considered the possibility of what he could achieve if he really did have a power like his father claimed he did.
The two of them had decided to stop for the rest of the day and start fresh again in the morning. It seemed that being resurrected had taken its toll on his father and Sam wasn't feeling all the best either. He had a headache that felt as if it wanted to split his head in two, exhaustion filling every corner of Sam's body, making Sam consider the option of falling asleep for the next week or more so he could recharge his batteries.
Bringing his Dad back to life had some serious side-effects upon Sam's physical state; experiencing a bone weary tiredness he had never experienced before … drained is the best way to describe it; apathy, depression weighing heavily upon his soul.
Now that Sam had been in the shower for a good half an hour, his depressive weariness was being replaced by excited optimism.
It was obvious to Sam that his Dad had been dead, he had seen the vacant, life-less stare of his father's eyes and knew that his Dad was gone. And yet, somehow, here he was … alive.
If Sam had a power like his Dad said … then could he bring other things … people back to life just by willing it? Did that mean that both he and his father got to live forever because of Sam's abilities? Could Sam heal himself?
The possibilities of what he could do were mind-blowing and once Sam wrapped his mind around the fact that he had a supernatural ability … He couldn't help the wonderfully wicked thoughts that entered his mind.
He could have so much fun with this power; playing and torturing his victims to the point of death, only to bring them back to life and start the game all over again.
Sam could picture them; bloodied, bruised, marked, lifeless … His Demon Spawn having no choice but to relive Sam's cruel, torturous ways only to be brought back to life and repeating the cycle all over again.
Sam could feel himself getting hard at that thought, a low moan of pleasure escaping him at all of the things he could do to his marked little Sammy Winchester.
TBC