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A/N: Hey y'all! Check it out—another one! It's like reminiscent of days past when I used to update… often… haha (okay, so if there's anybody from WAY long ago, you may remember I actually used to update daily… but that was when I had a backlog of stories). So want to hear something really cool about this story? It's something that hasn't happened in a long while—and I mean like months!—this story was thought of today and written today. I thought of the idea while waiting for the bus at school and then sat down and wrote it all in one shot. Usually within the past many, many, many months I haven't been in really big writing mood and so I usually get my story ideas from friends/family/episodes and then will take days or even (gulp) weeks to write a story. But nope! This one was thought of and written all in one afternoon, and it was fun! Perhaps that is a sign that you may see some more coming from me? Who knows… but I hope y'all enjoy this one!

**edit: Not often does this happen, but I am editing this due to Pandora Jazz's review—I completely agree with your comment to the fact that Dean probably wouldn't have smacked Sam's wound as hard as he did, haha! That was actually something that I myself thought was off-character (then why did I write it, you ask? Very good question…). So I tweaked it up, so now, hopefully, it will be a more Dean sounding moment! **

Title: Disappearing Act
Genre: Suspense, angst… my whole 'usual' stuff, haha!
Summary: Walking back through a forest after a hunt Sam and Dean come across a frozen river. Or is it fully frozen? As Sam walks across it he suddenly disappears…

Disappearing Act

Dean's heart hammered as he watched wide eyed the wendigo engulf in flames before erupting in a brilliant theatric of ashes and disappear. Pushing himself off the ground, Dean looked around frantically for the whereabouts of his brother.

"Sam?!"

"Yep!" a call came from behind the snow covered brush to Dean's right.

Feeling forming bruises, Dean painfully got up and walked over to the call and spotted his brother sprawled in the snow looking slightly worse for wear with a laceration going from the base of his right ear down his neck, and nearly to his collarbone.

"Geeze Sammy," Dean shook his head with a frown.

"I'm good," Sam grunted as he untangled himself from the brush, "Did you get it?"

"Yeah, I did. Just… hold up there Sasquatch—" Dean furrowed his brow as he held out his hand to steady his stumbling brother.

"I'm fine," Sam wiped the snow from his jacket and pants.

"Really?" Dean took off one of his gloves and prodded gently at the wound on his brother's neck.

"Ouch, damn it!" Sam instinctively swung his hand up protectively.

Dean grinned.

"Nice Dean," Sam glared, "Couldn't have just said something?"

"Now what kind of brother would I be then?" Dean half laughed as he grabbed his field bag and dug through it for some medical supplies, "Now why don't you sit your ass down for a minute."

Sam obliged, removing his gloves and undoing his jacket as he sat on an old snow covered log that sat in the thick forest. He remembered the wendigo backhanding him a split second before Dean had hit it with the molotov, though honestly hadn't thought he'd been injured; just stunned. His heart continued to pound as the adrenaline from the hunt coursed through his veins and Sam was happy that the snow which fell in nearly a heavy blanket kept him cool.

"Alright Sammy, look up at me," Dean walked over with a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and several pieces of gauze in hand.

Sam did as he was told and the elder Winchester went through a rough field first aid session as he quickly cleaned the wound and stuck some bandages on it. Neither was a stranger to injuries by any stretch of the imagination but both knew better than to let wounds go without being taken care of as soon as possible.

"There you go," Dean clapped Sam on the arm five minutes later, "That'll work for now. When we get back to the hotel I want to take another look at it though; you may need some stitches."

"Okay," Sam nodded, "Let's go."

The two silently packed up the rest of their supplies that were strewn around the area and began to walk in the direction they'd come. The wendigo had sent them on just over a mile-long trail through the Wyoming forest which went a lot quicker on the way in due to not only the adrenaline and excitement of the hunt but as well as the fact that the snow which now fell slowed the brothers down significantly.

"Man, I hate winter," Dean muttered a half hour into the walk as he sloughed through ankle deep snow tripping on a hidden log.

Sam laughed, "I like it. The snow makes everything look clean and new again. Besides, at least it's not too cold, and we'll be back to the car soon."

Dean shook his head and mumbled vaguely about not being entirely sure they were related. Another ten minutes passed with idle conversation before Dean abruptly stopped and frowned.

"The river," he spoke the two simple words.

Sam looked and frowned. The two had crossed the river relatively easily on the way into the forest. It was a nearly entirely frozen over river and when they'd initially crossed it had been a simple task of being sure to step where the ice was, and not where an air pocket had broken through from a protruding log or rock. Now, however, the falling snow had created a flat, even blanket of white.

"We could walk around?" Sam feebly suggested after a moment of silence, "See if there's a bridge somewhere?"

Dean sighed, "I don't know man. The car is literally not even five minutes on the other side of the river, and we have no clue where the nearest bridge could be." He paused. "We'll be fine. We just went in a straight line on the way here, so just do the same on the way back."

Sam nodded and felt a nervous feeling form in his stomach, "Okay. I'll go first."

"What? No!" protective instinct immediately caused Dean to object.

"Yes," Sam walked over to the side of the bank.

"Why are you going first?" Dean tried to grab Sam to get ahead.

"Because," Sam turned around with a smile, "I said it first. And," Sam held up a large branch, "I have the stick."

Dean rolled his eyes. On the way across the first time Dean had used the argument of going first by stating that he had the stick to test the ice as they walked across. He'd thrown it in the brush once successfully on the other side, and now, apparently Sam had found said stick and was using it as leverage.

"Be careful Sammy," Dean followed slowly down the bank after his brother.

Sam nodded, prodding the ice in hard jabs in front of him as he took slow careful steps, "Just keep behind me about six feet. And stay in my prints."

The river wasn't necessarily a wide one, but with spring in the horizon, both brothers knew it was beginning to swell with runoff and was faster moving than either wanted to think about. Sam moved slowly and carefully across, slamming the stick in front of him with each step and gaining more and more confidence as he went along. Sam was just over half way with Dean just beginning to leave the shore when the younger Winchester's left foot stepped down on the ice and went right through.

Then he disappeared.

"Sam!" Dean's scream shattered air.

The event was horrifically underwhelming as one second Sam had been moving cautiously across the river and the next he had silently gone through a snow covered void with nary a crack or sound. Dean's little brother hadn't even gotten out a gasped cry before his disappearing act and for what seemed like an eternity Dean stood staring dumbfounded and wild-eyed at the spot his brother once stood.

"No, no-no-no-no… Sammy," Dean finally let the words tumble from his mouth as he immediately went down to his stomach, "Sam!"

Quickly he army crawled to the hole in the ice, saying every prayer he could think of on the way there that his brother was just below the surface. The younger hunter was well over six feet tall and Dean's only hope was that somehow this would be his saving grace.

"C'mon Sam, please," Dean's voice shook as he stuck his entire arm up to his shoulder into the icy water and felt blindly around, "Come on!"

He continued to feel until the cold bit painfully into his flesh and Dean was forced remove it from the water. Tears built up and fell silently down his face as he then looked around at what could have been perceived as a peaceful scene. Unsure what to do next, Dean pulled a shaky hand up to his mouth and let out a strangled sob.

"Sammy…" the quiet whisper escaped desperately out of Dean's mouth as the snow fell around him.

Dean let out another long shaking breath and was going to force his brain to formulate a plan of action when a sudden loud noise broke the stillness downstream.

"What the—" Dean sat up on his knees and tried to look around the bend in the river.

"Dean!" the most glorious sound Dean knew he'd ever hear in the form of his brother's voice echoed up the river valley.

"God… Sam!" Dean was to his feet in half a second and without any thought to the ice beneath his feet bounded the rest of the way to the shore.

Once across, Dean was able to see nearly a hundred feet down the river and saw Sam sitting half crouched on the riverbank completely soaked. The river ice broken apart from where Sam had managed to break through.

"Sammy!" Dean cried out eyes wide as he struggled to get a footing on the slick snow.

A weary smile came to Sam's face as he weakly waved at Dean and sat down completely onto the snow-covered riverbank. Frantically Dean ran as fast as he could the distance to his little brother before falling to his knees and grabbing Sam into a hug.

"God Sammy, I thought I'd really lost you this time," Dean stuttered into Sam's waterlogged jacket.

Sam hugged back weakly albeit enthusiastically as his whole body trembled uncontrollably, "You almost did."

Dean moved back slightly, "C'mon—we gotta get you back to the car and dry."

Quickly Dean helped Sam stand up and without thought stripping his brother of his jacket and sweater. Immediately Dean stripped his own jacket and sweater off and against objections forced Sam to put them on.

"D-Dean… you are g-ggonnna f-freeze," Sam stuttered out.

"Sam, you are freezing dude!" Dean pointed out, "You just did a polar bear dip. Can you walk?"

Sam nodded his head, and with Dean's arm supporting as much weight as possibly the two headed in the direction of the Impala. The snow continued to fall, however Dean was endlessly thankful that his guess of less than five minutes was correct and soon the sleek black car was in view.

"T-thanks-s D-Dean," Sam's teeth chattered.

Dean took one look at his little brother; a man with a large, still bleeding laceration on his neck wearing a jacket that was at least a size too small on him with pants and shoes that were soaked through to the bone. He wouldn't change the image for anything in the world.

"Get in the car Sammy," Dean's voice cracked slightly as he got in the driver's seat and started the car up.

Turning the heat on full, Dean made sure Sam was sitting inside before he got back out and walked to the trunk. Opening it up he grabbed Sam some fresh, dry clothes and the larger first aid kit before getting back into the driver's seat again.

"Here," Dean tossed the clothes at Sam, "Go be nature boy for a minute and strip down to change into these. We need to get you out of the wet clothes and warm and dry."

Sam frowned slightly at the prospect of stripping down outside, but as the tremors continued to course through him, found he didn't care and opened up the door with clothes in hand.

"And Sammy?" Dean called out just as his brother was about to close the door.

"Yeah?" Sam looked back in the car.

Dean look awkward for a moment and swallowed the lump that suddenly was forming in his throat.

Sam smiled and spoke before closing the door, "I know."

With Sam outside Dean was only half surprised to find the tears once again building up in his eyes as the emotions of the day finally escaped his exhausted body. It wasn't fair how it always seemed to be his brother that so often danced on deaths doorstep. But everything was okay; Sam would be alright and Dean knew he'd do everything in his power to keep it that way.

The End.