The End (One-Shots)

Curing the Cursed

Sage. Rat tails. Bones from birds of prey. A little more dead-man's blood. Never knew when another nest might crop up. Paint. Somehow, they had managed to get so low on paint, they'd nearly run out. And of all the things they lacked at the bunker, sulfur. They'd encountered enough dark magic, how had--

Sweet Dreams roused Natalie from her thoughts, and she snatched her phone from the dashboard to cease its endless buzz.

"This is Natalie."

The roar of the Barracuda faded with a decrescendo as she let out of the accelerator. On the phone, a nervous voice hesitated with a deep breath before responding. "Hey, Natalie."

Natalie.

She had but one person in her life that still called her by her proper name. Natalie reared from her phone and checked the screen to find an unknown number angled across the top. And though she failed to recognize that number, Sam's quavering voice sounded on the other end of the line. With her mind scrambling to pin down a single question amongst millions to ask, Natalie settled for the simplest.

"Sam?"

The signal faded and returned as Natalie switched radio towers a few miles south of the bunker. Sam's voice broke through and she caught the second half of his response. "... could use your help. When will you be back?"

Natalie checked the next cross street before replying. "Couple minutes, stepped out for some materials we were getting short on. Why? Is this your emergency phone?"

"... yeah, I just need your help," was all she heard of his reply.

"Is Dean there? If it's an emergency, you should go to the hospital."

Static lingered before Sam said, "... don't think... doctor... help... this one. Dean... neither of us... want that."

If neither a doctor nor Dean couldn't help him, who could? "Um... alright, can you hold on for five minutes?"

More static preceded his response. "... think so... hurry... need you... be in my room."

The call ended with a perfunctory click and Natalie regarded her phone as if it had bitten her. Strange. If it could wait for her to return to the bunker, then it couldn't be a huge emergency. But then why use the backup phone?

Within five minutes, Natalie pulled the Barracuda into the garage of the bunker, stopping short with a chirp of the tires. Not keen on wasting any time, she bolted from the car and down the hallway to the library.

"Hey, Nat. Sam's looking for you. He left his phone out here..."

Elizabeth held Sam's phone over her shoulder and Natalie grabbed it as she passed, headed for the residence hall.

"Hello to you too, Natty," Dean called, but Natalie paid him no mind as she headed straight to the kitchen. There she picked up to a trot, darting around the corner for the residence quarters.

Near the end of the hall, Sam's door stood shut, and the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. What had him holed up in his room? She ran the last hundred feet and grasped the door knob only to find it locked. As awkward as the situation had turned out to be thus far, Natalie failed to shake the feeling that something terrible had happened.

"Sam?" she called as she pounded on the door. "Open up, it's Natalie."

The knob clicked but the door moved not an inch. After a second's hesitation, Natalie barged through, fearing the worst.

Except Sam sat on the edge of his bed, hands in his lap and no worse for wear.

Natalie shut the door with a soft snict, eyes glued to Sam's. "What's going on?"