Down the Rabbit Hole

Ghost of a Chance Part 1

"Sam! Sam! Oh come on!" Dean tried to shake him awake but to no avail. Lacey reached out a hand, placing it on Sam's forehead, trying to heal him, but nothing happened. She looked at Dean worriedly. "Sammy! Come on! Come on, damn it!" Sam woke up with a gasp. "Hey, hey! You with me?" They helped Sam to his feet. "Come on. Got to get you out of here." They helped Sam to the door and out into the Impala.

The next morning Sam woke up in the back seat of the Impala. He winced at the light, his head still pounding. Glancing around he found they were parked on a small high street. He opened the car door and clambered out, his head spinning more as he became vertical.
"How you feel?" Dean asked from where he was stood, leaning against the car.
"Like I got hit by a...planet." Sam groaned. Across the street Lacey came out of a store carrying drinks and pastries for them. She crossed the street and handed them both their coffees.
"Well, lucky for you, you've got your own doctor and nurse." Dean winked at Lacey. "We got joe, grub and..." Dean reached inside the Impala and pulled out a bottle of pills which he shook at Sam.
"What are they?"
"Effective." Dean told him.
"I'm ok, thanks."
"Suit yourself." Dean shrugged and put the pills back.
"So, how long was I out again?"
"I'm telling you, like two or three minutes. What'd it feel like to you?"
"About a week, give or take." Lacey glanced at Dean, surprised.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"It?"
"Yeah, whatever that was. I mean, it was like you were freakin' electrocuted."
"Look, I mean, it wasn't fun. But I'm fine."
"Do you know what fine stands for?" Lacey asked, looking at him seriously. "Freaked out, insecure, neurotic and emotional." Sam gave her a look.
"And that tells me you watched too many movies while I was gone." Lacey stuck her tongue out at him.
"What you saw, it was hell, wasn't it?" Dean asked, changing the subject back. "You got a big fat face full of hell. Ever cross your mind that you could have died?"
"Oh, come on." Sam protested.
"I'm serious. And none of this just a flesh wound crap, cause we did it your way, we let you go explore and every bad thing I said would happen, happened. So guess what, past stays past. We are not kicking that wall again."
"So I'm just supposed to ignore it?"
"Yes." Dean replied vehemently.
"Dean...I might have done... who knows what, and you want me to just forget about it?"
"You shove it down and you let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism." Dean told him. Sam and Lacey both raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds healthy."
"Well, works for me." Sam let out a sigh. "It's not a joke. Your life is on the line here Sam. This is not a debate. I mean, first you were a soulless dick bag and now you're not. So, we good?"
"Yeah, sure." Sam gave in.
"Good, well let's take your mind off it shall we? You up for a job?"
"Well, what do you got?"
"Janitor murdered in a college lab last night. Doors were locked, nobody in or out of the building."
"Great. Where to?"
"Paterson, New Jersey. Hey, maybe we'll have a Snooki sighting." Dean laughed. Sam and Lacey looked at him blankly.
"What's a Snooki?"
"That is a good question."

A few hours later they arrived at the college and made their way to the science labs, crossing the police tape as they went. As they began to check the lab out Dean spotted the anatomy dummy in the corner and headed straight for it.
"Check it out, this thing's friggin' awesome." He handed Lacey the heart. "Be my valentine." She rolled her eyes and giggled at him.
"Dude, we're working, put it back." Sam told him.
"Have a heart." Dean protested.
"Dean."
"Buzzkill." Dean muttered as Lacey handed the heart back to him and he replaced it. "Do you smell sulphur?"
"We're in a science lab." Sam pointed out.
"Right." Deans phone began to buzz in his pocket.
"Who is it?" Sam asked as he pulled it out.
"Nothing important." Dean said as he hung up the call and put his phone away. Lacey looked at him questioningly but he just shrugged his shoulders. Sam's EMF meter started going crazy, averting their attention.
"Hey."
"Whoa... ghosts gone wild. Somethings up in here."
"Question is, what?"
"Good news, big brothers watching." Dean said, pointing up at a camera on the wall.