Down the Rabbit Hole

The Return Part 2

Soundtrack:

Zappacosta Overload

Elise Le Grow No good woman

Roxette Listen to your heart

They arrived back at Bobby's to find the place deserted.
"Sam? Sammy? Sam? Oh, crap."
"What do we do?" Lacey asked.
"I turned his GPS on earlier. Here." He tossed her his phone. "I'll drive, you track him." They got back in the Impala and Lacey directed Dean until the trail stopped outside an abandoned warehouse.
"Oh, this can't be good."
"What now?"
"I'm going inside, you stay here."
"Dean."
"You're not invincible anymore, Lacey, you realise that, right?" Dean barked. Lacey shrank down in her seat. "I'm sorry." Dean's expression softened and he took hold of her hand. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
"It's Sam, how bad can it be?" Dean sighed, reluctantly.
"OK, but stay behind me." They got out of the car and walked round the side of the warehouse until they reached a door. As they entered they could see Sam standing in the middle of the room, staring at thin air.
"Sam? Sam!" Dean called. "Sam, what are you doing?" Sam turned around, his gun pointed at them. Dean shoved Lacey behind him more before putting his hands in the air. "Whoa, whoa!"
"I was with you, Dean!" Sam yelled, his eyes darting wildly about.
"Okay. Well, we're here now.
"No, No, I don't..." He looked backwards and forwards between Dean and the empty space. "I can't know that for sure. You understand me?"
"Okay, now we're gonna have to start small."
"I don't remember driving here." Sam seemed to be listening to a voice only he could hear. He clearly didn't like what it said as he fired his gun at it. Lacey shrieked and grabbed hold of Dean as she ducked down.
"Whoa, whoa! Sam! This discussion does not require a weapons discharge!" Dean yelled at him. Seeing the expression on Deans face and the terror in Lacey's eyes he lowered his weapon.
"Look at me. Come on, You don't know what's real?" Dean walked slowly towards him, Lacey clinging to him followed behind. "Look man, I've been to Hell. Okay, I know a thing or two about torture. Enough to know what it feels different than the pain of this, this regular, stupid, crappy this."
"No, no. How can you know that for sure?" Sam continued to look panicked.
"Let me see your hand." Sam slowly put his hand out. "No, no. The gimp hand! Let me see it." Sam glanced to the side again and Dean grabbed his other hand. "Hey. This is real. Not a year ago, not in Hell, now. I was with you when you cut it, I sewed it up! Look!" He squeezed Sam's hand where the bandage was, Sam winced at the pain. "This is different. Right? Then the crap that's tearing at your walnut? I'm different. Right?" Dean gently took Sam's gun from him.
"Yeah, I think so." He glanced sideways again.
"Sam? Sam." Sam pressed the wound on his hand concentrating on the empty space. "Hey. I am your flesh and blood brother, okay? I'm the only one who can legitimately kick your ass in real time. You got away. We got you out, Sammy. Believe in that! Believe me, okay? You gotta believe me. You gotta make it stone number one and build on it. You understand?" Sam pressed on the wound again and whatever he was seeing must have disappeared as he looked visibly calmer.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Sam's phone went off and he answered it, putting it on speaker.
"Bobby, hey."
"The Sheriff was right. The hospital thing's definitely our kind of thing. I double-barreled one of them in the morgue. Silver buckshot, no effect. Bled black ooze."
"Leviathan here?" Sam looked surprised.
"I'm falling back. I'll meet you at the house. We can re-group." Bobby hung up.
"Sounds like he's got a live one."
"Okay, well let's go." The three of them headed for the exit.

They were almost back at Bobby's, Dean pulled into the long drive through the scrap yard up to the house.
"Look, when we get back to Bobby's.."
"It's okay, Dean, I'm good. No white rabbits. I'm not seeing anything."
"Okay. Baby steps." Dean smiled at him but his smile fell as soon as they got closer to the house. "Oh no." Dean stopped the car and they all got out, staring at the charred remains of Bobby's house. "Oh no." Dean repeated.
"Wait here." Dean told Lacey and she didn't argue this time just watched as the two of them began to search through the remains of the structure.
"Any sign of him?" Sam asked as they met back out front. Dean shook his head. They walked out into the scrap yard to continue their search.
"That place was torched. Somebody knew what they were doing."
"You think Bobby was back there?"
"I don't know." Lacey just followed them, looking dazed. Sam headed off between the cars, calling Bobby's name. Dean walked a little way from Lacey who was standing in the lean-to looking lost and dialled Bobby's number. It went through to voicemail.
"You cannot be in that crater back there. I can't... if you're gone, I swear, I am going to strap my Beautiful Mind brother and my Martyrs girlfriend into the car and I'm gonna drive us off the pier. You asked me how I was doing? Well, not good! Now you said you'd be here. Where are you?" Dean headed back over to Lacey and put his arm around her, steering her off between the cars, they could still hear Sam yelling a few rows over. Suddenly he stopped shouting. Dean and Lacey exchanged a look and ran over to where they'd last heard him. There was a man standing a few feet from Sam. Dean let go of Lacey and carried on walking, loading his shotgun before shooting the guy in the head. The guy was knocked back by the force but straightened up again, black goo oozing from the wound. His face distorted and transformed into a giant mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Lacey's breath hitched in her throat and she took a step back. The man tossed aside Dean's gun before grabbing hold of him and throwing him into one of the nearby cars. He hit the car badly, damaging his leg. He looked up from the ground and saw Lacey standing there, frozen to the spot. He gritted his teeth through the pain.
"Lacey! Go! Run!" His shout brought her back to life and she turned her gaze on him. She shook her head and staggered forward a few steps towards him, her mind at war with her body. Run and save herself or help Dean, the only person that made her feel in any way safe. His shouting attracted the monster too as it took a step towards her before Sam walked forward and punched it in the face. Lacey's feet shuffled to a stop as she saw the monster recover almost instantly and turn back to face her.
"Go!" Dean told her again. Lacey took one last look at Dean and turned around and ran for all she was worth.