Down the Rabbit Hole

Broken Part 1

Lacey ran and she kept running until she was off Bobby's property. She bent over, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She began to walk slowly down the roadside, heading towards the town of Sioux Falls. She kept tripping as she went, the ground hard and uneven beneath her feet, in the dark. She must have walked for nearly an hour before she heard the rumble of an engine and saw light piercing the blackness. She turned around and raised a had to her face, trying to stop the headlights from blinding her. As they got closer the car slowed to a stop.
"Lacey?" She squinted into the light.
"Bobby? You're alive!" She hurried forward and hugged him through the window.
"Of course I'm alive."
"We saw the house and...."
"Yeah, I just came from there myself. Took one look at the smoke and kept on driving. Where are Sam and Dean?" Bobby asked as he opened the door for her to climb in.
"Uh... I don't know. There was one of those Leviathan things waiting for us... they told me to run... I'm sorry." She looked down at her hands.
"Sometimes running is the best option. You know that." Lacey nodded. "I caught a few reports on the old police scanner, there was an ambulance called to the vicinity, think its worth a try?" Lacey nodded again.
"Dean was hurt when I left, maybe they called for one."
"Then we'll start there."

Booby drove them to Sioux Falls general and they managed to find the boys under one of their rock aliases. Bobby went to see if he could spot any of the Leviathans and Lacey waited in Dean's room. The nurse had informed them that he had fractured his leg. He had been quite heavily sedated but he should be coming round soon. Lacey sat on a chair beside the bed, holding his hand. Dean's eyes began to flutter and they slowly opened.
"Hey." Lacey said softly, getting his attention.
"You're ok?" Dean asked as he took in his surroundings.
"Yeah, and you're.... well it could be worse." Dean shook the cobwebs free.
"Oh, no, no, no." He sat up and pulled the IV from his arm.
"Should you really be doing that?" Lacey asked, jumping to her feet as he swung his legs around. She put out a hand as he tried to stand up but it was too late, and he fell to the floor. Dean looked down and noticed his leg in the cast.
"What?"
"You fractured your leg." Lacey told him as she got down beside him and tried to pull him up, to little effect. Dean was way too heavy for her to lift, her super-strength was gone and she was a total weakling, if this was anything to judge by. She gave one last attempt to pull him up and fell to the floor beside him, beginning to sob.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Dean pulled her over to him, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"I'm useless, I'm totally useless. I can't even get you up off the floor, let alone stop the Leviathans from hurting you. I'm nothing but a liability, it's my fault you got hurt."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you are not a liability. You've saved my ass more times than I care to count."
"That was then, I can't even do simple things anymore, I can't even protect myself. Let's face it, I'm no use to you anymore, I'm just another person that needs saving."
"Hey." Dean tilted her chin up to look at him. "You are not useless, when I'm better Sam and I will train you, ok? That way until your powers come back you can take care of yourself."
"What if they never come back?"
"We'll cross that bridge if it comes to it." Dean told her before pulling her into a hug. A few minutes later the door opened and Bobby stood there, looking down at the two of them on the floor.
"You ok?" Dean looked up at him in surprise.
"Bobby, you're alive."
"Course I am." Bobby scoffed. "Why are you on the floor?"
"They gave me morphine. A lot." Dean explained.
"And I'm a total weakling." Bobby helped Lacey pull Dean to his feet.
"Hey, look, a monster broke my leg. Oh wait.... The house. We thought you were dead."
"Well I ain't, not yet. But we got to run, this place ain't safe. Where's Sam?"
"Uh, head scan I think."
"Meet me at the ambulance dock, stat. I'll find Sam."
"Wait, where? Bobby, I'm a gimp." Bobby grabbed a pair of crutches leaning against the wall by the door.
"Hey." He patted Dean's cheek and smiled at him. "Lacey can help you." Before heading out the door. Lacey hurriedly helped him get dressed, his head still fuzzy from the morphine. Lacey poked her head out the door, making sure the coast was clear before they left the room.
"Okay, let's go." She stayed close to Dean incase he needed help and navigated them towards the ambulance bay. It took them a while but they finally reached it, all the while feeling like they were being followed. Lacey opened the door to the ambulance, Bobby was sitting in the drivers seat, Dean got in first before Lacey climbed in herself and shut the door behind her.
"Go, go, go, go, go!" Bobby pulled away from the dock as fast as he could and sped towards the exit.

They couldn't go back to Bobby's for obvious reasons so they switched cars as soon as they could and headed up to an old cabin Rufus had kept. It was a few weeks later and Lacey was sat with her legs stretched out on one end of the sofa, Dean at the other. They were watching some terrible Spanish soap opera on the TV, which Lacey was struggling to follow. Sam was sat at the kitchen table reading a book. Bobby walked in the front door.
"Dude...Ricardo." Dean told him nodding at the TV, a look of anguish on his face.
"What happened?"
"Suicidio."
"Adios ese." Bobby replied, shaking his head sadly. Lacey looked between the two of them, confused.
"So he's dead? Ugh this show is so confusing. And it's confusing in Spanish." Dean patted her leg reassuringly.
"Well this ought to cheer you up." Bobby threw some keys at Dean.
"My Baby! Now I just got to get this stupid thing off and I can drive again."
"So, how is it out there?" Sam asked, putting his book down.
"Weird with a side order of bloody. Talked to a few hunters. They're running into the same kind of thing that set up shop at the hospital."
"Yeah and don't forget tried to kill us at your place."
"Well consensus is they're... they're like shapeshifters only a lot more into eating folk. And nothing can kill 'em."
"Good times." Dean nodded. "Anything else?"
"Yep. They bleed balck goo."
"Like that stuff that came out of Cas, those things from Purgatory, uh, Leviathan."
"Yep." Lacey shuddered.
"Ugh, I hate those things."
"What about those chompers that you and the sheriff saw at the hospital? They still making spleen burgers?"
"Yeah, made some calls. That Doctor never showed back up to work. Ditto a nurse and some administrator."
"So they could be at any hospital in America?"
"Yeah."
"What do you think, Sam?" Dean turned around in his seat. "Sammy? Sam." Sam was staring off into space. "Hey, ground control! Sam!"
"Yeah, what? I'm right here?" Sam clutched his injured palm.
"You ok?" Dean asked, worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam returned his concentration to the conversation.
"Good. Every last bit of info I ever had burned down so..." Bobby shrugged.
"What about this place? Rufus leave anything? Did you check the basement?"
"C-rations and dust. I don't think he'd been here in years. So I got to go round up my old library."
"I thought you said most of those books were one of a kind?" Sam pointed out.
"Yeah. That's why I stashed copies all over the place." Lacey smiled at him, they could always trust Bobby to come up with something.
"Okay, good. Hey two legs." Dean nodded to Sam. " We're fresh out of grub, wanna make a run?"
"Sure, yeah." Sam got to his feet and Dean tossed him the keys.
"Be careful with her, would you? And, Sam?"
"Yeah?" Sam turned to face them as he pulled his jacket on.
"Pie."
"Obviously." Sam smiled back.
"Oooh, oooh, can you get me some poptarts and some Nachos... and everything that goes with them!" Lacey called after him. Sam raised a hand to acknowledge he'd heard as he went out the door. As soon as he'd gone, Dean turned to Bobby.
"So?"
"So what?" Bobby asked.
"Before you bail again, Girl Interruped over there. Any thoughts?"
"Looks to me like he's doing better." Bobby shrugged.
"Better? What do you mean better? You just saw him!" Dean protested.
"Saw him check out once. That's progress."
"You're kidding!"
"Look, seems to me that Sam's head ain't no different than your leg. People heal on a curve."
"Not diff..." Dean shook his head. "Bobby, I get this off in five days, I'm golden. Sam's not a curve, he's a frickin' time bomb."
"It ain't like he's keeping secrets. What you see is what you get. What's so nuts about calling an upswing?"
"Because that's not how it works, Bobby, ever! All right? Especially not with Sam. The other shoe is gonna drop. It's just a matter of when."
"Okay. How about we worry about today's problems? And today, we need intel. I'm going. You sit there and stew. I'll check in. Look... you sitting here wringing your hands ain't gonna do nothing. Maybe he'll surprise you." He nodded at Lacey. "Make sure he doesn't do anthing too stupid."
"I'll do my best, but I make no promises." Lacey told him with a smile, which Bobby returned before walking out the door. "Oh, crap."
"What?"
"I forgot the to tell him to get the Hershey's cookies and cream." Lacey pouted.
"Eh, there's always next time." Dean shrugged and went to change the channel but Lacey grabbed the remote first.
"Uhuh, my turn now, we've had quite enough Soap operas today. It's time for some Gossip Girl." She told him matter-of-factly.