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Title: Upside Down and Sideways
Genre: Gen
Category: Angst, whump
Rated: T
Summary: Set just after ELAC. Dean's world has been turned on it's head- He's alive while his Dad is dead and Sam just won't leave him alone. Consumed by rage and grief, his anger has consequences that neither he nor Sam can foresee. Limp!Sam, Angry/protective/hurt!Dean, ultra-awesome/curmudgeonly!Bobby.
Disclaimer: I still don't own any of these characters.
Chapter 2
He was too late.
Sam realized that things were playing out just as he had seen it. The bus lurched and the passengers on board reacted with startled shouts and gasps. One woman screamed as the impact hit the side of the bus. Sam was thrown from his feet and into the air, his head coming in contact with the ceiling with a sickening thud. As he was tossed about, the screams of the passengers were almost as deafening as the crash itself. The top heavy bus lurched and fell to its side on impact, skidding out of control on the pavement, sending spark shooting in all directions. It was one of those sparks that ignited the spilled gasoline from the bus' fuel tank.
When the bus finally came to a stop, dazed and confused, Sam looked about in horror at the scene. Smoke filled the cabin while bodies were strewn over sideways seats, people were bleeding and crying, some weren't moving at all. He looked to the front of the bus where he had been only moments before and nearly vomited seeing the wrecked and broken body of the clearly dead driver, crushed from the waist down against the steering wheel, his head lolling at an unnatural angle while open, dead eyes seemed to stare back at him through the rear-view mirror.
Through the haze of smoke and now fire, Sam knew he had to get out of there and so did the rest of these people. Ignoring the pain and muzziness in his head, he tried to unfold himself from his tangled position, climbing over seatbacks to see who he could reach first. While most of the still able-bodied people stood around in a daze, Sam had to get them to move and help those who were unable to help themselves.
"We need to get out of here!" he shouted to the man who had previously been the one that was hauling him back to his seat before the crash. He looked to Sam, blood trickling down his face with a blank expression. "Help these people!" He yelled as he grabbed the man around the collar to snap him out of his shock.
That seemed to do the trick as the man drew his eyes on Sam and nodded absently. Galvanized into action now, Sam made his way towards the rear exit, hoping the door would still open, however it was bend and impossible twisted, making escape from it a non-viable option. He looked to the front, the door also too smashed to exit from. With the bus on its side he had to climb over the seats to the opposite sides window, hoping that he could smash one of them open so they could all get out. He tried using his hand at first to open the window, but they were too heavy, so he wedged himself between a seat and the side of the window, using his back as leverage. Bending his knees, he got the bottoms of his feet to make contact with the window and he gave a mighty kick with both legs, having to smash at it several times before it began to crack and buckle. Finally, when the window was cracked enough he was able to push the remaining glass out in one sheet of safety glass.
Turning back around he shouted. "This way, everyone out!" Seeing a way to escape, several people pushed at each other in a desperate panic to reach the open air and Sam had to break some of them apart before the trampled each other. "One at a time!" He yelled.
Letting those that were able to make it out on their own accord get out he turned to the nearest injured passenger, a heavy-set woman in her late forties that appeared to be out cold. He felt for a pulse and finding it fast but steady, he attempted to haul her up to his shoulder. Gritting his teeth and fighting the nauseating effects of the smoke and his own battered head, he managed to get he up to the window where a couple of more even-headed individuals waited outside to take her from him.
The big-man that had been such a threat to Sam earlier was now his ally in picking up the injured passengers and had his own burden in his hands, dragging another man towards the window.
"There's another back there." The man shouted pointing to the back where Sam had himself once been seated. "One one more up front."
Flames were now licking the sides of the bus and were inching too close for comfort towards the girl he had been sitting next to before the crash. She was clearly unconscious and not responding when he shouted for her. The other passenger on board, a man nearing his own size, lay slumped in the front and he would have to come back for him as she was in more immediate danger.
He coughed as the acrid smoke filled his lungs and seared him from the inside out, but there was no stopping him. He crawled over the ruined seats and found her trapped between a fallen seat on the side of the bus that it landed on. Trying to lift the seat up himself, he found it to be impossibly stuck and with his head beginning to swim and eyes tearing up from the smoke, he was making too little progress. He cursed inwardly and turned around to see the other rescuer lowing his man out of the window.
"I need some help here!" He yelled to him. The other man turned to him, with fear in his eyes, staring at the flames licking closer and closer.
He shook his head. "It's gonna blow- forget it man. You need to get out."
"I'm not leaving her!" He shouted back, but the man was already hopping out the window to his own safety.
Knowing that he was on his own to save the girl, He allowed his adrenaline to take over and he pulled until his fingers bled against the bottom of the seat trapping her. He began to give a little and he felt his strength surge and with one more last bit of power, he managed to lift it enough to get her free. He had to use what was left of his remaining strength, pushing against burning muscles to pull her out. Once he finally accomplished that, he pushed her up to his shoulder and fought his way back to the window, to where the promise of fresh air awaited. The heat was nigh on intolerable as it felt like the flames of hell were set on consuming them, but he pushed on, forgetting his own pain, just desperate to get her out and save one more person.
It was as they neared the window that Alicia moaned and managed to pull her eyes open. The sight of fire and carnage all about her as she hung upside down, had her struggling with sudden panic. She fought against the arms the held her, only wanting to break free and run from the nightmare, but she was held fast until strong arms settled her down near an open window.
Wide awake now, she locked eyes with her rescuer as he pushed her towards the opening. It was the man she had been sitting next to, the man with the impossibly perfect face, but now it was marred with soot and blood trickling from a gash in his forehead. It was the face of her hero and she realized that she hadn't even asked his name.
She resisted being taken from him, but he firmly and gently lifted her up to help her out of the burning bus.
"You gotta go...you'll be safe." He urged her with pleading eyes. She held onto those eyes and saw the determination in them.
"What about you?" She cried.
"I'll be right out in a sec."
She could feel hands grabbing her from outside the bus and was powerless to stop them from taking her away from her savior.
Once outside, a large man took hold of her waist and led her away from the wreckage to safety. She heard her seat companion yell out that there was still one left on the bus. The man who had been helping her, put her down near the other crying and shell-shocked group of survivors then ran back to the bus.
"You gotta get out of there, man. This thing's gonna explode!"
She looked on in horror as she saw the flames eating away at the husk of what had once been a bus and she knew the big man was right. The bus was set to burst at any moment, the fire was too close to the fuel tank for it last much longer.
Sam ignored the protests of the man from outside and worked his way across the length of the isle once more to the man that sat slumped in the front. He could feel the energy being sapped from him as the smoke grew more dense. He spat and coughed until he reached the man, his lungs burning from the acrid fumes. Looking down, he found that trying to save the guy was beyond his capability. A huge chunk of metal had embedded itself into the man's skull and sightless eyes stared out into the distance.
Knowing now that he was the only left alive on the bus, his own self-preservation instincts kicked in. Blinded now by the black smoke, he struggled to find purchase amongst the overturned seats and he had to feel his way back towards the end of the bus that held his chance for getting out. He knew his time was running out, the thing could explode at any moment and he had to fight his way through if he was going to make it. His vision swirled and his head ached with exhaustion from the overpowering smoke making knees buckle under the weight of his legs. Hitting the deck of the bus isle he landed on his hands into an all-fours position. His head hung, he was completely spent. His lungs cried out for fresh air as he hacked and coughed. Somehow, deep down he had to find that last bit of remaining strength to get out. He was a Winchester after all; pigheadedness had saved him and his family on too many times to count and he sought for that stubbornness again from within.
He had to snort a little bit at that, despite his current circumstances. Dean would have a aneurysm if he knew what he was doing right now and would kill him if he died. It was that galvanizing thought that helped him to find the strength within to get off the floor and reach the window, throwing his legs over the edge of the opening. Just as he was about to jump out a hiss and tell-tale whine erupted from behind him. In a explosion of noise and wind, he felt himself being launched airborne as fire flew about in all directions. He felt the heat of the flames hit him from behind and heard the screams of his fellow passengers before the world ended for him in a flash of white-hot pain and nothingness.
OOOOO
The darkness was all around him save for the light that shone from the shop light that dangled from open hood of his car and Dean was reaching the end of his tether. He tossed another useless part into the pile of other useless parts he had been sorting through and pulled out his phone once more, checking to see if Sam might have called and he just hadn't heard it ring. Chagrined to see that there were no missed calls or messages he snapped it shut and swore.
Goddammit if his little brother wasn't a stubborn bastard at times. Here he was trying to hold everything together while he went off on his little pity party. Would it have killed the kid to give him a call and at least let him know he was still alright?
Sure, Sam had pressed every one of his buttons in the last few weeks, but that still didn't negate the fear that he felt for him. Especially after what his dad had asked of him. Looking after Sam he could do, hell he'd been doing it all his life, but the other?....no way in hell. No way he was ever gonna hurt his brother, let alone kill him. It was unthinkable, he'd kill every last demon on earth before that would ever happen. That thought alone sent him spiraling again into another rage.
He had loved his dad dearly and would do anything to see him one more time, but the man had placed an unfair burden on his shoulders with that request. Who the hell was he to leave him behind with that and leave him in this world where danger and demons all had their eyes focused on his little brother.
Hell, he shouldn't even be alive and that was his dad's fault too.
Nothing was as it should be.
Grabbing a dirty rag, he wiped the grease that had accumulated on his hands and then dabbed at the sweat that dripped into his eyes. He had to believe that Sam could take care of himself. He had for four years while he went off to college, so why was he so worried about a little road trip? However comforting that thought was, he still couldn't put past the niggle of worry that he held inside. Sam wasn't the same man he was just over a year ago before Dean had pulled him back into this messed-up life. He was a target now with his freaky abilities and despite the fact that he wanted to punch the kid's lights out sometimes, he wasn't about to let anything get at him.
Hearing the all-too familiar crunch of gravel behind him, Dean whirled to see Bobby walking up to him in that slow, measured gait that told him that he was just a little leery of being around the youngster lately. Dean hadn't meant to chew Bobby's ass out for letting Sam go on his stupid jaunt out to retrieve their dad's truck. He had just needed someone to take his frustrations out on and Bobby just happened to be in the cone of destruction that followed his inevitable explosion.
Seeing the mess of parts strewn about, Bobby had come to conclude that Dean wasn't going to be making it to bed anytime soon.
"It's almost midnight, you going to get some sleep tonight?"
"I'm busy." Dean replied shortly.
Bobby was close to the end of his rope as well and threw up his arms, giving up his attempt to see that the kid actually got some rest that night.
Trying to divert the conversation from anything Sam related, Dean asked. "You wouldn't happen to have any more spare carburetors around here would you? These are all junk."
"Looks like you got the lot them there."
"Damn." Dean just muttered, picking up one and inspecting it, hoping that he could at least find one that might work. Bobby wasn't really falling for the whole deflection thing, but for the sake of keeping the peace, he held his tongue.
Dean felt a buzzing in his pocket just before the tune to Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' sounded off. Recognizing the ring as being specific for Sam, he breathed a quick sigh of relief as he pulled the phone out and answered, speaking before his brother could even get a chance to say anything.
"S'bout time you called. This is some stupid, shitty stunt you've pulled here, Sam. By God when you get back I am so going to kick your ass-"
Bobby watched as Dean's face switched from fury to fright in the space of a heartbeat. The color drained from his face as it fell and his hand trembled as he held the phone to his ear.
"Yeah...I'm his brother....You...you're sure?" He asked, the quiver in his voice unmistakable as his eyes shot to Bobby.
"W-Where is this at? Norfolk? I'll be there as soon as I can."
Dean let the phone fall from his ear to hang loosely in his hand, dropping it to his side. His eyes took on a faraway look, holding in them a pain that Bobby would never be able to describe.
"What is it?" He asked, becoming more and more concerned with Dean's reaction to the call.
Dean visibly gulped past the lump growing in his throat and the constriction he felt swelling up in his chest. Bobby felt his stomach sink to his knees and do a flip-flop at Dean's obvious distress
"Uh..." He finally managed to speak after a moment, his brain still trying to process the unbelievable information he had just been given. "That was the morgue in Norfolk, Nebraska. There was an accident and....and they found Sam's phone and wallet on a body that matches the description on his license...they want me to come down and.... identify him."
TBC.....
He was too late.
Sam realized that things were playing out just as he had seen it. The bus lurched and the passengers on board reacted with startled shouts and gasps. One woman screamed as the impact hit the side of the bus. Sam was thrown from his feet and into the air, his head coming in contact with the ceiling with a sickening thud. As he was tossed about, the screams of the passengers were almost as deafening as the crash itself. The top heavy bus lurched and fell to its side on impact, skidding out of control on the pavement, sending spark shooting in all directions. It was one of those sparks that ignited the spilled gasoline from the bus' fuel tank.
When the bus finally came to a stop, dazed and confused, Sam looked about in horror at the scene. Smoke filled the cabin while bodies were strewn over sideways seats, people were bleeding and crying, some weren't moving at all. He looked to the front of the bus where he had been only moments before and nearly vomited seeing the wrecked and broken body of the clearly dead driver, crushed from the waist down against the steering wheel, his head lolling at an unnatural angle while open, dead eyes seemed to stare back at him through the rear-view mirror.
Through the haze of smoke and now fire, Sam knew he had to get out of there and so did the rest of these people. Ignoring the pain and muzziness in his head, he tried to unfold himself from his tangled position, climbing over seatbacks to see who he could reach first. While most of the still able-bodied people stood around in a daze, Sam had to get them to move and help those who were unable to help themselves.
"We need to get out of here!" he shouted to the man who had previously been the one that was hauling him back to his seat before the crash. He looked to Sam, blood trickling down his face with a blank expression. "Help these people!" He yelled as he grabbed the man around the collar to snap him out of his shock.
That seemed to do the trick as the man drew his eyes on Sam and nodded absently. Galvanized into action now, Sam made his way towards the rear exit, hoping the door would still open, however it was bend and impossible twisted, making escape from it a non-viable option. He looked to the front, the door also too smashed to exit from. With the bus on its side he had to climb over the seats to the opposite sides window, hoping that he could smash one of them open so they could all get out. He tried using his hand at first to open the window, but they were too heavy, so he wedged himself between a seat and the side of the window, using his back as leverage. Bending his knees, he got the bottoms of his feet to make contact with the window and he gave a mighty kick with both legs, having to smash at it several times before it began to crack and buckle. Finally, when the window was cracked enough he was able to push the remaining glass out in one sheet of safety glass.
Turning back around he shouted. "This way, everyone out!" Seeing a way to escape, several people pushed at each other in a desperate panic to reach the open air and Sam had to break some of them apart before the trampled each other. "One at a time!" He yelled.
Letting those that were able to make it out on their own accord get out he turned to the nearest injured passenger, a heavy-set woman in her late forties that appeared to be out cold. He felt for a pulse and finding it fast but steady, he attempted to haul her up to his shoulder. Gritting his teeth and fighting the nauseating effects of the smoke and his own battered head, he managed to get he up to the window where a couple of more even-headed individuals waited outside to take her from him.
The big-man that had been such a threat to Sam earlier was now his ally in picking up the injured passengers and had his own burden in his hands, dragging another man towards the window.
"There's another back there." The man shouted pointing to the back where Sam had himself once been seated. "One one more up front."
Flames were now licking the sides of the bus and were inching too close for comfort towards the girl he had been sitting next to before the crash. She was clearly unconscious and not responding when he shouted for her. The other passenger on board, a man nearing his own size, lay slumped in the front and he would have to come back for him as she was in more immediate danger.
He coughed as the acrid smoke filled his lungs and seared him from the inside out, but there was no stopping him. He crawled over the ruined seats and found her trapped between a fallen seat on the side of the bus that it landed on. Trying to lift the seat up himself, he found it to be impossibly stuck and with his head beginning to swim and eyes tearing up from the smoke, he was making too little progress. He cursed inwardly and turned around to see the other rescuer lowing his man out of the window.
"I need some help here!" He yelled to him. The other man turned to him, with fear in his eyes, staring at the flames licking closer and closer.
He shook his head. "It's gonna blow- forget it man. You need to get out."
"I'm not leaving her!" He shouted back, but the man was already hopping out the window to his own safety.
Knowing that he was on his own to save the girl, He allowed his adrenaline to take over and he pulled until his fingers bled against the bottom of the seat trapping her. He began to give a little and he felt his strength surge and with one more last bit of power, he managed to lift it enough to get her free. He had to use what was left of his remaining strength, pushing against burning muscles to pull her out. Once he finally accomplished that, he pushed her up to his shoulder and fought his way back to the window, to where the promise of fresh air awaited. The heat was nigh on intolerable as it felt like the flames of hell were set on consuming them, but he pushed on, forgetting his own pain, just desperate to get her out and save one more person.
It was as they neared the window that Alicia moaned and managed to pull her eyes open. The sight of fire and carnage all about her as she hung upside down, had her struggling with sudden panic. She fought against the arms the held her, only wanting to break free and run from the nightmare, but she was held fast until strong arms settled her down near an open window.
Wide awake now, she locked eyes with her rescuer as he pushed her towards the opening. It was the man she had been sitting next to, the man with the impossibly perfect face, but now it was marred with soot and blood trickling from a gash in his forehead. It was the face of her hero and she realized that she hadn't even asked his name.
She resisted being taken from him, but he firmly and gently lifted her up to help her out of the burning bus.
"You gotta go...you'll be safe." He urged her with pleading eyes. She held onto those eyes and saw the determination in them.
"What about you?" She cried.
"I'll be right out in a sec."
She could feel hands grabbing her from outside the bus and was powerless to stop them from taking her away from her savior.
Once outside, a large man took hold of her waist and led her away from the wreckage to safety. She heard her seat companion yell out that there was still one left on the bus. The man who had been helping her, put her down near the other crying and shell-shocked group of survivors then ran back to the bus.
"You gotta get out of there, man. This thing's gonna explode!"
She looked on in horror as she saw the flames eating away at the husk of what had once been a bus and she knew the big man was right. The bus was set to burst at any moment, the fire was too close to the fuel tank for it last much longer.
Sam ignored the protests of the man from outside and worked his way across the length of the isle once more to the man that sat slumped in the front. He could feel the energy being sapped from him as the smoke grew more dense. He spat and coughed until he reached the man, his lungs burning from the acrid fumes. Looking down, he found that trying to save the guy was beyond his capability. A huge chunk of metal had embedded itself into the man's skull and sightless eyes stared out into the distance.
Knowing now that he was the only left alive on the bus, his own self-preservation instincts kicked in. Blinded now by the black smoke, he struggled to find purchase amongst the overturned seats and he had to feel his way back towards the end of the bus that held his chance for getting out. He knew his time was running out, the thing could explode at any moment and he had to fight his way through if he was going to make it. His vision swirled and his head ached with exhaustion from the overpowering smoke making knees buckle under the weight of his legs. Hitting the deck of the bus isle he landed on his hands into an all-fours position. His head hung, he was completely spent. His lungs cried out for fresh air as he hacked and coughed. Somehow, deep down he had to find that last bit of remaining strength to get out. He was a Winchester after all; pigheadedness had saved him and his family on too many times to count and he sought for that stubbornness again from within.
He had to snort a little bit at that, despite his current circumstances. Dean would have a aneurysm if he knew what he was doing right now and would kill him if he died. It was that galvanizing thought that helped him to find the strength within to get off the floor and reach the window, throwing his legs over the edge of the opening. Just as he was about to jump out a hiss and tell-tale whine erupted from behind him. In a explosion of noise and wind, he felt himself being launched airborne as fire flew about in all directions. He felt the heat of the flames hit him from behind and heard the screams of his fellow passengers before the world ended for him in a flash of white-hot pain and nothingness.
OOOOO
The darkness was all around him save for the light that shone from the shop light that dangled from open hood of his car and Dean was reaching the end of his tether. He tossed another useless part into the pile of other useless parts he had been sorting through and pulled out his phone once more, checking to see if Sam might have called and he just hadn't heard it ring. Chagrined to see that there were no missed calls or messages he snapped it shut and swore.
Goddammit if his little brother wasn't a stubborn bastard at times. Here he was trying to hold everything together while he went off on his little pity party. Would it have killed the kid to give him a call and at least let him know he was still alright?
Sure, Sam had pressed every one of his buttons in the last few weeks, but that still didn't negate the fear that he felt for him. Especially after what his dad had asked of him. Looking after Sam he could do, hell he'd been doing it all his life, but the other?....no way in hell. No way he was ever gonna hurt his brother, let alone kill him. It was unthinkable, he'd kill every last demon on earth before that would ever happen. That thought alone sent him spiraling again into another rage.
He had loved his dad dearly and would do anything to see him one more time, but the man had placed an unfair burden on his shoulders with that request. Who the hell was he to leave him behind with that and leave him in this world where danger and demons all had their eyes focused on his little brother.
Hell, he shouldn't even be alive and that was his dad's fault too.
Nothing was as it should be.
Grabbing a dirty rag, he wiped the grease that had accumulated on his hands and then dabbed at the sweat that dripped into his eyes. He had to believe that Sam could take care of himself. He had for four years while he went off to college, so why was he so worried about a little road trip? However comforting that thought was, he still couldn't put past the niggle of worry that he held inside. Sam wasn't the same man he was just over a year ago before Dean had pulled him back into this messed-up life. He was a target now with his freaky abilities and despite the fact that he wanted to punch the kid's lights out sometimes, he wasn't about to let anything get at him.
Hearing the all-too familiar crunch of gravel behind him, Dean whirled to see Bobby walking up to him in that slow, measured gait that told him that he was just a little leery of being around the youngster lately. Dean hadn't meant to chew Bobby's ass out for letting Sam go on his stupid jaunt out to retrieve their dad's truck. He had just needed someone to take his frustrations out on and Bobby just happened to be in the cone of destruction that followed his inevitable explosion.
Seeing the mess of parts strewn about, Bobby had come to conclude that Dean wasn't going to be making it to bed anytime soon.
"It's almost midnight, you going to get some sleep tonight?"
"I'm busy." Dean replied shortly.
Bobby was close to the end of his rope as well and threw up his arms, giving up his attempt to see that the kid actually got some rest that night.
Trying to divert the conversation from anything Sam related, Dean asked. "You wouldn't happen to have any more spare carburetors around here would you? These are all junk."
"Looks like you got the lot them there."
"Damn." Dean just muttered, picking up one and inspecting it, hoping that he could at least find one that might work. Bobby wasn't really falling for the whole deflection thing, but for the sake of keeping the peace, he held his tongue.
Dean felt a buzzing in his pocket just before the tune to Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' sounded off. Recognizing the ring as being specific for Sam, he breathed a quick sigh of relief as he pulled the phone out and answered, speaking before his brother could even get a chance to say anything.
"S'bout time you called. This is some stupid, shitty stunt you've pulled here, Sam. By God when you get back I am so going to kick your ass-"
Bobby watched as Dean's face switched from fury to fright in the space of a heartbeat. The color drained from his face as it fell and his hand trembled as he held the phone to his ear.
"Yeah...I'm his brother....You...you're sure?" He asked, the quiver in his voice unmistakable as his eyes shot to Bobby.
"W-Where is this at? Norfolk? I'll be there as soon as I can."
Dean let the phone fall from his ear to hang loosely in his hand, dropping it to his side. His eyes took on a faraway look, holding in them a pain that Bobby would never be able to describe.
"What is it?" He asked, becoming more and more concerned with Dean's reaction to the call.
Dean visibly gulped past the lump growing in his throat and the constriction he felt swelling up in his chest. Bobby felt his stomach sink to his knees and do a flip-flop at Dean's obvious distress
"Uh..." He finally managed to speak after a moment, his brain still trying to process the unbelievable information he had just been given. "That was the morgue in Norfolk, Nebraska. There was an accident and....and they found Sam's phone and wallet on a body that matches the description on his license...they want me to come down and.... identify him."
TBC.....
