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“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Sam. He’s riding shotgun and you’ve been all over the place because of it. You need to be able to focus if we’re gonna kill this thing.”
“I don’t want you going after it alone and tonight is the last night of its cycle. We don’t have time to wait for another hunter. Besides, being on a hunt actually helps. It’s a distraction from Lucifer.”
Dean searched Sam’s face, looking for any sort of indication that Sam was lying or looked unstable in any way. Of course at that exact moment Sam actually looked okay. Go figure. So Dean, against his best judgement, let Sam get in the car and they drove to the parking lot closest to where they believed the creature’s nest to be.
Sam fought to keep his calm composure the entire 20 minute drive there. Lucifer was belting Bon Jovi as loud as he could in the backseat as he flicked Sam’s ear. It was a nuisance at worst, but when Sam had to deal with it 24 hours a day, it got harder to manage. Especially now that it was impacting his sleep and ability to eat. Sam simply kept his hand clenched, pushing his fingernails into his scar. If Dean noticed, he didn’t say anything.
They arrived at the forest entry and loaded the gear onto their backs. Dean took point and Sam trailed behind him with Lucifer bringing up the rear calling “Here doggy doggy doggy!!” at the top of his lungs. Sam couldn’t help but flinch at how loud Lucifer was being, even though he knew that he was the only one who could hear him.
When they came upon that cave they suspected to be the creature's nest, a dark creature came stalking out. Both boys raised their guns, but before they could shoot the creature charged towards Dean and it all turned to pure chaos. The creature was snarling and growling, but would disappear into the shadows making it harder to track it visually. All the while Lucifer screamed and laughed and sang. It completely threw off Sam’s ability to keep track of any sounds going on around him. At one point he couldn’t see Dean anymore and he became almost frantic searching for him.
Lucifer had really messed up all of his hunter instincts, that’s for damn sure. Sam was running, dodging trees and looking for any signs of Dean or the evil beast when Lucifer shouted “Dean, no!” behind Sam. Sam whipped his head around, but his feet kept going and the next thing he knew he was tumbling down into a ravine. Sam gasped and grunted in pain as he rolled all the way down to the bottom. The only good thing that seemed to have come from his little topple was that the pain seemed to have actually pushed Lucifer away for the time being.
Sam tried to move, but found he was wedged between the ravine side and a boulder. He was stuck between a literal rock and a hard place. How cliche.
So Sam simply had to lay there, trying to be as still as possible to limit pain. He listened to the scuffle of fighting and Dean’s curses and insults and prayed to anyone that could hear him that Dean would be okay and that he wouldn’t get injured. If that happened they were both fucked.
After what felt like ages, Sam heard a series of quick gunshots and a whoop of success from his brother, and Sam exhaled in relief that his brother was okay.
“Sam?! Sam?!”
“I’m here Dean. I fell into the ravine.” Sam called back. His voice was hoarse, but still carried enough volume that he could be heard.
“Jesus, Sammy. At least the ravine is pretty small. It shouldn’t be too hard gettin’ you out of there. Are you hurt?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how bad though. I think I have a few broken ribs and there’s blood on the side of my head, but I don’t feel too awful considering.”
Dean made his way carefully down the steep slope and over to Sam. He knelt down and ran his hands over Sam’s body, searching for any injuries that could be dangerous with movement. Dean sighed in relief when he didn’t feel any terrible breaks. A couple broken ribs appeared to be the only bones broken. There were a few lacerations and abrasions, but not any that Dean was concerned about stitching in the field.
“Well Sammy, I think you’re clear to move. Let’s get you outta here and I’ll patch you back up at the motel.”
“Thanks Dean. You uh, you were right. I shouldn’t have been on this hunt. Lucifer was distracting me so much I could’ve gotten injured much worse or even killed. Or worse, I could have gotten you killed.” Sam shuddered at the thought of losing Dean to the creature.
“Yeah. I think you're gonna be benched until we can figure out how to get the devil out of your brain. But don’t worry, Sam. Right now, you’re ok, I’m ok, and we’re gonna figure this out, alright?”
“Alright. Thanks Dean.”
“Don’t mention it, that’s what big brothers are for, bitch.”