Work Text:
Dean’s feet pounded on the pavement as he fought to keep up with Sam’s impossibly long stride. He could make fun of Sam’s height until he was blue in the face, but his brother did have a distinct advantage when it came to running. Dean had to take two massive strides to match just one of Sam’s and he was finding it almost impossible to do so, especially after a rather large meal at a local diner.
“Run faster, Dean,” Sam called over his shoulder, only catching a hint of the shadow that was chasing both of them.
Dean pumped his arms furiously at his side in time with his legs. He had heard that could make one go after.
“I’m....trying,” Dean panted, lungs aching and feeling as though they would burst. His side was beginning to ache as well, a clear sign that he wasn’t taking in enough air to maintain the speed at which he was running. Tears stung in his eyes while he ran, wind whipping past his cheeks. He couldn’t recall the last time he had run this fast or for so long, and truth be told, he was running out of steam.
Sam grunted as he began to slow to make pace with his brother, slightly pushing him forward. “Why did you have take that lamp from the auction? I told you that there was something trapped in there.”
“You didn’t tell me what was in there only that something was in here,” Dean reported, choosing his words carefully since each one was difficult to muster the energy to say.
Sam suddenly ducked to the side behind a large oak tree, the gnarled roots twisting and rising from the soil.
Dean halted as well, looking around in sheer panic. “Sam? Sam!”
Hands suddenly grabbed Dean’s shoulders and yanked him back, just as a smoky presence let out a sickening roar and blew past them, tearing up the small path of forest in it’s wake. The smoke hardly had a definitive shape, but it was still very dangerous according to Sam, and wouldn’t hesitate to turn on anything that it deemed to be in its way.
Sam forcefully tucked Dean beside him, both crouched deep under the harsh tangle of roots above them. He pressed two fingers over his lips as he faced Dean, a look of urgency on his face. He then motioned above them to where the roots above were beginning to dip toward their heads, almost touching the back of Sam’s neck if he hadn’t leaned slightly forward.
Dean fought to hold his breath, ducking down while attempting not to make any noise on the leaves that lay under him. He couldn’t remember a time being so fearful of a hunt in quite a while, yet there was something about this one that plagued his mind like no other.
Then again, that could be because of the legend.
One wouldn’t go far as to call it a genie like one in a Disney movie or some shit, but that didn’t stop nearly all research of them to mention them as sometimes being a sort of mist or shadow that stalked their victims. What they did with them was highly scrutinized, especially depending on what variation it was. Sam hadn’t been able to pinpoint that without seeing it, and Dean had thought stealing it from the auction would at least prevent someone else from unleashing it unwittingly.
What Sam had failed to mention was that unlike the stories that were based on this entity, rubbing the lamp didn’t have to summon it. No, this one merely had to have someone touch the lamp with a bare hand to allow it free where it would pursue the one that unleashed it before turning its wild attacks on anyone else around it until it was returned back to the lamp. Though, there was no lore to say how to do that or if destroying the lamp would be a better option. That was something that the Winchesters would have to find out firsthand.
Sam shot a furious look in his brother’s direction and mouthed, ‘I can’t believe you got us into this situation.’
Dean’s eyes rounded while he mouthed, ‘Me? This was a two person operation, Sam!’
Sam suddenly thrust a hand over Dean’s mouth with Dean beginning to fight it. His fingers stretched up to peel the hand from his mouth, though Sam was making it nearly impossible to do so.
Sam used his free hand to point up once more with Dean’s eyes slowly following. Above them the shadow seemed to lean over the edge of the tangle of roots. If the shadow just tipped it’s presence down half an inch it would see those hiding under it, powerless to do next to anything about it.
Dean felt his heart racing while Sam’s hand still stayed firmly planted over his mouth to keep him quiet. There wasn’t a lot that got him nervous, even during hunts, but this was something that shook him deeper than anything previously.
The shadowy entity suddenly reared back and let out a massive screech before pulling away, disappearing back into the forest, a long growl echoing from it as it prowled.
Sam pulled his hand from Dean’s mouth just as Dean kicked Sam hard in the calf.
“Hey, what was that for,” complained Sam, striking his own foot to catch Dean in the stomach.
Dean grimaced, head shaking slightly. “You have to put that massive paw on my mouth. I don’t know where that’s been!”
“And you think your hand is much cleaner?”
“Uh, yeah it is. Besides, you don’t have to worry about me. I had absolutely everything under control,” Dean argued, patting at his slightly puffed out chest.
Sam couldn’t help but laugh before scrambling out of the small ditch and faced his brother tersely. “Under control? You were the one that released the entity from the lamp, Aladdin!”
Usually Dean was the one with the nicknames, yet Sam was beginning to grow into it as of recently. The tension between the brothers was at an all time high no matter what they tried. They would also return to understanding and disappear just as quickly, giving way to even more hostility that was difficult to put out. This often led to little scuffles that blew up into massive arguments, which is what Dean feared was going to happen now.
“I’m sorry for actually doing something instead of sitting on my ass, geek boy. Now do you actually want to help me kill this son of a bitch or do you want to let someone else die like you let Jess die?”
As soon as the words were out of Dean’s mouth, he regretted them. The look of pain that crossed his little brother’s features was immeasurable. Sam took a step back, hands shoved deep within the pockets of his sweatshirt, mouth slightly gaped open, the words appearing fleeting on the tip of his tongue.
“Sam, I....uh, you know....didn’t like....”
Sam clamped his mouth shut and sunk his teeth down on his bottom lip. He nodded his head slowly, until he exploded forward and directly a punch right against Dean’s jaw, sending his brother reeling and stumbling back when his foot snagged on a small rock. Dirt skirted around his feet as he fell back, face practically vibrating from the force of Sam’s punch.
Sam kneeled down, dangerously close to his brother’s face. “Damn you, Dean.” With that he stood and trudged out of the forest, leaving Dean behind and not even caring if he followed.
Dean took a hand and traced his jaw, finding it tender, but not broken. He was certain that if Sam wanted to he could’ve, though he wasn’t sure if that thought process was going to come back to bite him in the ass.
“Should’ve never taken this case,” Dean muttered as he jumped to his own feet, head shaking and thoughts becoming that more difficult to follow. Unfortunately, he couldn’t give up now with that thing on the loose. He was going to have to do this one on his own.