Slave of the Alpha's Heart

Chapter 8

Sam groaned and rolled over in bed, curling himself up into a ball. Gabriel pouted, resting an elbow on the top of Sam’s head as he reached for a pillow. He pushed down gently on Sam’s back with his arm. “Well then I guess that means no breakfast for me. I can’t eat when all my friends won’t be around.”

”Ugh Gabriel, why don’t we just stay home? We could play some stupid board games, watch old reruns or whatever.” Sam shifted, reaching over Gabriel’s side and pulling out the remote. He turned off Netflix and pulled up a movie, pausing between each title.

“Nuh uh Samsquatch! We need to do this. I mean look at it this way; tomorrow’s your lucky day Sammy! You get to spend Christmas eve with your favorite brother!”

Sam let out an exhausted sigh. “Fine Gabe, but I have no idea where we are going anyway. Let’s just stop by my place to pick something up.”

Gabriel laughed loudly and got off the floor. “Sure thing Samsquatch! You know where everything is right?” Sam just grumbled and threw another blanket over his face.

A minute later Gabriel stood in front of a large oak door and knocked thrice. They had moved into the apartment building three years prior, so they were pretty close to where Sam was living. After waiting a few more seconds, Gabriel grabbed the handle and opened the door. The room inside smelled like cheap beer and stale air. There weren’t many decorations around either. A few pictures hung on the walls though. One of them was of a younger version of Sam, standing in the doorway to his bedroom. Next to it was one of Dean in high school, holding his diploma. It was hard to see the differences between the two brothers now. Both had gotten older and become adults.

The living room consisted of four chairs around a low coffee table. Two were occupied by people who looked like they might be college students. One guy was playing an old video game on the Xbox. Another had curled up under a blanket while reading what looked like a textbook. A third was leaning against a bookshelf, his feet on the top and scrolling through Tumblr on his phone. A fourth was sitting on the ground with his head in his hands, eyes unfocused. It looked like he wasn't even listening to any music.

There was one person who seemed completely unaffected by the party going on around him. His back was hunched over, head resting against his knees as he stared blankly into space. His dark hair fell forward across his face, hiding the expression hidden behind it. It took a moment to realize that Sam recognized him from his art classes. Dean Winchester.

"Hey Samsquatch!" Gabriel greeted cheerfully. He went and sat next to his brother in a random chair. "We thought you guys might want some food.”

Dean slowly lifted his head up, blinking his eyes rapidly until they focused on Gabriel. “You made it.”

”Of course I did! Did you think I wouldn't bring snacks? Besides, you didn’t tell us you were having such a big party! We could've been there!” Gabriel leaned forward and gave Dean an exaggerated wink.

”I would have told you if you hadn’t texted me earlier.” Dean sighed before pushing himself off the ground. “But thanks. Come on let’s go see what Mom and Dad have.”

Before leaving the room, Dean glanced over at Sam. The boy was slumped in a chair and staring off at nothing in particular. “Don’t fall asleep, Sammy. I'll be back soon.”

With that the older brother left, closing the door softly behind him. Sam's gaze followed him, but he stayed where he was. Eventually, he stood up and walked out of the room, not bothering to follow the others.

As soon as Dean left, Gabriel jumped out of his seat and dragged Sam over to his own chair. “Look at these faces! Are they even real people?” Sam glared back, but Gabriel ignored him. “They should wear masks and sunglasses! That would make their life so much easier.” Sam just continued to stare at nothing. “Do you have any ideas? What do you think about that dude, sitting on the floor with the book? He looks kind of sad.” Gabriel tapped one finger against the side of Sam’s head and smiled, watching him flinch and pull away. “What? Did I hurt your feelings or something? Sorry bro.” The blonde grinned, but Sam wasn’t having it. With a growl, the young hunter snapped his fingers and pointed at the man on the ground. “Yes! That one! Oh, I can’t wait for Dean to come home! I bet he wants to see him too! And that other guy. I wonder how long it will take for him to notice.” Gabriel scowled and crossed his arms, staring down at Sam. “Okay fine, don’t get mad. I’ll try my best to behave, okay?”

Sam nodded and sat back down in his chair. He watched as Gabriel started talking to the other people in the room. He couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. He wished he could talk to someone like that. Someone who understood him. Someone who cared about him. Someone who loved him. But he knew it couldn't happen. Not anymore. So instead, he watched as his brother interacted with other people, making small talk.

He felt someone tap his shoulder and turned to glare at Gabriel. “Sorry Sammy, can you stand up for a sec?” Sam shook his head furiously. “C'mon man, it's just for a second. Just for fun, okay?” He put his hand on Sam’s shoulder again and tried to coax him along.

Sam shook his head harder. This wasn't what he wanted. If only Dean was here.

"Fine." Gabriel huffed, grabbing the sides of his head. "This better last ten seconds."

A loud crack filled the room, sending everyone scrambling for cover. When the smoke cleared, the entire team was staring up at Sam.

“Holy s**t dude.” Gabe said. “What happened?”

Sam shrugged, still trying to catch his breath. “Did I do that?” He asked. No one responded. “What happened?!”

"Well...you kinda did," Castiel mumbled. “How did you manage to do that without any training? That doesn’t seem possible.” Sam froze, taking in the others words. He had messed up. Big time. He shouldn’t have done that. How was he going to fix this? What was he supposed to do now? Everyone was staring at him, and he hated it. He didn’t know what to say, so he kept quiet. “I thought you said that you could use your powers to protect yourself?” Cas said after a pause, glancing over at Gabriel. “I assumed you could heal injuries as well, but I never imagined you could cause damage as well. Is there any way to repair what you caused?”

“Not really…” He trailed off. He didn’t want to tell them about the dreams yet, he didn’t even know how to explain them to anyone. They already thought he was crazy enough as it was. He didn’t want his new friends to think he was insane too.

“Oh. Well then how are we meant to treat the wounds when they're damaged?” Cas asked. “What if we could find some way to remove all signs of trauma? Would that work?” Sam shook his head silently. “What could we do?”

Gabriel finally chimed in. “Why don’t we call your Mom? She seems to be able to fix anything in the world. She always gets good results whenever she comes over to our house. I’m sure she can come up with a way to cure your injuries.” Sam sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Maybe the Winchesters would listen to him now. Maybe they actually thought that he was crazy.

"I guess…” Sam mumbled quietly.

“Great idea Gabe! Thank you so much!” Cas clapped him gently on the shoulder. “I’ll go get her right away.” With that, he turned around and quickly disappeared down the hall.

“Hey Sam.” Dean called out once he heard footsteps approach. The boy looked over and saw the older boy approaching him. “You look terrible. You alright? What's wrong?”

Sam sighed heavily, rubbing his temples with both hands as he answered. “Nothing. I’m fine. I was just feeling tired. I’m going to turn in for the night.” Before his brother could protest further, he turned away and began walking down the hall.

“Hey, Sammy.

In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You - only you - will have stars that can laugh.

Sam breathed heavily and walked down the hall.

He was trying not to let his mind wander to the man he had spent the past few months with, but it wasn't easy with how hard Sam's heart pounded in his chest. He just had one question in his head; How does one say goodbye?

After they had gotten their hands on some of Dean' s old weapons, the two boys decided to take off together for a small hunting trip that would probably last about three or four days, depending on how things went. The day before they set out, the brothers were playing pool in the motel room when Bobby called saying he wanted them back in Kansas as soon as possible. He said that there was something weird about what they were supposed to be hunting, so they agreed to come back. But, as far as Sam knew, neither of his older brothers had ever been hunted by anything before, which is why he was surprised that the elder Winchester agreed to go on such an impromptu hunt with him.

"Hey man, you okay?" Dean asked from beside him.

He looked over at the eldest brother and nodded. "Yeah. Just thinking."

Dean gave him a look. "About what?"

Sam smiled at the older man. Dean always seemed to know exactly when he was feeling bad about something. Even if he didn't have time to ask why, the younger hunter was always able to read his lips, and Dean never failed to give his little bro advice. It was no surprise that he'd picked up his own brother's knack to reading people. Dean Winchester always thought of everybody else before himself, and that included his big brother. "Just… Bobby called yesterday to tell me we're going hunting, I'm kinda worried."

Dean's eyes softened when he heard Sam. He had been worried sick since Bobby first called him. Dean knew how close Bobby was to Sam. They were more like brothers than just brothers, but even then, Dean was still pretty sure that the oldest Winchester loved and protected his little brother above all.

"I'm sure it'll be okay, Sammy." Dean tried to put Sam's mind at ease, but he could hear the fear in his voice. "I mean Bobby said that it's gonna be dangerous. Why don' we just take a day off and leave it until tomorrow?"

Sam shook his head and sighed.

The younger hunter felt bad, knowing what Dean was going through right now. When Dean first woke up in the hospital after his injury, his whole world collapsed around him. His life was suddenly thrown into total chaos, and he couldn' fathom everything at once. At least he knew where he stood now, thanks to Sam. While Dean had trouble understanding Sam, Sam understood what his brother needed most – someone to help take care of him. Sam helped make sure Dean ate and took enough water, and that Dean didn't get overwhelmed by all the new information. Dean was grateful for everything his little brother did. And, Dean realized, even though Sam was his best friend, sometimes he forgot he was his brother too, and he also forgot to remind him about the way he needed to take care of Dean.

It was a tough time for both of them, and they hadn't talked much. Sometimes they fought, because Dean was stubbornly trying to take care of himself while keeping Sam alive. But, despite being mad at his stupid brother sometimes, Sam always managed to forgive him. Because he really cared about Dean, and it killed him to watch him suffer because of his own stupidity.

"You wanna call Cas and cancel the hunt?" Dean suggested. He knew better than anyone what it was like to have your entire world come crashing down in a matter of minutes. He wouldn't want to lose his older brother, either. Not again.

Sam bit his lip. He was torn, but he knew he needed to get on this hunt, and he knew that Dean would understand. Besides, he knew that whatever danger Dean's brothers were facing, he could handle it. No matter how much it scared him. He turned away from his brother and nodded. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Cas's number. As he waited for the call to connect, he glanced up at his brother. "