Summary: AU: Stanford Era: "Dean … Sammy's in trouble." A late night phone call sends Dean Winchester and long-time friend, Caelan Hagan in a desperate search to find Sam before the unthinkable happens; uncovering lies and secrets involving the youngest Winchester, that have been years in the making.
Warnings: Violence, swearing, physical abuse, torture, implied adult themes.
Disclaimer: I don't own the supernatural characters.
Author's Note: Just another possibility on why Sam left for Stanford. Introducing new character, Caelan Hagan. Hope you enjoy.
DEMON SPAWN: THE PHONE CALL
CHAPTER ONE
May 2nd 2004
Caelan Hagen was rudely awoken by the sound of his phone vibrating upon the bedside table beside him. His first instinct was to ignore it, roll over and go back to sleep, the pounding in his head making him regret all of the tequila shots he had been dared into drinking by a cocky, fearless Dean Winchester.
Dean had called him a wuss and something along the lines of getting too old to hold his liquor, basically insulting his man-hood. And so Caelan had decided to prove Dean wrong by matching tequila shots with the young man who was six years his junior.
Now, Caelan regretted the way Dean had manipulated him to prove his manliness. Why he let Dean get under his skin after eighteen years of being best friends – more like brothers – with the rash, potty-mouthed Hunter, was something Caelan would never understand. But Dean Winchester always managed to bring out the competitive side in Caelan Hagen. And no matter how many times Caelan would lecture himself to not be pulled into Dean Winchester's childish games of competiveness, pranks and good drinking times, by the end of the night he had succumbed to Dean's will without a seconds hesitation.
The two of them brought out the worst in each other … and the best in each other as well. They may fight and argue sometimes but Dean was family, and Caelan would protect him with his life.
Caelan groaned loudly as his phone continued to vibrate, his ring tone beginning to get louder now as well. Whoever it was, they weren't going away! Caelan opened his eyes, blinking at the blurry numbers displayed upon his alarm clock as he reached for his phone. Four a.m. in the morning! Damn, he hadn't even gotten an hour sleep. No wonder he felt like shit!
"Yeah?" Caelan almost snarled into the phone as he lay back and closed his eyes, slowly massaging his forehead with his free hand, the room spinning slightly around him. Damn! This was going to be one hell of a bad hangover!
Dean Winchester, you are a dead man! Caelan silently vowed, no noise coming from the other end of the line. Oh my God, if this was a wrong number, he was going to reach through the phone and strangle the stupid bastard!
"C-C-Caelan,"
Caelan's eyes flew open as he shot into a sitting position, a feeling of unease coming over him at the soft, hesitant voice on the other end. "Sammy?" Caelan breathed in surprise. Of all of the people to get a phone call from at four in the morning … Sam Winchester was definitely the last person on his list!
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Caelan couldn't help but ask, pains of worry stabbing through him at the barely muffled sobs on the other end of the line.
"N-no, not really. Caelan … I-I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have … I didn't know who else to call."
Caelan flicked on the lights and began to look for his clothes, the terror he could hear within the young man's voice, kicking Caelan's protective instincts into gear. Even though no one had heard a word from Sam Winchester in two years, ever since the night he left for Stanford, Caelan didn't have it in him to abandon the boy – even though Sam seemed to have no problem in abandoning and walking out on them!
"No, it's okay," Caelan murmured, knowing that this was not the time for petty vendettas, hurt feelings or pride. Sammy had called. Something must be wrong for Sam to have called him – especially since it was after four in the morning! "What's going on kiddo?"
"I … I don't know where I am. I … I fucked up Caelan. I thought … they said if I wanted to protect my family and to stop the punishments … I had to go to Stanford. I had to get away from all of you … because I'm tainted – cursed! No contact. I wasn't allowed to con-contact you … anyone. If I didn't leave … if I didn't d-do the right thing and leave, they … they were going to punish Dean Caelan. I couldn't let them hurt Dean! You understand that, right?"
A cold feeling seeped through Caelan at the younger man's words, his almost desperate plea for Caelan to believe him. "Sam –"
"I didn't want to come here or to leave any of you. And … not being able to contact you … I-I'm sorry. I had to protect them … and you. I had to … I didn't have a choice."
Caelan swallowed hard at the young man's insistent words, almost as if he thought Caelan wouldn't believe him. If there was one thing Caelan knew for certain about the young man on the phone, it was that Sam Winchester didn't lie. Sometimes he was over sensitive and he may blow things completely out of proportion, but he wasn't a liar.
"Sam –" Caelan tried again to reassure the obviously distressed young man.
"I need you to tell Dean … and Dad that this was not my choice. I would never abandon them … any of you. But … I-I don't understand. Everything is wrong! It's the wrong date for starters; and they ... they broke the agreement Caelan. I'm not br-breaking the rules … I'm not … well, I am. But … they – he – broke it first. Which means … all of this … leaving … it didn't do a damn thing! It was all for nothing!"
Caelan couldn't help but wince at the younger man's frustrated despair, Sam's words not making a lick of sense to him at all. As far as Caelan knew, the choice to go to Stanford and lead a "normal" life had been Sam's decision and no one else's. But now … if Caelan understood what Sam was telling him, the choice to go to Stanford hadn't been Sam's at all. Someone had preyed on Sam's worst fears – something happening to his family because of him – and Caelan suddenly became filled with intense anger.
"Sam," Caelan growled, trying to keep the anger out of his voice as much as possible, knowing that Sam would think that Caelan's anger was directed at him. "I don't understand everything you are saying but … if someone forced you to leave or threatened you –" Caelan took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to remain calm for the time being. "Actually, it might be better if I just come to you." He murmured almost to himself. "Are you in your dorm right now Sam?"
Silence from the other end.
"Sam?" Caelan frowned at the fast and shallow breathing on the other end of the phone, his alarm beginning to increase dramatically now. "Sam, what's going on? Are you okay?"
Panting now, almost as if the younger man couldn't get enough air. Shit! Was Sam hyperventilating? Or was it a … panic attack?
Caelan's brown eyes widened in both surprise and dismay. Sammy hadn't had a panic attack in years. In fact, the last one that Caelan could recall him having was the night of Sam's eighteenth birthday.
The only one who could really help Sammy when he was having a panic attack was his big brother Dean. But … Caelan looked across at the empty bed beside him longingly. Dean had left the bar with some blonde woman, promising that he would be back in the morning, grinning at his friend knowingly.
Caelan sighed loudly, knowing that he had to at least try and help the younger man on the phone. "Sammy? Can you hear me? Just … take it easy kid," Caelan tried to remain calm and sound reassuring, but the panic within Caelan made him know that he wasn't succeeding as much as he hoped.
"Sam – Sammy," Caelan tried again, dropping and lowering his voice down a notch. "I need you to take a deep breath for me, okay kiddo? I need you to calm down, take a deep breath and let it out slowly; like me, okay? Just copy me, okay Sammy?"
For the next several minutes, Caelan coached Sam through the breathing technique that he recalled seeing Dean doing when Sam's panic attacks were at their worst seven years ago, and was relieved to notice that the kid's breathing – although still slightly fast – had improved dramatically.
"That's it Sammy," Caelan encouraged him. "You're doing great. Are you okay now?"
"Sorry C-Caelan … I-I don't know where I am."
Caelan's brow crinkled in puzzlement at the kid's soft admittance to that. "What do you mean you don't know where you are? You're not at your dorm?"
"N-no. I … he must have drugged my drink or something. I can't … looks like an abandoned warehouse somewhere but … my wrist … Caelan; I can't get my wrist free from the handcuff."
"What?" Caelan breathed, stunned for a few seconds as he tried to process Sam's words. "Did you say handcuffs? Sam, what the hell happened? What's going on?" Caelan demanded, his voice beginning to rise in confusion at Sam's miserable tone.
"I – I don't know! Like I said … it's all wrong. Caelan, I … I don't know what to do."
"Easy kid," Caelan replied soothingly, hearing the kid trying to stifle his sobs once more. "Don't panic. I'll pick Dean up and we'll find you, okay?"
"No! Caelan no! P-please d-don't … I don't want … Dean can't see me like this!"
Sam's panicked desperation tore at Caelan's heart, swallowing back the anxiety that Sam's words instilled in him. "Like what kid?" Caelan asked quietly. "Are you … are you hurt?"
"No … maybe a little but – Oh God … Caelan he's back! If he catches me on the phone … Caelan, you have to let Dean and Dad know that this wasn't my choice okay? I only agreed to it to keep them safe. Please … tell them … tell them that I … I love them. Ah! No! No! Please … Don't! DEAN!"
The last thing Caelan heard before Sam's call cut out was Sam's agonized screams. "Sam! Sammy!" Caelan yelled uselessly into his phone. Someone was … torturing the kid? Fucker!
Caelan's face set in grim determination as he punched in Dean's number. First he had to find Dean, then they had to find Sammy and then … Caelan would have great pleasure in tracking down the asshole that had even dared to drug, abduct and torture the youngest Winchester, and flogging the shit out of the sick bastard!
"Don't worry Sammy, we're on our way," Caelan murmured reassuringly as he waited for his best friend to answer his phone, a determined calm settling over him now that he knew what he had to do.
The sick fuck who had done this was a dead man. As soon as Caelan tracked him down, he would kill the son of a bitch; that was a promise!
CH DW CH DW CH DW CH DW CH DW CH DW CH
Dean jolted awake as if he had been electrocuted, the sound of his brother screaming his name, echoing within his mind as he bolted into a sitting position.
"Sammy?" Dean called, his eyes already scanning the unfamiliar room for threats as he automatically searched for his younger brother, his heart pounding with trepidation and fear. "Sammy, you okay?" Dean asked, his heart beginning to slow to a normal level when he determined that there were on threats within the room and nothing was attacking his brother.
Just a nightmare, Dean thought, relieved. Sammy must have woken up from another nightmare and needed his big brother to soothe and calm him down.
"Hang on little brother, I'm coming," Dean muttered as he threw the blankets off him and had his legs dangling over the side of the bed, ready to rush to his brother's side before he remembered that Sam was no longer here with him.
The familiar ache of loss and abandonment filled him before he could stop himself, still dumbfounded and completely bewildered by his younger brother who had chosen to go to school – Stanford – over staying with his family and continuing the family business of Saving People, Hunting Things and finding The Demon who had killed their mother and avenging her death.
Sure, Dean understood that Sam had never really liked the Family Business of hunting the Evil Sons of Bitches down and ganking their asses! And he understood that Sam had to live his own life, make his own choices and find himself. But what Dean couldn't understand, what he had never understood, was how Sammy could completely cut his family out of his life.
It had been two years since that awful night that Sam had packed his bags and walked out on his family after a heated argument with their father. Two years since Dean had heard his voice. And in all of this time Dean had never received a call, email, letter, text or so much as a "fuck you" to let them know that he was at least still alive. If Dean didn't know any better, he would have thought that Sam had vanished from the face of the earth!
Even though Dean had tried to keep the communication alive with his brother, Sam had deliberately gone out of his way to avoid all contact from him and their father.
Why the hell would he do that?
The blatant disrespect and that selfish attitude had pissed Dean off more than the fact that Sam had seemingly been okay with abandoning his family. After everything Dean had done for the kid … and this was the thanks he got!
Dean hadn't raised Sammy to be a spoilt, selfish brat. But that was exactly how Sam was behaving and Dean had been pissed off, disappointed, feeling underappreciated, missing his geeky little brother terribly.
Was it really too much to ask for Sam to return just one of his damn phone calls?! Seriously, what the hell was his problem?
Sammy should be here with them; protected, loved, safe. Instead, he was at Stanford, desperate to live a normal life, wanting nothing to do with either him or their father; and that, Dean realised, was what had pissed him off the most. Not the fact that Sam had walked away and abandoned his family for school and a "normal" life, but that he had effectively cut all ties with his family. Dad, Dean could kind of understand; but how could Sammy cut him from his life? That was a question that Dean was still struggling to answer to this day.
The familiar ache of loss and abandonment filled him before Dean scrubbed his hand over his face in an attempt to get rid of the half-sleepy state of his mind.
He shook his head, frustrated and annoyed at himself. As if waking up in a blind panic because he thought Sam had screamed his name, needing him, wasn't bad enough; now, thoughts of Sam had brought up old feelings of resentment, anger, betrayal and abandonment that he had strived to ignore and bury deep down inside of him.
Although, right now, feeling kind of shaken – because damn it, that scream had seemed too damn real for his liking! – Dean felt the familiar stress and worry that had been hard-wired into him since the day his brother had been born. How the hell was he supposed to do his job to protect and watch out for Sammy if Sam never even bothered to keep in contact? How could he protect his baby brother when Sam insisted on keeping him at arm's length?
Dean sighed loudly, a sick, helpless feeling settling over him. Being helpless was not something Dean Winchester was used to feeling. He had always known what he was doing and where he going. His job was to look after his baby brother. And Dean had become quite proficient at that. It didn't matter where they were or how long their Dad was away for, Dean's number one priority had always been to look after Sammy. As long as Sam was fed, clothed and happy – free from school bullies – that was all Dean had needed to make him feel complete.
Now, with his brother gone into a life of normal, Dean was scrambling to fill that void, that gap, that ache of loneliness and uselessness now that his purpose of living had disappeared, wanting nothing more to do with either him or their father.
Dean had been pissed – furious even – when his brother had walked out on them. But now, those feelings had been replaced by a quiet, sad acceptance that his brother wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. Dean closed his eyes, trying to bury these damn emotions down deep once more as he reopened his eyes, finally taking stock of the sleeping figure beside him.
He jumped, alarmed for a few seconds before he remembered the bar, Caelan, all those tequila shots and Cindy – Mandy … Sandy – flirting with him all night until Dean had taken pity on the young woman and had agreed to go home with her.
Dean couldn't help the self-satisfied smirk that appeared as he recalled the exact reason he had manipulated and conned his best friend into getting absolutely shit-faced with him. The two of them had just finished off a hunt without the great John Winchester's help. John had been called into another hunt, with another Hunter, calling in a favour that John had owed him.
After assuring and reassuring his Dad – several hundred times – that Dean and Caelan were capable of finishing this hunt without him – he was twenty-five for God's sake and Caelan was thirty-one – Dean and Caelan had managed to finish up the hunt with relative ease.
Dean may have a few bruises and a wicked black-eye come morning, but Dean was feeling untouchable, invincible, on top of the damn world, considering that neither he nor Caelan had gotten any serious injuries that would have required stitches or a hospital visit.
And the fact that they had accomplished this hunt with near to nil risk of casualties – either to themselves or any civilians – caused Dean to want to celebrate to a whole new level, trying to counter-act the massive adrenaline rush that had been coursing through his veins because of their successful solo hunt. Of course it would have been an even better night if Sammy had been there to help them celebrate their first official solo hunt without the help of the patriarch Winchester.
Dean felt the grin slip and his eyes roamed over Mandy's sleeping form, a huff of exaggerated annoyance escaping him before he could stop it. Man, he couldn't even go ten minutes without thinking about his geeky little brother.
Dean gave Tiffany one more appreciative glance before he quickly located his clothes and made a hasty exit from Sharon's – or whatever her name was – apartment and climbed into his beloved Impala, seeking out first coffee and then catching up on some much needed sleep before he and Caelan headed out in the morning to regroup with John Winchester for another hunt.
After procuring coffee for both himself and Caelan, driving back to the motel where he would meet up with Caelan, Dean couldn't help the sudden overwhelming need – the desperate urgency – that something was wrong.
Dean's attention immediately snapped to his surroundings, hoping to seek the answers to these new feelings that now surged within him. But, as far as he could tell, everything seemed normal. No danger in his immediate area, trying to fight the overpowering urge to drive fast. To where, Dean had no idea. He just knew that he had to go – and now – before it was too late!
Had something happened to Sam?
Dean took a deep, steadying breath and let it out slowly, rubbing his eyes with his left hand, ignoring his instincts to get to Sam as fast as he could because his little brother was safe and sound at Stanford.
But … if Sam did find himself in a spot of bother; Dean hoped that his brother would have the sense to call him. Because, no matter what happened between them, Dean's number one priority still remained the same; protect and look out for Sammy. If Sammy needed him, Dean would drop everything and be there for him, no questions asked. He just hoped that Sam knew how much he still loved his younger brother and that the urge to protect and keep him safe would never disappear, no matter what.
Dean was pulling into the motel when his phone started to ring. Dean glanced at his display screen apprehensively before he saw whose name appeared on the screen. "Fucking Caelan," Dean breathed and couldn't help the grin that surfaced as he quickly answered the phone. "Caelan, what's going on man? I thought you'd still be sleeping off all those tequila shots old man!"
"Dean … Where are you?"
Caelan's voice sounded tense, which immediately kicked Dean's Hunter instincts into gear; because if Caelan was tense then something was wrong. "Caelan, what's wrong?"
"Dean, you need to get back here. I've already packed your shit. Dude, we have to go, now!"
Caelan's serious, professional; no-argument tone had Dean's fear kick up another notch. "Whoa, hold on a minute Caelan," Dean protested, trying not to let his fear overtake him. "At least tell me what this is about." Dean paused as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Is it Dad?" He asked quietly, his heart beating faster in dread. "Has something happened to Dad?"
"Relax dude, your Dad's fine,"
Dean breathed a sigh of relief at Caelan's reassured, softened tone. "Well then, what's with all of this melodrama man? You got a bounty-hunter on your ass or something?" Dean couldn't help but tease his friend, hoping a little light-heartedness would be enough to relax Caelan a little. "Or maybe you broke some unsuspecting, innocent girl's heart and –"
"Dean … Sammy's in trouble,"