Sink or Swim Chapter 01

Dean Winchester was sick of sitting in another cramped motel room. He needed to get out. Although his father had told him to watch over Sammy and stay inside, he decided he could watch Sammy outside as well…

"Come on, Sammy," he said to his younger brother. "We're going outside."

"Where are we going?" Young Sam Winchester immediately quirked up. He, like his brother, was glad to go outside.

The older Winchester thought quickly, "The river." On the way in, he'd spotted the river next to the motel. "Grab your jacket."

The two brothers left the motel room and walked to the river. Sam ran after a seagull, and Dean yelled after him to be careful.

A loud squeaking noise made Dean look away from his brother. Noticing it was probably just a drunk driver, he turned back to his brother, just in time to see him fall into the water. "Sammy!" He called out, before rushing over to the river side. Sam couldn't swim yet so Dean dove in after him, not caring for his own safety.

After looking below the surface a few times, he finally found his brother. He took a deep breath and dove in, pulling Sam with him. Luckily Sam was still breathing, so with his last strength, he pushed his brother to the shore. With no more strength left for himself, he let himself sink.

~*~*~*~*~

Castiel watched the latest soul walk away from him. The poor soul had been one of his charges, and had just passed away. He never liked it when one of his charges died, even when they were old and had died peacefully in their sleep, like this particular soul had.

Castiel turned around, sensing that a new soul had arrived, "Dean," he said, startled. "What are you doing here?" The Winchester boy wasn't supposed to be here, not yet anyway.

"Sammy was drowning. I had to save him," the eight year old replied.

Dean's guardian instincts for his brother were strong, too strong for someone as young as he, Castiel realised. He was willing to scarifies himself for his charge. That could only lead to bad things for him.

"You shouldn't be here," one look into the boy's mind told the angel what had happened. "I'm going to send you back, but you're going to have to make a choice. Sink or swim, die or live."

Before Dean could reply, he was back in the water, still sinking. "Sink or swim," the words echoed in his mind, giving him strength. It was then that he made a decision. He started kicking his legs, pushing the water away from him with his arms. Once he reached the surface, he gasped for breath, filling his lungs with the much needed air.

He sank his fingers in the dirt as he heaved himself up. Trying to catch his breath, he lay down on the muddy grass, looking over to Sam to see if he was all right. When he saw that Sam was all right, he fell back against the floor. Next time he'd be better at watching Sammy. Nothing would ever happen to his brother again as long as he was around!??

The End
31st December 2008