[identity profile] ennyousai.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] ohsam
Title: How We Live Now
Author: [livejournal.com profile] ennyousai
Pairing: Sam/Dean (very light)
Rating: G
Spoilers: Through 6x13
Word Count: ~850
Summary: It makes a lot of sense, really. Sam’s Wall is porous and impermanent. Any outside stimuli could accelerate the rate of decay; therefore, the only way Dean can fulfill his prime directive of Keeping Sam Safe is to make sure Sam never encounters any triggers.



“Dean,” says Sam, his voice thin and frail and so soft Dean can barely hear it. “Dean, you have to let me go.”

Dean ignores him. He cracks two eggs into the old plastic mixing bowl, adds salt and pepper, and starts beating them. Yesterday was pancakes; today is eggs and toast. Maybe tomorrow he’ll make hash browns.

“Dean,” says Sam again, desperate. “Dean, please. You can’t hold it back forever, and I’m so tired.”

Dean pulls open the fridge and looks at what they have on hand. “You want me to cut up a tomato, Sammy?” he asks. “I’ll fry it up with your eggs.”

Sam is silent. Dean pulls a tomato out of the crisper.

It looks like it’s going to a beautiful day.

* * *

They moved into the house after Sam’s second seizure. It was much worse than that first one in Rhode Island, leaving Sam shaky and confused for days afterward, and Dean decided he didn’t want to take any more chances.

Dean used his share of the dragon’s hoard to buy the place. He even had some cash left over - the ramshackle old farmhouse didn’t hold much appeal for rich Midwestern suburbanites, and the owner was just happy to get it off her hands. It turned out that Dean’s time with Lisa had done some good, too; all that construction work he’d done in Cicero meant he knew how to get it fixed up pretty quick. He didn’t bother getting Internet or TV, though. They don’t need any of that, not any more.

It makes a lot of sense, really. Sam’s Wall is porous and impermanent. Any outside stimuli could accelerate the rate of decay; therefore, the only way Dean can fulfill his prime directive of Keeping Sam Safe is to make sure Sam never encounters any triggers.

The walls are painted white and the furnishings are all solid colors (except for reds and oranges and yellows). Nothing exciting or exotic; nothing that might set up off an unseen landmine inside Sam’s head. Dean is also sure to keep the doors locked from the inside at all times, and he doesn’t give Sam a key.

Outside is too dangerous.

* * *

“Dean,” whispers Sam at night when the two of them are curled up close in bed, “Dean, please stop. I want you to stop. I want you to end this, and go find Lisa and Ben. So please. Stop.”

Dean just kisses his brother, presses his lips against Sam’s mouth and cheeks and throat, and doesn’t answer.

* * *

The first time Dean went out to get groceries, Sam tried to escape. He picked the lock and took off, running until he collapsed in exhaustion and there were blisters on his heels. Dean found him four hours later and drove them back home in silence, his eyes narrowed and his lips set in a disapproving line. It wasn’t until later, when Dean was smearing antibiotic ointment on his bloody feet, that the words poured out of Sam’s lips.

“Don’t trap me here, Dean, please,” he said. “I don’t like being in cages.”

“It’s not a cage, Sam,” snapped Dean. “It’s just a way to keep you safe. We can’t risk anything setting you off.”

Sam wanted to scream and cry and argue, but he saw the way his brother’s hands were shaking and didn’t say anything else.

He hasn’t tried to make a run for it since. He doesn’t want to upset Dean. He knows, though, that being trapped in here is causing just as many fault lines in his psyche as being out in the world would. He hates being locked away, has hated it ever since he’d been shoved into Bobby’s panic room to detox from demon blood, and whenever he looks at the blank white walls for too long his breath starts to shorten and black spots dance before his eyes.

It will only be a matter of time before everything falls apart.

* * *

Dean keeps all the knives, scissors, and construction tools hidden, and shaves using a small acrylic mirror that he picked up from a backpacking supply store. He doesn’t let Sam anywhere near a razor, of course, even the safety ones, just sets him down on the toilet seat every other day and carefully takes off every trace of beard.

“I could bite through my tongue, you know,” says Sam one day as he watches Dean wash the mixture of shaving cream and bristle off the blades. “Or stick my head in the oven. Or throw myself down the stairs. Or -”

“Stop, Sammy, stop.” Dean’s hands are threading through Sam’s hair, forcing his head back so their eyes can meet. “Nothing’s gonna hurt you anymore, okay? Not even you.”

From the way Dean’s eyes flicker, Sam’s pretty sure his brother can taste the lie.

* * *

Dean is the one who ventures into the outside world, the one who buys the groceries and pays the bill. Sam is the one who sits at home and stares out the window, the prison of his body drawing closer and closer to the prison of his mind.

This is how they will live until the end finally comes.

Date: 2011-05-17 12:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] paper-rose16.livejournal.com
Creeypy and brilliant! Even when Dean was trying to save Sam, he just made another cage. This one will stay with me for a long time!

Date: 2011-05-17 12:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] si-star-x.livejournal.com
Oh, how heartbreaking. Dean's desperation to cling to his brother for as long as possible... just perfect.

Date: 2011-05-17 12:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mentholpixie.livejournal.com
Fantastic work! I really enjoyed this :)

Date: 2011-05-17 12:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] justmmy.livejournal.com
Oooh. I really like this. It's... it's bothersome and makes me cringe, but man, did you write it well. Thank you :3

Date: 2011-05-17 12:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] blackbyrdy.livejournal.com
oh, this is so GOOD. Creepy and sad (and uncomfortable)-In a good way! So believably written. Thank you.

Date: 2011-05-17 01:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mimblexwimble.livejournal.com
This is so chilling! I love everything about it - the horrible, horrible irony, the creepiness, how Dean is so hellbent on keeping Sam safe that he's willing to basically lock him away... Sam's terrible threats. *shivers*

Amazing job!

Date: 2011-05-17 03:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] de-nugis.livejournal.com
Oh, creepy. Dean's so afraid of the wall he recreates the Cage, makes a very plausible hell for Sam. Nice.

(Well, sad and horrifying. But nice work!)

Date: 2011-05-17 04:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] road-rhythm.livejournal.com
“Stop, Sammy, stop.” Dean’s hands are threading through Sam’s hair, forcing his head back so their eyes can meet. “Nothing’s gonna hurt you anymore, okay? Not even you.”

Oh, God. This is nineteen flavors of Yellow Wallpaper terrifying. Perfectly executed, nothing wasted and nothing superfluous; and Dean's serene resolve is far scarier than any supernatural story element could have been.

If anyone needs me, I'll be in a ball in the corner. O_O

Date: 2011-05-17 05:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ash48.livejournal.com
Wow... that was powerful.

What an awesome idea. Creating a new cage whilst trying to keep him safe from the one in his mind.

So terrifyingly possible.

Awesome.

Date: 2011-05-17 10:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kettle-o-fish.livejournal.com
Creepy and sad. Poor boys. Aww.

Date: 2011-05-17 12:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thelocation.livejournal.com
I can definitely see this.
Good job writing!

Date: 2011-05-17 05:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vail-kagami.livejournal.com
Disturbing. And tragic, considering Dean is merely taking away Sam's chance of enjoying his final days.
Also, brilliant.

How We Live Now

Date: 2011-05-17 05:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] catsintheattic.livejournal.com
This is creepy in such a quiet, white picket fence way that it gave me shivers. Dean doesn't see that what he's doing to Sam is worse than any kind of outer world torment ever could.

Date: 2011-05-18 02:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sinka.livejournal.com
This is creepy and disturbing, and really sad... I can see Dean's worry become an unhealthy obsession, and Sam accepting his new cage in order not to upset Dean. They are destructing themselves trying to cling to each other. Hearbreaking.

Great job, I know this will stay with me for a long while.

Date: 2011-05-19 05:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bishopsbird.livejournal.com
Oh, creepy! I love how far Dean is willing to go to keep Sam safe.

Date: 2011-05-20 09:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] werty30.livejournal.com
Ooh, creepy. Compared to this, the finale will be puppies and sunshine.

Loved it!

Date: 2011-05-22 09:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mishaphappens.livejournal.com
Holy fucking hell, awesome. AWESOME.

Date: 2011-05-26 07:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] antismiles.livejournal.com
SO GOOD, but so creepy and disturbing. I kind of lost it at “Don’t trap me here, Dean, please,” he said. “I don’t like being in cages.” Which is when the whole fucked-up situation really hit me. Oh, Dean. You're so blind you don't see what you're denying Sam, do you? But mostly I'm left thinking fuck, Sam.

Date: 2011-05-26 05:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] debbiel66.livejournal.com
This is just amazing. Claustrophobic and visceral and true.

Date: 2011-06-11 04:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zenamydog.livejournal.com
So disturbing! So Awesome!

Date: 2011-06-11 11:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yellowbulma.livejournal.com
Wow this was amazing, poor boy's. ^^

Date: 2011-06-18 01:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lavishsqualor.livejournal.com
Woah, this was simply gorgeous. Really, it was quite painful, but oh so lovely. The poor boys!!!

Date: 2013-09-16 01:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] reggie11.livejournal.com
God, this was terrifying. Dean's blind and utterly selfish need to keep Sam safe has put him in a different but no less horrifying cage. It gave me the shivers.

Date: 2020-03-25 01:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amberdreams.livejournal.com
Ahhhhh this is so creepy-good! And totally plausible. That line between loving someone, wanting to protect them, and insanity is such a fine one...

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