Nothing Else Matters

Disclaimer: Hard as I try they're still not mine

Warning: Mentions of sexual assault and torture

Summary: Dean is kidnapped and Sam must race to find him, will he succeed? And what will be left of Dean if he does?

Note: This one's a little bit dark in parts, but I really hope that you enjoy it.

"I swear to God, Dean if you don't cut it out right now, I am going to kill you! Slowly."

Dean paused in the middle of what he was doing and then commenced making popping, clicking sounds with his lips and tongue, hoping to get Sam riled up even further. It worked. Sam lunged for his brother and after a brief struggle, succeeded in planting his hand firmly over his mouth, removing the possibility of further annoying noises. His satisfaction was short lived when he felt Dean's tongue slide over his palm.

"Eugh!" He grimaced, wiping his hand on Dean's jacket.

"I'm older, I always win." Dean announced triumphantly.

"Yeah you're older. And yet such a child."

Dean seemed to ponder this for a moment "Meh. I can live with it. Come on Sammy, what are we still doing here? Nothing's gonna show. And as much as I love my baby, I'd much rather be sleeping in a nice soft, bed right now."

"Look, Dean, we can go if you want, but I think this is a case, I mean a rash of strange disappearances around this area, every 3 months like clockwork, this is textbook stuff. You're only grouchy cos you're tired."

"Noo...I'm grouchy cos it's 2am, nothing's happened, not that there's anyone around to get taken. I'm bored and cold." He paused "Fine we'll stay here and look for Casper, but I'm not happy about it."

Sam chuckled at his brother, so very predictable.

Ten minutes later Dean had resumed his irritating noises again and Sam shot him a look. Dean let off a final pop "Whatever dude, I have to pee anyway; damn coffee goes straight through me, do something useful research boy and see if you can find out why it's a no show."

Dean swung the door to the Impala open and stepped out into the night, stretching his cramped limbs before jogging off behind some bushes for privacy, leaving Sam alone to thumb through his notes for what felt like the millionth time.

Damn it he was tired, he tried to make sense of the information in front of him, but it all jumbled together now he'd read it so much. Giving up on that idea he leaned his head back and allowed his eyes to slip shut, mentally going over everything he already knew. Every three months, no trace, no survivors and the missing people were all young, solitary men. Oh crap. Sam's eyes flew open, berating himself for not registering the information that was uncomfortably seeping over him now, both he and Dean were young men, and now thanks to Dean's ridiculously tiny, girl bladder, they were both alone. Again. Fantastic.

Dean lingered a while longer than was necessary, relishing the night air, it was peaceful, still, he didn't often get to experience the night this way, the soft autumn air carried his breath away from him in tendrils. Clouds glided softly over the bright full moon, obscuring his vision slightly. He heard a noise behind him, from the direction of the car. Brotherly instinct kicked in and he whirled to head back to Sam, unprepared for the heavy blow he turned into that sent him sprawling backwards, unconscious before he hit the ground.

Sam was beginning to worry, Dean had been gone way too long, he tried his mobile, and let out a groan of frustration when the familiar ringtone responded from the dashboard. Stepping out of the car, shotgun in hand he headed over to where Dean had gone to relieve himself.

"Dean?" he felt his pulse quicken at the lack of response, he scanned the surrounding area finding nothing "DEAN!"

xxx

Ow. That was the first thought to make it through the fog. His head felt funny and it hurt to open his eyes. So he prepared to let sleep take him back down before he faced the nightmare that was going to be today's hangover. Only something in the deep recesses of his mind kept calling to him, telling him that it wasn't right, something was wrong and this was no hangover. Sam! Dean's eyes flew open; ignoring all pain he sought his sibling, knowing he had to make sure he was ok.

Huh. Well this is new. Dean glanced around, where the hell am I? His vision still swam, but from what he could make out he was in some nice derelict room, quite possibly a basement, it was cluttered, all sorts of junk spread out over the place, a dull light seeped in from a small window above him.

Ok, this does not look like a happy place, time to leave Dean, get your ass outta here pronto! Oh, but he was trying, he was trying to sit up, but his still fuzzy brain took a while to register that he couldn't, craning his neck he glanced at his wrists, why had it taken him till now to realise that they were tied above his head, to the top of some old rickety camping style bed that he was laying on, he tugged in vain, his current physical state removing the majority of his strength. Swinging his head downwards he saw that his ankles were strapped to the foot of the bed as well. Oh this is so totally not good. And on top of everything else he was starting to panic slightly, making it even harder to stay awake, he was aware of a door at the top of the stairs opening and slow deliberate footsteps descending and then he sank into blissful oblivion.

xxx

Sam was frantic, Dean had been missing for over 24 hours now and he didn't know what to do. He was in constant communication with Bobby who was covering the majority of the research at his end and he was just searching, searching the woods where his brother had disappeared had occupied him most of the day, but when night fell and it became too dark to do anything of much productivity he was left alone with his thoughts and his guilt. He was such an idiot what was he thinking of letting Dean wander off alone like that, he knew that they both fit the profile, really it would have been better for one of them to act as bait, but not wander into the trap completely, without a weapon, without backup.

Sitting in the motel room, Sam knew he should try and sleep, knew that he was no good to Dean if he was exhausted, he lay down, staring at the empty bed opposite him and fell into a sleep where Dean screamed at him for help all night.

Xxx

And Dean was screaming. He screamed as the poker made the flesh on his arm sizzle. Wrenching him viciously from his dreamless sleep. When the pain subdued enough for him to stop digging his fingernails into his palm, he got his breathing under control enough for him to look up. Standing above him, fire poker in hand and wearing a smile that was way too damn cheerful for Dean's liking, was...a guy, a young, average looking guy. Just your normal, average, run of the mill psycho. Awesome.

"Hey there. It's about time you woke up; you've been asleep for ages, I was starting to worry that I'd given you brain damage and you were going to die, it happens sometimes!" He trailed off into manic laughter while Dean stared at him wide eyed and open mouthed.

After a while Mr Nut-job (Dean had not yet thought of a definitive name for his captor) stopped his insane laughing and just stood there chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully and looking Dean up and down. Dean really wasn't sure what approach to take with this guy so decided to test the water carefully at first before unleashing the rage.

"Where..." his throat was dry, cleared his throat and tried again "where am I?"

"My house."

Oh great, well this conversation was clearly going to be a walk in the park. He tried again.

"Who are you?"

"Oh God, sorry. You must think I'm so rude, I'm being such a bad host, after all I know you so well and you don't really know me at all yet. Hi, my name's Nick." He pumped one of Dean's hands that was shackled above his head, making the chains rattle against the metal frame of the bed.

Great, he'd wandered into Misery, he really hoped this dude wasn't going to hobble him; he seemed like a male Cathy Bates. Dean's freak out levels were rising fast, not only had he been kidnapped, but this guy was way too friendly and this left Dean unsure of how to behave so he didn't make the situation worse and... Hang on...

"What do you mean you know me so well?" Dean tried to keep calm as Nick glanced sheepishly down at his feet looking all too innocent and childlike for Dean's liking.

"I'm sorry Dean, I should have talked to you before, it's not like I didn't want to, but I got nervous and you were always with Sam," Dean flinched at the mention of his brother's name, biting his tongue to keep from demanding how he knew their names. "I mean you two were at each other's sides constantly for days, even at your motel, he just didn't leave, and then the time came again, so I was in the woods and I couldn't believe it when it was you that I found there, and you were on your own! It was like a part of you wanted to come to me, like it was meant to be." Nick finished, his soft smile didn't hide the intensity of his eyes that he fixed Dean with.

"Wait, so it's you that's been abducting all those guys?"

"What? No! I... They wanted to come, they all saw it in the end, some faster than others, but they weren't right, I knew it when I saw you that you were the one it was supposed to be."

Dean forced himself to stay calm, he couldn't freak out, not when he was so defenceless and this guy was obviously a crazy stalker. He was used to Demons not people, people were very unpredictable, he decided to stay with the friendly yet cautious route.

"Um, Nick is it?"

Nick nodded eagerly

"Could I get some water or something, I'm really thirsty and it sounds like we have a lot to talk about."

Mr Psycho-stalker jumped to his feet immediately "Oh, of course, I'll be right back." And he bounded up the stairs.

Dean immediately began to pull and tug at his restraints while looking around for something that he could maybe use to free himself, it proved fruitless and he relaxed back when he heard Nick returning.

Dean gulped down the water while Nick held it to his lips and propped his head up, unnerving Dean even more when he began to softly stroke his hair. Still Dean held his resolve, his arm still stung from where he'd burned him just for sleeping too long and he didn't really want to find out what happened when smiley Nick got angry.

After laying Dean's head back down Nick crouched down next to him, fingers still roaming through his hair, Dean stared straight at the ceiling, trying to ignore the look of pure adoration on Nick's face and the feel of him gently caressing his hair, and tried to figure out what his next move was. He was about to speak, when a voice interrupted him.

"You know what? I don't think I can." Nick spoke slowly, thoughtfully.

Dean's heart leapt in hope, was he going to be released?

"I don't think I can wait."

His heart settled sickeningly in his stomach. Nick began to speak faster, he became more jittery and excited, like a child about to open a present, this was not an analogy Dean wanted in his head.

"I mean. I was going to wait. I really was, I was going to save it, but I don't think I can, I really don't." He continued his rambling; Dean didn't know if he was talking to him or not, Nick was getting more and more agitated, his fingers running a harder and harder path through Dean's hair, he could feel his nails digging in to the skin on his head. Oh God, what's he going to do? Whatever it was, Dean was sure it wasn't going to be good. All the others that had gone missing started running through his head, what had he done to them? Would he do to Dean what he had done to the others? Would it be worse? Would it be better?

He was snapped from his thoughts, when suddenly Nick was on the bed with him, the extra weight making to springs creak dangerously, Dean found himself being straddled No this was definitely not good! Wild eyes fixed on his terrified ones, and then he felt hands on his waist, his belt being whipped off, hands where hands shouldn't be, at least not a dude's hands. Dean thrashed on the bed trying to topple him to the floor, but with his hands and feet restrained, it proved to be a lot less effective than he had hoped. He was really starting to panic now; he began to protest loudly, trying to calm him down not breaking his resolve. He was silenced when a mouth smothered his in a violent kiss. Resolve be damned, he reared back and head butted the guy, finally sending him to the floor, he wasn't about to become some guys bitch!

He tried to look as menacing as he could from his prone position, Nick lay panting on the floor, propped up on his elbows, blood gushing from his nose, he wiped it away with his sleeve, leaving a sickening red trail across his face.

"Alright then," he said softly "most of the others were like you as well to start with, I just thought you were going to be different. But it's alright; you'll see it too eventually."

Dean was beyond freaked now; how the hell was he going to get out of this, as the cloth was forced over his mouth making him dizzy, he prayed that Sam would save him soon and then he slipped into unconsciousness.

xxx

"Bobby, are you sure?" Sam gripped his phone to his ear tightly

"Yeah, I guess he slipped through the net. He claimed he didn't remember anything, but if I were you I'd get over there and make him remember." Bobby's voice was stern over the line; a few more brief words were spoken as Sam raced out to the Impala before shutting down the call and speeding off.

There was a survivor. Damn it how could they have missed that?

He pulled to a screeching halt at the address of James Marshall that Bobby gave him, and almost put his fist through the door he was knocking so violently. Eventually, a nervous looking man who Sam estimated to be about 25 came to the door and after spinning him some yarn that he could barely remember, he found himself sat in a living room, gripping a cup of coffee tightly in his hand.

"So, Mr Marshall, I know you said you didn't remember anything about when you were abducted, but we have reason to believe that another person has gone missing, and I was hoping that seeing as it was two years ago, your memory may have returned to you?" Sam knew he wasn't being tactful, and this time he didn't care.

"Erm...look I... I just don't remember anything I'm sorry." He went to stand up but Sam clamped a hand down on his arm, his worry making him oblivious to the man's wince.

"You have to remember something, I know you do. Don't you think it's your duty to help someone else?"

"Sorry, can I see your I.D again please?"

Sam ignored the question "Please, you have to tell me what happened to you! I promise it'll go no further, just help me save my brother!" he fixed the young man with those beseeching puppy dog eyes that Dean was always so proud of, his entire body tense, as if the possibility of answers would vanish if he dared to move. Finally the man sighed, dropping his head to his chest he spoke quietly.

"I wasn't lying. I really didn't remember what happened." He paused and Sam felt ready to cry with despair "At first. I'm sorry I've never spoken about this to anyone before."

"It's ok, take your time."

"I'd been out, drinking with some friends, I got into a fight and got thrown out, so I decided to take a walk to calm myself down. I was walking through the woods and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up chained to this shitty mattress in a basement."

Sam's throat was tightening but he forced himself to concentrate on what he was being told.

"So then this guy comes in..."

Sam stopped him "You say guy? Was there anything strange about this guy? Did he have weird coloured eyes or anything like that?"

"What? No. He was just a regular guy. Well apart from the fact that he was a complete psycho."

Sam was fairly sure his heart had stopped somewhere in the last sentence. It was a person? A human? Dean got abducted by a human? He wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse. Either way he had to get all the information he could.

"He was so weird, he just kept looking at me and talking to me like we were best friends, saying stuff like, we were meant to be together, that I wasn't like all the others, I was different and soon I'd see it too. I was so angry, I was just shouting and shouting at him, then he said that he saw he'd have to make me come round to his way of thinking, and he..." he paused

"Please go on." Sam prodded gently.

"Well, basically, he tortured me. He'd suffocate me with a pillow till I'd pass out, then wait till I woke up and do it again. He'd burn me; beat me up, more of that kind of shit. Eventually he wore me down, so that when he... when he raped me it was easy for him, cos I didn't have the mental or physical strength to fight back."

Sam froze, part of him wanting to block what he was saying out of his mind, but he knew that he needed to hear this to help Dean.

"I guess I was stronger than some of the others had been, cos he left me unchained, and I ran, I guess the others hadn't done that."

Sam felt sick, but this new information spurred him on "Do you know where you were?"

"In the woods, I don't know exactly where cos I just ran, it was the middle of the night and suddenly I found myself in the centre of town, I don't remember getting there and I collapsed and didn't remember anything for a very long time, just hospitals and not really knowing why I was there or what happened to me. I'm not sure which is worse to be honest."

The woods, Dean was still in the woods, somewhere, but at least it was a start. The young man was crying softly, Sam didn't know when he had started.

"I'm sorry," he muttered "I know I should have said something, but I just couldn't."

"It's ok; I'll make sure he never does it again. Believe me."

xxx

Dean groaned softly and opened his eyes; at least he thought he opened his eyes. He really had to stop losing consciousness all the time; it was going to seriously mess him up if he wasn't careful. He was sure he had his eyes open, damn it, it was dark. He tried to sit up and succeeded in banging his head. Laying back down he put his hands to his throbbing forehead and then moved them gingerly upwards feeling a hard surface about half a foot from his face. He tried to keep himself calm, but he had a horrible feeling about where he was. He put his now shaking hands out to the sides and felt walls that were close, too close. Moving faster he searched above his head and again felt something solid. Oh God Oh God Oh God! Please No! Groping in his pocket for the lighter he was relieved to find still there, he flicked it on, and immediately wished he hadn't. He was trapped, all 6 sides surrounded by wood. He was in a coffin. Panic kicked in, fast. He screamed, his cries became hoarse as he bucked and kicked and scratched, clawing at the crude lid, feeling splinters bed themselves in his skin and nails tear, but he didn't care he had to get out of there. He stopped his frantic attempt at escape when he heard a voice.

"Ah. Finally awake then Dean? Well I'm glad, I was just about to leave, it's a good job you woke up when you did or you wouldn't have known what was going on." that manic laughter followed again.

"You see, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this to you, I was hoping you'd make it easy on me. Do you think it's easy for me to do this? I wish I didn't have to but it's the only way you'll learn. Bye Dean."

Throughout Nick's little speech, Dean had lain there quietly, trembling, trying not to hyperventilate. All that went right out the window when he heard one of the most horrifying sounds of his life, I gentle thud on top of the box, followed by another, and then small flecks of dirt fell onto his face.

Oh God he was being buried alive

He started to scream again "NO! PLEASE NO! PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! PLEASE! NO!"

"Dean, this is for the best, and you'll see I'm not unreasonable, I left you your lighter and a flashlight. Now please be quiet, you'll wake the neighbours."

The insane laughter that Dean heard above the shovelling of dirt sent him into another fit of panic. And boy was he panicking, Dean Winchester did not cry, but he had tears streaming down his face now, and he was fairly sure he was having a panic attack, he felt hopeless and terrified. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity he slowed his breathing down and found himself alone in the dark.

tbc

Thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate any reviews and advice. I will update soon.