Whumptober Day 7: Silent Panic Attack
{Author's note: today's entry is a direct prequel to the amazing @zmediaoutlet fic "cheyenne," where Victor Henriksen finally tracks down a very different Sam and Dean Winchester. If you like this, or even if you don't, check it outāsome of the bleakest, most beautiful writing I've encountered in fandom.}
He picks up his Louis Vuitton briefcase on his way out from his office.Ā Itās heavy, filled with documents for the next few workshops and speaking engagements, corporate mission statements and HR disclosures and God knows what else waiting for him to sign, validate, acknowledge.Ā Itās a demanding job, running a consulting firm; clients constantly pushing you around, employees constantly needing things.Ā Almost as bad as a family.
āMr. Winchester.āĀ His assistant trots up to meet him in the tiny mincing steps her Michael Kors pencil skirt allows, Gucci heels clicking on the marble floor of the hallway.Ā He takes her in at a glance:Ā hair tidily coiffed and streaked with fashionably-blued grey.Ā Dove-grey Armani blazer carefully arranged.Ā Cream-colored silk shirt clearly a tier downāBanana Republic, maybeābut heās not feeling at his best this evening so heāll let it pass.Ā āI have your itinerary for the upcoming week,ā she says, swiping at the iPad in her hand.Ā āCerberus Group has postponed, but I worked with scheduling at Richard Roman Enterprises to fill the gap.Ā And JPMorgan wants to know if thereās any flexibility in the attendance requirements for their booking next monthāitās the holidays, of course, several of their board members have personal and family leave plannedāā
He turns his head to look at her.Ā Not frostily, not mildly, not glaring, not soft.Ā Itās a look utterly devoid of any emotion at all.Ā He knows, because he practices it in the mirror every morning; itās remarkably versatile.Ā Even his assistant, whose hair was a warm rich brown when she began working for him, stops speaking when he turns it on her.
āThey know the terms,ā he says, after a moment.Ā Quiet; his voice is always quiet.Ā Heās never needed to raise it.Ā āIf they wish to maintain the prestigious opportunity afforded by a Pathway To Success workshop the entire board must be present.Ā No exceptions.ā
The assistant swallows, then ducks her head in acknowledgement.Ā He really should say something about that shirt.Ā Tomorrow, maybe.Ā āIāll pass along the message, sir,ā she says, carefully polite.Ā Ā
He gives her a measured nod.Ā āWas there anything else?ā
āOnly another message from Agent Henricksen.Ā Heās still trying to get in touch with you about your brother.āĀ He can feel the muscle twitch at the corner of his eye; it must be visible, because she continues all in a rush.Ā āI looked him up, sir, thoroughly, just as you asked.Ā Academy transcripts, employment records, even his gun safety ratings.Ā Heās the real thing, definitely.āĀ Sam still doesnāt answer; she bites her lip.Ā āI.Ā Didnāt know you had a brother.ā
āWe donāt speak.āĀ He can feel his fingers tightening around the grip of his briefcase, wonders if the knuckles have turned visibly white.Ā āWere there any further details in the message?ā
āNo, sir.āĀ The barest hesitation, then, āNot in the message.ā
He flicks an eyebrow up, a silent command.
She shifts her weight to one foot, holds the iPad against her chest.Ā āItāsā¦while I was looking into the agent, sir.Ā Itās not in any of the official press channels.Ā Not yet.Ā But thereās gossip that heās finally run down that killer.āĀ She wonāt meet his eyes.Ā āThe one on the posters.Ā The oneā¦with the same last name.ā
So.Ā His secret has finally come to light, and his brother isāarrested, or dead.Ā He can feel his heart pounding, the adrenaline dumping into his bloodstream.Ā Run, his body says.Ā Leave.Ā Go.Ā Start somewhere else.Ā Somewhere they donāt know you.Ā Youāve done it before, you can always rebuild.Ā He closes his eyes, takes a short, sharp breath in.Ā Lets it out.Ā Ignores the voice beneath his bodyās voice, the one that lives deep in his hindbrain, the one that sounds like a desperate, trapped childāDeanās in trouble!Ā Go find him!Ā Help him, youāre all heās gotā
āSir?Ā Is everything all right?ā
The assistantās voice draws him back to the present.Ā He ignores the thumping of his heart, the creak in his knuckles, the tension in his shoulders.Ā This changes nothing.
āCancel my appointments this weekend.Ā Iāll be taking leave to deal with a personal matter.ā
āOf course, sir.āĀ She taps a few times on the tablet, swipes between a couple of screens, doesnāt comment on the novelty of the request.Ā āAnd if the press calls?ā
The thought of press attention is enough to set his heart pounding again, but he covers it with a tight-lipped smile.Ā āRefer them to the local FBI office.āĀ He prises his fingers from their grip, re-hefts the briefcase.Ā āAnd inform the flight crew that the plane needs to be ready.Ā Iāll be traveling.āĀ He doesnāt wait for the assistantās acknowledgement, only continues his stride towards the door as if it had never been broken.Ā
Itās only when he reaches the door that he realizes heās been humming under his breath, something tuneless and familiar.Ā He stops immediately, but the long-forgotten lyrics flash into his brain regardless, like unwelcome karaoke:
For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headed my wayā¦