Title: Promises
Author: emilyreich
Fandom: Supernatural; Dean and Sam
Pairings: None
Disclaimer: If I owned Supernatural, do you think I'd be posting fanfics? seriously.
Warning: Violence, torture, dark themes... if you're not into that, don't read, obviously.
Summary: A 350-word Dean and Sam whump 'babble'. Dean tries to give himself up to save Sam, but everything goes wrong.

"No, please, don't…" he pleaded through tortured breaths, struggling, his body giving up and starting to drag his mind with it. "You said you'd let him go. He hasn't done anything--"

His desperate words were cut short as another surge of electricity passed through his body. He couldn't think, he couldn't scream, he couldn't stop the convulsions; he could only feel… feel as it tore through his muscles, burning every nerve in its path. In seconds it was over, but those few seconds were enough to make him weak with shock.

His body begged him to scream, but after the sadistic pleasure on their faces the first time they'd cut into his skin, he swore to himself he'd never give them that satisfaction. Instead he dug his fingers into the arm of the chair until they were splintered and bleeding, enough pain to distract his mind as he fought the urge to cry out and tried to stop the tears of agony welling up in his eyes.

As his captors' muffled, distorted voices rang in his ears once again, he couldn't help noting the irony: fighting his whole life against evils the world could scarcely imagine, only to be tortured to death by the same people he'd spent a lifetime saving. No demons, no vengeful spirits, no vampires… just ordinary people. Well, ordinary crazy-ass people.

And those people had tortured Sam, forced Dean to watch as he was electrocuted over and over, as they'd cut into his brother's skin just to watch his ripped-up cotton shirt soak up the blood, as they'd stabbed him until he slumped over in the chair from loss of blood.

Now as his own blood trickled slowly to the ground, crimson pool strangely warm against his bare feet, he knew his own life was over.

With bleary eyes he watched them one last time. His own gun fired.

He finally screamed, forgetting his silent oath; all strength gone, pain and rage drove tears at last down his face.

They'd promised to let Sam go if he turned himself in; they'd sworn.

They lied.

He'd failed.