This story takes place right after "Out With the Old", but leaving out the last scene at Frank's trailer. Also, in this story Dean had been injured in the fight with the Leviathans and needed to go to the hospital for a broken arm, Sam is in a much worse state of Insomnia than was depicted in the episode, and they get some help from someone unexpected.

As always I make no profit and own nothing.

I hope you enjoy it, and please leave a review, otherwise I just assume it wasn't that good! :O

No Nap for Sammy

Sheriff Jodi Mills hated seminars. They always took her far away from her hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and they always seemed to be scheduled at the most inopportune times. Either way, here she was in Salem, Oregon, in a rented Honda Civic, just coming back to her hotel room after a fourteen hour torture session in a Ramada conference room. She hoped there was a lounge in her hotel room so she could at least go get a nice glass of wine to relax and unwind. The following afternoon she had the long flight back to South Dakota.

As a force of habit, she had her police scanner tuned in to the local sheriff's department. Not that she would be responding to any emergencies, she just liked to be kept abreast of what was going on in the police world. Tonight was a particularly slow night, in spite of the busy day the police had yesterday. Yesterday had a couple of accidental deaths, one involving a dancer and another involving a female burn victim. There weren't too many details given over the scanner, but it was enough to keep the scanner humming consistently throughout the day.

Tonight seemed to be just a routine night…a speeding violation here, a break in there, nothing to get particularly excited about. However, there was one ambulance call that made the hairs on the back of Jodi's neck stand up. It wasn't the injuries that piqued her interest, a basic broken arm and broken ribs as a result from a fight, but the name and description of the victim. Dean Niedermeyer, a white male, approximately six feet tall, 190 pounds, short dark hair, medium to large build.

Dean Niedermeyer, now there was a name she was familiar with, only, it wasn't a real name but an alias for one Dean Winchester. He had actually used that name when they were first introduced a few years ago when he was then posing as an FBI agent. At first she wanted to just shrug it off as a really strange coincidence, but something kept nagging at the back of her mind that she really should go check it out, see if it really was Dean and also see if he needed her help. It was only a forty five minute drive to the hospital, after all, and would really be worth looking in to.

As she entered the hospital emergency waiting area, Sheriff Mills could already hear Dean hollering at a doctor from a nearby room. She followed the voice and rounded the corner just in time to see Dean push himself up from the table and grab his jacket.

"I can't stay here any longer." He was trying to explain. "I have to get back to my brother."

"Mr. Niedermeyer," The exasperated doctor reasoned, "You have a broken arm that needs to be set and casted and some ribs that need x-rays. I cannot allow you to leave in this condition."

The two men stopped arguing for a moment to stop and stare at Jodi, now standing in the doorway. "Officer," The doctor began, "Look, I told you that you could question him about the altercation just as soon as I've treated him…"

"No, wait," Dean interrupted, "She's not here on official business." Dean looked Jodi in the eyes and gave her a smile that commanded Jodi to smile back at him. "She's a friend." He then looked to the doctor. "Can you give us a few minutes?"

The doctor sighed and shook his head, but accepted the request. "Sure." He answered as he hung his clipboard back up and straightened his white jacket, "I'll give you two all the time you need if it gets you to agree to us setting your arm." He then leaned toward Jodi and said under his breath, "See what you can do to help me out here, okay?" as he left the room.

Once Dean and Jodi were alone, Dean gave her an incredulous look "Sheriff Mills?" he began, "What the Hell are you doing here? How did you know I was here?"

Jodi shook her head, "It's a long story. The important thing is that I am here now. What's going on with you? Where's Sam and why do you have to get back to him so badly?"

The expression on Dean's face instantly turned from happily surprised to concern and dread. "He's in a bad way, Sheriff," He began. Dean's eyes darted uncomfortably around the room as he tried to quickly think of a cover for Sam's Hallucinations of Hell. The sheriff knew of some of the hunts and habits of the Winchesters and other hunters like them, but she had no idea of the depths of Hell the boys had seen.

Jodi seemed to pick up on Dean's discomfort immediately. She placed her hand on top of his. "Dean," She assured, "Whatever it is, you can tell me. Let me help you."

Dean swallowed hard, but nodded. "Sam suffered a really bad trauma a while back and is now having some horrific hallucinations. He's been seeing things that aren't there. He's had them for a while now, but it's gotten much worse the past few days, almost like it's all coming to a head now." His forehead creased and his eyes held the look of a scared kid. "He hasn't been able to sleep at all for three days, and I mean at all. He's exhausted to the point of collapsing, but the voices and figures in his head won't let his body rest. He wanted so badly to follow the ambulance here when I got banged up, but I wouldn't let him. I told him to go back to the motel and wait for me." He looked pleadingly at Jodi once again. "I probably shouldn't have done that, left him alone, I mean, but…..I was so afraid that if he came here the hospital staff would easily be able to figure out that he wasn't in his right mind and he would be locked up in a mental hospital. I sent him away for his own protection, but now I'm worried that the delusions will drive him over the edge for good this time."

Dean was talking so fast that Jodi could barely keep up with what he was telling her, but she got the general idea. She put her hands up to stop Dean so he could take a breath. "Okay," She said, "You stay here and get yourself taken care of. You can't help Sam if your arm is in two pieces and your ribs are broken. Just tell me what motel you're at and I'll go now and stay with him." Dean began to protest, shaking his head and saying something about how it could be dangerous if Sam was in a really bad state, but she wouldn't hear of it. "Dean, I'm a cop. I'm fully capable of taking care of myself." She gave him a reassuring smile. "This is Sam we're talking about. I highly doubt he would do anything to hurt me. Besides, He likes me. We made a really good team when we were trying to get you back from the 1940's, remember?"

Dean smiled weakly and gave a slow nod. "Yeah, I remember, but…." He gave a heavy sigh when he realized he didn't have too many options dealt to him. On top of the stress of worrying about Sam, his arm was throbbing like a bitch and was sending sharp shooting pains all the way up to his shoulder and back down to his fingertips. His breathing was also becoming labored and each time he took a deep breath the pain in his ribs was unbearable. He finally resigned to letting Jodi go and check on Sam. "Okay, but tread very lightly with him, you hear me? He's really not himself right now, and I hate to say it, but where he's so tired and strung out, his behavior could quickly become unpredictable. I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt because you were trying to help us."

Jodi once again reassured Dean that everything would be fine. She promised she would be careful and Dean promised that he would let the doctor take care of his arm and ribs before making the trip back to the motel. Dean also made sure Jodi had his cell phone number in case things got out of hand with Sam, and he reassured her that he would be heading back to the motel just as soon as he got done in the hospital.

Jodi drove to the motel and parked her car. She found herself staring at the door leading to the Winchesters' room in apprehension for a moment before approaching it. She tried to convince herself that it wouldn't be anything dangerous. Sam may be having a hard time right now, but he was still Sam. He was still the same young man who had practically saved her life back in Sioux Falls when the dead started rising, and he had been the one to put her own son down when he had turned into one of the flesh eating zombies that had killed her beloved husband. She shuddered at the thought, pushing it out of her mind as best she could before knocking on the door.

"Sam?" She began. "Sam, it's Jodi Mills. Dean sent me to check on you. Can you open the door please?"

She could hear talking coming from the room and at first she thought it was the television, but as she began to pay closer attention she realized that it was Sam's voice. She assumed he was on the phone with someone, until she made out what he was saying. She pressed her ear to the door and listened.

"Please," she heard Sam saying, "I can't take this anymore. I just can't. I need to get some sleep. Just leave me alone for a few hours….please. I'm begging you….."

After Jodi realized what she was hearing, she again banged on the door. "Sam? Open the door please."

It took a second for Sam to hear her, but eventually Jodi heard the clicking sound of the lock releasing and saw the doorknob turn. Jodi took a look at the man standing before her and felt her heart drop to the floor.

Sam's eyes were glazed over so badly that he could barely focus on the person standing in front of him. He was breathing so heavily that he was actually panting, and he was soaked in sweat. His whole body was visibly shaking and it looked as though his legs were about to buckle from underneath him. He leaned heavily on the door, clutching the doorknob as if it were the only thing holding him up, and pressed his forehead against the wooden frame. The dark circles under his eyes and pale complexion made him look about ten years older, yet the frightened, panicky expression on his face and in his eyes resembled that of a child. He squinted at Jodi, and then looked past her as if searching for someone else. It took him a moment to focus as he continued to stare at Jodi.

"Sheriff Mills?" He asked as he brought his hand up to wipe some of the sweat from his face, "Is it really you? What are you doing here?"

Jodi tried to shake the shocked expression from her face. "It's me, Sam. Can I come in? I just came from seeing Dean."

Sam nearly jumped out of his skin at the mention of his brother. "Dean? Is he with you? Is he okay?" He pushed past Jodi and searched the corridor for Dean. "Where is he?"

"No, Sam, he's not here. He's still in the hospital." She carefully grasped Sam by the sleeve of his soaking wet shirt and gently pulled him back into the room. "Let's go inside so we can sit and talk."

Sam whirled back around to face Jodi and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Talk about what? Is he dead? He's dead, isn't he?"

Jodi couldn't believe the desperation Sam was showing. She vehemently shook her head. "No, Sam, no, Dean is still very much alive. In fact, he's doing very well. He'll be back here in a few hours and you'll see for yourself." She again pressed lightly against Sam's arms and guided him back through the motel door, closing it behind her. "He's pretty worried about you, though." She eyed him cautiously, "He asked me to come and check on you. He said you were having a really rough night, which I can see is true." She led him to the side of the bed and tried to get him to sit down. "What's going on with you?"

Sam allowed himself to be guided to the bed and sat down on the side of it. Once seated, he leaned forward and cradled his head in his hands. His entire body began to tremble. "I…..I can't sleep. I've tried and tried but I can't fall asleep." He looked up at Jodi as the tears built up. "I'm just so tired," He explained as his voice began to break, "All I want to do is close my eyes and get some sleep, but every time I close them…" He stopped short of telling Jodi the reason for his insomnia and just desperately tried to keep himself together. He wiped his face again with his hands and then rubbed his hands over the tops of his legs, the denim material absorbing some of the perspiration. He then clasped his hands together and nervously started to rock forward and back, trying to self soothe. "I thought for sure the pills would work, but so far nothing."

Jodi cautiously kneeled down in front of Sam and put her hands over his while remaining at eye level with him. She kept her voice calm, but firm as she spoke with him. "What pills, Sam? Can you show me them?"

Sam stared at the floor as he continued to rock slowly but briefly looked up at a pill bottle on the night stand next to the bed. "Those." He answered.

Jodi let go of Sam's hands as she took a side step to the night stand. She took the prescription bottle in her hand and read the label. The pill bottle read Zolpidem, which she recognized as the main ingredient in Ambien. "This is pretty strong stuff, Sam." She said. "Did your doctor give this to you?"

Sam didn't answer at first, but then shook his head. "No." He answered quietly.

"Then where did you get it?"

Sam stopped rocking for a moment and stared blankly at her, as if deep in thought. "I don't know…. I can't remember."

Jodi placed the bottle back down on the nightstand and returned to her place directly in front of Sam. "How long ago did you take it?"

Sam looked at his watch to see what time it was, but was struggling to focus on the face of it. He gave up after a moment and shook his head. "I dunno. I took the first two just after I got here and when they didn't help I took two more." He crossed his arms protectively in front of his mid-section, as if his stomach hurt. "They must be defective or something 'cause the only thing they're doing is giving me a stomach ache."

Jodi's eyes were wide in shock. "You took four of these?" She cried. "Oh my God, Sam! How are you able to stand? How are you even conscious right now?"

Sam shut his eyes tightly as his face creased in pain. He then began shaking his head from side to side. He finally grabbed the sides of his head with his hands, knotting his hair up in his fists. "He won't let me sleep. He keeps screaming into my brain and he won't stop. He said he's not going to stop until I drop dead from exhaustion or go completely insane." Sobs escaped Sam's throat as he continued. "I made a mistake. I let him in and now he won't go away and let me rest. It's my fault. It's all my fault!" He let go of his hair and grabbed Jodi's shoulders again. "You said you talked to Dean, right, and he's okay?"

Jodi was taken back a bit by how roughly Sam grabbed her, but nodded at him to reaffirm. "Yes, Sam. I spoke with Dean. He's doing fine. Honest, he is…"

Before Jodi had a chance to fully answer Sam, he abruptly jumped up from the bed and swung his fist viciously to the side of him, trying to strike at some invisible figure with an intense force. "Shut up! Just shut up! I'll kill you, I swear to God I will find a way to kill you, you son of a bitch!" He screamed.

Jodi fell backward and brought her arms up protectively to cover her face and head. She couldn't help but let out a frightened yell.

Sam realized what he had done and looked helplessly down at Jodi; tears involuntarily streaming down his face. "Oh God, I'm sorry." He apologized as he offered her his hand to help her back up. "I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you? I didn't mean….."

Jodi collected herself as she took Sam's offer to help her. Once standing, Jodi reassured Sam. "No, it's okay, I'm fine. You just caught me off guard, that's all." She tried to smile briefly, just to let him know that she was okay.

Sam didn't look convinced. In fact, it seemed to make him more desperate and agitated to see what he had done to her. He paced back and forth in front of her as he again brought his hands up to his face. He stopped abruptly in front of her as an idea came to him. His eyes searched the room until they stopped on a small fire extinguisher hanging on the wall in front of the door. He took it off the wall and held it out in front of Jodi.

"Here," He said, "I know what'll work. Take this an' hit me o'er the head with it as hard's you can." His words were beginning to slur together.

Jodi started at Sam as if he were a lunatic. "Oh Sam, you can't be serious." She said as she shook her head in disbelief.

Sam eyes pleaded with her as he nodded. "Yes, I am." Seeing Jodi's reaction, he continued to explain. "I know it's crazy…..I know it's….." He stopped as the exhaustion once again began to take over his body. The adrenaline he used to swing out in an attempt to strike Lucifer had completely sapped him of every ounce of strength he had left. He dropped his arms to his side, letting the extinguisher fall to the floor and could feel the room begin to spin around him. His eyes lost focus with everything and his knees gave out under him. He folded down to the floor like and imploding skyscraper.

Jodi recognized that Sam was losing it about two seconds before he collapsed and stepped up to him. She caught him just enough to prevent his head from striking the floor.

"Oh, Sam." She sobbed as she cradled his head in her arms. She sat with him on the floor and reached up to collect the pillow and a blanket off the bed. She put the pillow on her lap as she laid Sam's head down on it, then covered his body with the blanket as she leaned her back against the side of the bed. It was the best she could do under the circumstances as there was no way she could possibly lift him to the bed.

Sam buried his face into the pillow and sobbed uncontrollably, his fists grasping at the blanket and pillow case as he curled himself tightly into a ball. Jodi soothingly rubbed Sam's back and stroked her fingers through his sweat soaked hair. In between stroking his hair, she gently massaged his temples to relax him further.

"Shh," she whispered, "It's okay, sweetie, it's okay. You're gonna be alright, just sleep now."

After about fifteen minutes of nonstop crying, was evident that the Ambien was finally winning the battle as Sam's sobs began to quiet and his breathing slowly began to even out. Jodi could hear Sam murmuring something into the pillow, but couldn't make out what he was saying. It didn't matter really, as Jodi was pretty sure whatever he was saying wouldn't make much sense anyway. Fatigue had finally won out, and a minute later Sam was asleep.

Jodi sighed deeply as she leaned her head back against the side of the bed. She was surprisingly comfortable as she sat there. She thought back to how tired she thought she was when she was driving back to her hotel and had heard Dean's alias on the scanner. Although that had only been three hours ago, it seemed like days. She didn't regret her decision to go check on Dean, in fact, she was really glad that she had. She honestly couldn't think of anywhere she would rather be right now but here with Sam's head on her lap, since it offered Sam a night's sleep that he so desperately needed. She was happy that she had been there to help the boys, as they had helped her in the past. She also knew how much they were both suffering with the loss of Bobby, as they had always thought of him as a father figure. She smiled sadly at the memory of her close friend.

Jodi's eyes were just beginning to close as she heard a key fiddling in the lock. The door swung open and Dean stood in the doorway, his arm wearing a bright white cast and resting in a navy blue sling. He was taken aback by the sight of Jodi sitting on the floor with his giant brother lying down, wrapped in a blanket with his head on her lap, but Jodi brought her finger to her lips to signal for him not to say anything. Realization set in for Dean as he nodded and quietly closed the door behind him. He kicked his boots off at the door and almost tiptoed over to Jodi's side.

"What happened here?" he whispered.

Jodi continued to stroke Sam's hair as she answered, "You were right. He was having a very rough night." She then explained everything that happened as quickly and as quietly as she could to Dean, who looked horrified by some of the things she was telling him.

Dean sat down on the bed and scrubbed at his face with his good hand. "I'm sorry you got caught up in all this," He said, "But I'm so glad you were here with him. I hate to think what might have happened if he'd been alone." He stood from the bed and looked down at Sam. "I'll get him into bed."

Jodi stopped him as her motherly instincts extended out to Dean. "You just get yourself into bed and get a good night's sleep, you need it. I'll stay here with Sam. I just need you to hand me another pillow for my head, if you could."

Dean gave Jodi a look of surprise. "No, Sheriff, you don't need to do that. I'll be okay here with him."

Jodi shook her head. "Just hand me the damned pillow, okay?" She retorted jokingly to him. "I would never forgive myself if I tried to move out from under Sam's head, woke him up and left you to deal with it. He was in too much agony when he was awake, and you've been injured and need to rest. It's not bad down here, and I know I'll get some sleep. Besides, I have a flight tomorrow afternoon that I can sleep for five hours on."

Dean hated to do it, but he accepted Jodi's offer. He handed her down a pillow. "Thank you." He smiled. He then looked down at Sam, who hadn't moved a muscle since falling asleep. "I think this time I'm in way over my head with him. I honestly don't know what I can do to help him."

Jodi's smile faded as she looked down at the sleeping body on her lap. "I hate to say it, but I think you're right. I think it may be time to get Sam some proper help." She met Dean's eyes with her own. "He's really hurting, Dean."

Dean's eyes filled with tears as he quickly looked away from Jodi and cleared his throat. "I'm gonna get cleaned up a bit before turning in." He said, changing the subject and giving himself an out. "Thanks again, I'll be right out."

Jodi leaned heavily back against the pillow that was now behind her head. She listened to Sam breathing in and out. Her heart ached for what was ahead for Sam and Dean, as she was certain the road was not going to be easy. But at least, for now, right this very second, Dean had her help and Sam was at peace.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this. I really hope it was worth the time.