Book of Damnation

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Hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter two

"How long before we get to Bobby's" Sam pulled his nose from his book and looked across at his brother, noting how pale and tired he looked.

"Five, six hours at the most."

"D'you want me to drive for a while?"

Dean glanced sideways at his brother, noting the searching gaze he inwardly grumbled before attempting to put his concerned brothers worries to rest "I'm fine Sam. It was just a little knock to the head, nothing to worry about."

"I don't mind Dean, really."

"I'm fine Sam" Dean ground out "Just go back to your book." Reaching out and turning the stereo on full blast Dean ended the conversation.

On a sigh Sam lowered his gaze to the printed words once again. He read the story of a father and son travelling cross country to visit a sick relative, their journey uneventful, taking them through many deserted back roads until tragedy struck.

Stopping for a rest break the father and son decided to build a small fire in order to eat a hot meal. The father left the son by the campsite and went in search of kindling. After two hours the boy, worried by the length of time his father had been missing set off to look for him,

searching and searching but coming up empty time after time. Making his way back to the car the boy heard a sound behind him and turned, just in time to see his father, mouth open in a silent scream, burst into flames. The boy rushed to his father but could not get close enough because of the heat, to save him.

The boy was found wandering through the forest three weeks later with no recollection of who he was and what he was doing there.

Sam once again found that the cause of the incident was left to the readers imagination. Grinning at the possibilities his mind conjured up he closed the book and looked up just as Dean was pulling into the parking lot of the tiniest roadside diner he'd ever seen.

Following his brothers lead Sam exited the car walked towards the entrance.

Pushing the door open Dean ducked as a cloud of dust blew into his face. Both carefully made their way further inside, the sound of a drill drowning out the music coming from the small radio perched on the counter.

"Excuse me sir." Dean called to the man busily boring hole after hole into the back wall. "Sir"

The man turned around, removing the dust mask to reveal a welcoming smile. "Hello boys, sorry 'bout the mess, having a little work done to the place, y'know."

"Yeah, we can see that" Dean nodded towards Sam as he answered the man "So, I guess you're not open for business?"

"We sure are open for business." The man beamed, pointing a stubby finger towards the rear of the diner "Straight through there you boys'll find the best damn Barbie you've ever come across. Enjoy." He then turned back to the wall and once again powered the drill, leaving Sam and Dean to pick their way through the rubble as they made their way outside, the mouth-watering aroma of the bbq getting stronger the closer they got.

Grinning, Sam watched as Dean forced down his fourth burger whilst flirting outrageously with who he assumed was the owners wife who was sixty five if she was a day and lapping up the mischievous attention of the handsome young man beside her.

Calling Sam over to join in the fun Dean reached over to lift another burger off the small table situated beside the barbecue and held the plate out to his brother.

Making his way across the surprisingly large backyard Sam noticed out of the corner of his eye, the owner of the diner making his way toward the shed situated in the bottom corner of the yard and watched in horror as the man's foot landed on a discarded bottle, causing him to stumble forward, the canister of paraffin flying from his grasp and sailing toward the open flame of the bbq. Picking up speed Sam knew he wasn't going to make it in time and shouted for his brother to get out of the way. He could only watch as the paraffin canister sailed as if in slow motion through the air, couldn't reach his brother in time as the flammable liquid spilt onto the hot coals causing the cook to scream and Dean to spin on his heel, pull the woman out of the way and become engulfed in the resulting explosion of flames.

By the time Sam reached him Dean was on the floor, a blanket thrown over him and the owner and his wife frantically trying to pat out the flames. Sam pushed his way forward and pulled the blanket away; throwing it over his shoulder once he was sure all the flames had been extinguished.

Peeling his eyes open Dean peered at the worried face of his little brother and attempted to sit up but found one of Sam's enormous hands holding him down "Just lie here a minute Dean"

"Can't Sammy, gonna hurl" Sam reached and gently placed his hand around his brothers shoulders and levered him up until he was in a sitting position, a plastic bag placed directly in front of him.

"Get me outta here Sam" Dean was conscious that everyone's attention was focused solely on him and it was making him feel even more uncomfortable "Everyone's staring at me"

With a laugh Sam whispered "That's because you're a hero Dean, you saved your new girlfriend the cook from becoming part of her own barbecue."

"I wanna go"

"Dude, you sound like a whiney kid."

"Hey, I thought you said I was a hero and I do not whine."

Slowly easing his brother to his feet Sam waved off the offers of help and gently manoeuvred his injured sibling through the back door, through the littered diner and out to the car where he unceremoniously snatched the keys out of Dean's hand "I'm driving the rest of the way to Bobby's and no more stops, need to keep you out of trouble."

"I'm………."

"No arguments Dean" Sam grinned to himself at the ill tempered pout his brother wore and after bandaging his brothers arm, checking his head wound and giving him the once over he turned the key, eased the impala out of the parking lot and onto the road to Bobby's where both of them could relax a little, they had no hunts lined up and knew that Bobby hadn't either, they were, the three of them, just gonna take it slow, prepare themselves mentally and physically for whatever would be thrown at them next and with things the way they stood at the moment that could be anything.

Staring though the window at the passing scenery Dean was bored, bored, bored, bored. He reached over to push a cassette into the stereo only to find his hand slapped away by his overbearing, bossy little brother.

"Get some rest Dean."

"Don't wanna rest."

"You'll thank me when you're not suffering a headache from hell."

"Haven't got a headache."

"Dean!"

"Can I drive?"

"No"

"Why"

"Dean, cut it out."

"Hmpf" Dean's eyes searched the interior of the car for something to do but all he found were three half bottles of water, half a peanut m&m, a clump of grass and a half eaten chicken salad. Snorting in disgust he turned his attention to the contents of the glove compartment, and spying Sam's book he pulled it out and flicked through the pages until he landed on one about half way through. Seeing Sam's sidelong glance he raised the book in front of his face and began to read.

After about ten minutes he slammed the book closed, declared it a "load of drivel" and slammed it back into the glove compartment, silently wondering why anyone would want to write let alone read, about someone getting a nosebleed whilst driving. Leaning his head against the cool window Dean closed his eyes and allowed the hum of the engine to lull him to sleep.

Sam drew in a relieved breath at seeing his slumbering brother and continued the onward journey to Bobby's place. After a further ten miles he felt something wet drip onto his upper lip and quickly searched his pockets for a tissue when after using his finger to wipe the offending liquid away he saw the tell tale red stain and realised his nose was bleeding.

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Three and a half hours later Sam finally turned the car into the Singer Salvage Yard, negotiated the piles of rusting vehicles before reaching the front of Bobby's house and cutting the engine. Gently tapping his brothers shoulder to tell him they'd arrived Sam smiled when the front door opened and Bobby appeared, wearing a 'kiss the cook' apron and wielding a wooden spoon.

Sam unfolded his long body from the driver's seat and ran around to open the passenger door for his brother.

"I can do it Sam, I'm not an invalid."

"What the hell happened to you" Bobby stepped up to Dean and examined the bruises littering the side of his face, his eyes travelling to the bandaged arm "I thought you were driving straight through, how the hell d'you get into this mess."

Just as Dean was about to answer Sam cut in "We'll explain later" earning him another ill tempered glare from Dean, whose head was pounding, but he'd walk barefoot over hot coals before he'd admit as much to his little Hitler of a brother.

The rest of the evening was spent sitting in Bobby's cluttered kitchen, eating his 'world famous' chilli, enjoying a couple of beers and catching up with the events of the last couple of months including the eventful journey Sam and Dean had made that day.

Clapping Dean on the shoulder Bobby grinned and winked at Sam "Ahh, we'll look after you Dean, keep you safe from possessed bbq's and haunted bathrooms."

"Cute, real cute." Dean struggled to keep from grinning as he looked between his brother and friend. "Well if you don't mind I'm going up."

"Yeah, me too" Sam stood and followed his brother to the door "I'm bushed."

"G'night boys, see ya in the morning" Bobby watched as Sam followed Dean upstairs, turning away with a chuckle at the sound of Sam saying goodnight to his brother, the older boy's bedroom door slamming shut in answer, a muffled "bitch" filtering through the thick wood.

Bobby always had a room ready and made up for the two of them, always had, ever since they were little and John would occasionally drop them off to stay whilst he followed yet another lead in the hunt for yellow eyes. He knew that the boys usually shared a room and were happy to do so but Bobby thought it'd be nice for them to have a little privacy now and again and at least it might mean that Dean would get a decent nights sleep, that was particularly true when the boys were younger. Dean would stay awake and watch over his brother until he literally couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, often falling asleep on the floor beside the younger boys bed, "Just in case Sammy has a nightmare" was the excuse he would always give.

Bobby had explained that whilst they were staying with him, he would keep a lookout for Sammy and there was no need to keep checking on him, but time and time again Bobby would go check on the boys before going to bed himself and without fail would find the older boy curled up either at the bottom of Sammy's bed or on the floor. He would scoop him up and carry him back to his own room, where he would sleep through until morning when an excitable Sammy would run in and jump on his brother until he was awake.

Bobby made a final check of the house, ensuring everything was secure and the protection symbols still in place, after all, you could never be too careful, particularly when you had the Winchesters as house guests, when his attention was drawn to a rapid succession on thuds on the stairs. Frowning, Bobby went to investigate, finding Sam clomping down the wooden steps wearing nothing more than his boxers and a pair of heavy boots.

"Y'all right there Sam"

"Yeah Bobby, just fancied something to read is all."

"There're plenty of books in your room Sam."

"Yeah I know, but I've kinda got into a book I bought yesterday but I left it in the car, so I'm just gonna go fetch it." Sam walked past Bobby out the door, straight to the Impala, grabbed his book out of the glove compartment, locked the car door, re-entered the house, locking the door behind him, gave Bobby a nod as he passed him and walked back up the stairs, gently closing his bedroom door behind him.

Shaking his head, a bemused expression on his face, Bobby flicked the light switch and made his way up to bed.

Sam lay propped up on the soft pillows reading the next chapter of his book. Eyelids drooping, he read a story about an abandoned house, often used by travellers, which was apparently haunted. The description of random sounds, strange shadows suddenly appearing, items mysteriously disappearing, only to turn up in a completely different area from where they were originally placed, were indeed indicative of a haunting, but the most frightening would have to be, well according to his brother anyway, Sam smirked at Dean's unnatural hatred of rodents, well anything rodent or insect like actually, were the hordes of rats which would appear from nowhere and attack for no apparent reason, taking chunks out of their prey. Many of the travellers left with permanent scars, one, a lone traveller even died from a severe case if blood poisoning during the night, there being no one around to hear his screams.

The book fell to the floor as Sam lost the battle to keep his eyes open.

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Leaving a trail of clothes from the door to his bed, Dean had fallen asleep as soon as his aching head hit the fluffy white pillows, the velvety darkness as he closed his eyes calming his throbbing head and soothing his burnt arm.

A sharp stabbing sensation dragged him back to awareness. The intense, all consuming pain travelled the length of his body rendering his limbs useless, his body going into shock all Dean could do was scan the dark room, his eyes still adjusting to the darkness. He tried to call out for Sam, for Bobby, but had no voice. He was dying, could feel the life draining out of his body. Dean knew that unless he was found soon it would be too late, but still he could do nothing, nothing but wait for the inevitable.

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Sam didn't know what had woken him. He sat upright in the bed and looked around the room, the first signs of the new day evident through the unclosed curtains. Climbing off the bed he listened for sounds of movement coming from his brother's room next door, but all was quiet. Getting back into bed Sam lay down and closed his eyes but couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.

Unable to relax he once again pulled himself out of bed and quietly padded across the room, silently opened the door and crept towards Dean's room, pressing his ear against the thick wood he couldn't hear anything, he turned the handle and pushed the door open. The stifling heat and overpowering smell of sweat hit him as soon as he crossed the threshold "Dean, you awake?" Receiving no answer Sam moved closer to his brother's bed, the sound of ragged, uneven breathing penetrating the silence "Dean, you

okay?"

At first Sam thought his brother was asleep, but stepping closer could clearly see the wide green eyes boring into him, a tear rolling out of the corner of one eye. Moving closer to the bed Sam could feel the heat rolling off Dean, he placed a hand across his siblings forehead, pulling away quickly as his skin practically sizzled, he knelt next to the bed and peered closer, noticing the beads of sweat rolling down the older mans face, damp hair clinging to skin. "Dean?" Sam watched as his brother's mouth moved as though to speak but was unable to find his voice.

Grasping the bedclothes and pulling them off his brother and moving toward the window pulling it as wide as it would go to let in some cool, fresh air Sam shouted as loud as he could for Bobby.

Seconds later the door burst open, a more dishevelled than usual Bobby rushing in "What the hell's goin on" seeing Sam leaning over his brother Bobby came further into the room, the heat coming off the eldest Winchester causing him to frown "What's up?"

Keeping eye contact with Dean Sam answered as best he could "He's burning up Bobby, he can't speak, can't move, I don't know what's wrong with him."

Bobby moved closer, and after examining Dean, turned to Sam "Get the car started, he needs a hospital. Now.

Dean wanted nothing more than to grab a hold of his brothers arm, wanted Sam to stay with him but his body refused to obey the commands his brain were sending out, all he could do was watch and listen. Hospital, they were taking him to a hospital, he didn't want to go but he didn't want to die either, he had no idea what was wrong with him but the rolling pain travelling the length and breadth of his body was intensifying, the edges of his vision clouding and the pressure on his ribs making breathing increasingly difficult. Dean knew there was no alternative.

"Okay son" Bobby, face close, kept up a commentary on what he was going to happen "I'm gonna lift you, get you outta bed and downstairs…."

"Let me" Sam's voice leaving no room for argument, Bobby moved out of his line of vision to be replaced by his brothers towering frame. Bracing himself as best he could Dean inwardly screamed at the all consuming, white hot pain as his brother gently lifted him from the bed, Sam's hands feeling like thousands of tiny razor sharp teeth biting into burning flesh. Unable to withstand the torture, Dean closed his eyes, the inviting darkness taking him into a pain free oblivion, leaving him unaware of the terror the two most important people in the world to him were feeling.

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On arrival at the emergency department Dean had been whisked away on a gurney, through two large white doors of which Sam and Bobby were refused admission.

"Three hours. We should've heard something by now." Sam paced back and forth across the length of the white, fluorescent lit waiting room.

"I'm sure they'll let us know what's goin on soon as they get your brother comfortable." Bobby tried to hide his own worry in an attempt to ease Sam's, but in reality he was just as anxious as the young man wearing a groove in the grey floor tiles with his pacing.

"Are you the ones who brought in Dean Singer?" It'd been a long day for Dr Michael Ashton. On duty for thirteen hours straight his body ached from exhaustion but his mind remained as sharp as when he'd walked through the door this morning, or was it yesterday by now, his final case of the day a puzzling one. The young man had been rushed in, barely hanging onto life, by his brother and his uncle. Michael and his team had worked for over an hour to stabilize him and find the cause of his condition before administering the medication which would save his life.

"How's Dean? Is he okay?" Sam rushed toward the doctor, eyes searching the man's face for some clue as to his brother's condition.

"He's stable, we have him sedated with an iv feeding antibiotics, fluids and a strong dose of anti-histamines into his system." The doctor addressed the frantic young man in front of him, nodding to acknowledge the presence of the boys' uncle as the man placed a placatory hand on the younger's arm "We found a bite mark from an insect or maybe a small animal just under his rib-cage. Do you have any idea what bit him and when? So far we've been unable to identify the poison in his system so cannot administer anti-venom."

"A bite" Sam thought back through the events of the journey to Bobby's but couldn't recall Dean complaining of being bitten by anything, although knowing Dean he wouldn't have mentioned it anyway. "He's been a little moody the last few hours but I put that down to the accident with the bbq. What if we can't find what it was, what then, will Dean be alright."

"I'm confident that the medication we have your brother on right now will be sufficient for him to make a full recovery, and if things go as I expect they will and you can assure me that he will take it easy for a couple of days at least, Dean should be well enough to be released tomorrow morning. The only reason I don't want to release him earlier is so we can keep an eye on him, make sure his body is fighting the infection."

Nodding his thanks whilst trying to quell his shaking hands and assuring the doctor that Dean would do nothing more strenuous than operate the tv remote control Sam asked if he could see his brother.

"Sure, follow me." Dr Ashton turned and led the way to the side ward he'd placed the lucky young man in, thankful that his family had sought help when they did as any further delay would have resulted in the kid and his uncle visiting their loved one in the morgue.

Sam and Bobby, one on either side of the bed, each lost in their own thoughts, kept a silent vigil until Dean showed signs of waking. "Dean, hey" Sam leaned over the bed, placing himself in his brothers line of vision "It's okay, you're gonna be fine. Doc says you can leave tomorrow if you promise to be good and do as you're told."

Focusing his eyes on his little brother Dean struggled to process the words, his eyelids drooping from the effort "be good, promise Sammy" then exhaustion won and Dean's eyes slid closed as he fell into a healing sleep.

Bobby, clearing his throat, stood and walked to the door, "Gonna get coffee, want some" and leaving the room at Sam's "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks Bobby" he rubbed at the wetness in his eyes, "Damn Winchesters" and slowly walked to the coffee machine in the reception area, giving himself time to get his emotions in check before returning.

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Watching his brother sleep Sam couldn't stop the images of the many times he'd seen his brother lying in a hospital bed, injured because some damn thing had managed to get the drop on him. Dean was a damn good hunter, Sam would say he was definitely up there with the best of em, even with the subtle changes Sam had picked up on after his brother was pulled from hell Dean was still one of the best.

Sam lay his head down on the bed, his hand still lying over his brothers, and closed his eyes as his mind replayed a terrifying time during his childhood when Sam had seen Dean injured.

Sam was eleven years old at the time and had been left at Pastor Jim's whilst his dad and brother had gone to hunt a suspected werewolf.

Five days they were gone and every day Sam panicked a little more, thinking that something must have happened to his family because Dean had told him before leaving that they'd definitely be back in three, four days at the most, but here it was, day five and still no sign of them.

Begging Pastor Jim to find out what was taking so long; the frightened and worried young boy had been told that no hunt was ever straightforward, would often take longer than expected and that he was sure Sam's dad and brother would be back very soon.

Sam would have felt a little more confident that Pastor Jim actually believed himself that everything was alright if he hadn't heard him on the phone to Caleb, asking him to go and check it out.

Nothing happened for another twenty-four hours but then all hell broke loose and Sam's world crashed down around his young ears.

Helping Pastor Jim prepare lunch, Sam jumped at the sound of fierce banging on the front door of the rectory and followed the pastor as he opened the door. Sam's heart jumped in his chest as he watched his father stagger into the hallway, a bloody, unconscious Dean cradled in his arms.

For the next twelve hours there was a lot of frantic dashing up and down the stairs, lots of muted conversations between the adults and finally a subdued silence.

Sam was told he could see his brother when Dean was a little more recovered but Sam couldn't wait and took the opportunity to sneak into his brother's room when Bobby took a bathroom break.

Slowly walking through the door Sam crept close to the bed, his heart pounding and tears streaming from his eyes as he saw his brother. The too pale, too still body lying in the bed, eyes closed, just didn't resemble in any way the Dean that the young boy knew and loved.

On being discovered, Sam fought all attempts to remove him from the room and was finally given permission to stay as long as he promised not to disturb Dean. For two days Sam watched and waited for his brother to open his eyes and look at him, his heart practically bursting with happiness when he finally saw the green eyes slowly peel open, the corner of his brothers mouth lift just a little and "Smy" whispered in his direction.

It took weeks before Dean was back to anything resembling the brother Sam had grown up with.

When he, Dean and their dad hit the road again Dean was more or less back to his usual self but Sam lived in fear from that day onwards, realising that this would not be the last time he would see his brother badly injured.

Giving into his body's demands for rest the last thought Sam had before sinking into the welcome embrace of sleep reinforced that he was right all those years ago, he would see his brother hurt many more times, only, Sam grimaced, he'd actually seen worse, he'd seen his brother die.

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Feeling pressure on his leg and hand Dean forced open heavy eyes; blinking furiously to clear the fog he lowered his gaze, finding the sleeping form of his brother hunched over his bed, hand on top of his own and Sam's head resting on his leg. Rolling his eyes, Dean eased his hand free and gently rested it on his brothers shaggy mop of too long, soft brown hair, "How long you been here Sammy?" only to quickly pull it away as the hazel eyes fluttered open and his brother sat upright.

"Were you just holding my hand Dean?"

"No, you were holding mine Samantha."

"I was asleep."

"No, I was asleep when you held my hand."

"So you were holding my hand."

"I was not."

"Was"

"Was not"

"Was"

"Wa…"

"Boys, enough already" Bobby stood in the doorway listening to the exchange before deciding enough was enough, after all, he'd witnessed exchanges such as this many times when these two were growing up and knew they could go on forever, neither wanting to be the one to give in."

Sam and Dean looked up, both becoming silent at the words.

"Dean, how're you feelin?"

"I'm fine. I just wanna get outta here." Moving to throw the bedclothes back Dean was ready to jump out of the hard hospital bed when Sam reached across and held the white sheets in place. "You can leave tomorrow morning, doc wants to keep you in for observation."

"What! No, I'm leaving."

"You're staying, no arguments."

"I am not staying and you can't make me." Dean shot a glare at his brother.

"Sam may not be able to make you but I sure as hell can, now quit it Dean, you're staying and that's final." Bobby moved to stand on the opposite side of the bed to Sam.

Looking from one to the other Dean decided to try one last time "Really, I'm feelin …."

"You nearly died Dean, please, just….."

Noticing his brothers suspiciously bright eyes, the huskiness of his voice and Dean knew that his brother was scared.

"Okay, okay I'll stay." He looked at Sam "But you better find me a hot nurse."

Sam was practically an emotional wreck by the time it came for Dean to be released, the doctor finally giving his brother the all clear and giving instructions for his patient to continue with his medication for a further seventy two hours and to rest. Since arriving at the emergency department Sam had gone from terrified, to worried, to concerned, to anxious, to relieved, to amused to exasperated. His brother, now practically back to normal was driving everyone crazy with his constant griping and grumbling about being forced to stay in bed when he was fine, nothing wrong with him, he was fully recovered.

"Bout damn time" Dean was practically bouncing as he waited to leave his hospital room. C'mon, what're we waiting for?" Chuckling as his brother pushed him out of the way to grab his bag Dean made for the door only to stop, scowling as he watched Bobby push a wheelchair through the door.

Bobby grinned "Get in."

"No way."

"You don't get in, you don't leave. Hospital policy, you choose."

Dean looked from his brother to Bobby and, knowing he had no choice ungraciously threw himself onto the seat of the offending contraption whilst directing a death glare at his highly amused sibling.

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The threesome made their way to the exit and the waiting impala, unaware that their every move was being watched.

As the shiny black car roared out of the parking lot an old man raised his body from the bench, watching the retreating vehicle until it was nothing more than a speck. A smile curving his small mouth, revealing uneven yellow teeth, the man nodded his head "You've had your fun, now it's my turn, but I can promise you one thing, fun it will not be." Turning his head to take in the form of the frail old lady standing beside him, shiny black eyes gazing into his, he continued "Let it begin, we have much to do."

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