Author's Notes: You will notice the tone change in this chapter is quite stark when compared to the previous chapter; this is the effect from the combining of chapters. It was unavoidable unfortunately as there is a fine line between boring and subtle integration of context.

Chapter 3

John was stood in the corridor; his brain was telling him he had arrived there after walking from the floor below and that he was hunting a creature, but his instincts were telling him something completely different. His head was thumping to a beat that took him mere seconds to decipher.

"Dean!" John shouted out, an unerring urge telling him he needed to find his son…both of his sons.

Gun slung low by his side, John ran through the corridor, letting his instincts and that unerring knowledge guide him. The gun shot from the door just in front of him confirming all of his instincts.

John made it through the door in time to see Dean thrown into a mantle, the impact causing John to grimace in sympathy. John's hunter instincts quickly took control again and he lifted his gun taking aim at the creature that was still in the room, an escape route now blocked.

John fired two shots, both missed as the faceless, featureless creature dodged both bullets before jumping to the ceiling and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

John looked back over to his sons, looking over Sam to see if he were hurt, then looking to Dean you looked to be in some pain, but it seemed to pass quickly.

Dean saw his father's gaze fixed on him, figuring he was better off beating his father to the accusations of failure. "Sorry Dad, I should have hit it, it was right in front of me."

John moved towards his eldest son concerned about what injuries he could have suffered and concerned by the fact that Dean had made no attempt to stand. "It was fast Dean; I think it would have been a fluke if you had of hit it."

Dean looked up to his father who was now stood in front of him, confused as to why his father was condoning his failure, "You trained us for fast"

Getting annoyed at his sons persistence, John gruffly replied, "And I just missed it, so don't go berating yourself."

Dean was trying to stand up and in the process simply answered, "Sorry…"

Putting a hand on Dean's shoulder to restrain him, John was quick to object, "Stop saying that and stop moving. You hit that mantle hard and awkward; you could have done some serious injuries."

"Dad?" The questioning call was from Sam, who had quietly moved up next to his brother while Dean and their dad were talking. That one word was filled with fear, worry and hope that John would know what to do for Dean. Sam was sure he had heard something break when Dean had hit the mantle piece.

John had leant Dean forward and was inspecting his injuries, but he halted the inspection to stop and give a reassuring smile to his youngest son, "Its okay Sam, we'll get him to the hospital and he will be fine."

"What?" The response from Dean to the suggestion was close to indignant and he started to pull away from his father's hold. "No, we have got to take this thing out. You can patch me up at the hotel later."

Not happy about being given orders from his son, John's first response was to glare at his son before explaining. "You have some serious bruising on your lower back Dean and what feels like a lump starting, which could mean you are bleeding internally. You need to be in a hospital and the sooner the better."

John was glad to see Sam nodding his head in agreement with his comments, something that did not happen very often anymore.

"I don't feel anything." Dean remarked with a mix of annoyance and confusion.

John put two fingers to Dean's neck, trying to get a baseline of his pulse as he explained, "You're already starting to go into shock and you probably bruised the nerves. You may not feel it, but you definitely look it."

Again Sam nodded before adding his own contribution to the conversation, "Yeah you're looking a little pale…"At Dean's glare he simply added, "I'm just saying."

John placed his hands under Dean's armpits, and nodded to Dean's waist as he looked to Sam for assistance, "Help me get him up, carefully." The protests from Dean on the matter were quickly silenced with a glare from both John and Sam.

They got Dean into a standing position easily and he looked better then John was expecting, he was able to stand on his own and did not appear to be in too much pain. In the back of his mind however John had a feeling of apprehension and fear that this was an illusion.

"Dad…" Dean went to ask a question or make a statement but it never quite made it too fruition.

Looking to reassure both of his son's, John looked to Dean and simply stated, "It's fine Dean, we'll deal with this thing later, the most important thing is to get you to the hospital."

Making one last attempt at resurrecting the hunt, Dean protested, "But it will get away…and the questions"

"I don't care." John's answer was firm and unyielding.

The three Winchesters walked through the corridor towards the stairs, Dean between them, his initial protests at the treatment curtailed by John's stern words and Sam's determined look.

The aura in the house had changed; it felt at peace and relaxed. The tension and adrenalin that had been driving the hunt earlier had disappeared and John knew within his heart that this the way out.

As the hunters descended the final flight of stairs and reached the bottom, John could see a shadow moving near one of the doors leading to a downstairs room.

John could see the shape and knew instantly it was the creature they had been hunting. His grip on his gun tightened but while the creature made no move for him or his sons, he was not eager to engage it or give it any reason to attack. He watched the creature carefully as they moved towards the front door and even though he had seen no eyes on the creature, he knew it was watching them.

Leaving Sam to assist Dean the last few feet, John stopped and turned around guarding his boys as they left the abandoned mansion. The creature had not moved; it simply stood in the shadows watching. Convinced it was not going to follow and vowing to himself that this hunt was far from over, John turned quickly and left the house. He ran after his boys and overtaking them to open the back door to let them in, all the while trying to determine the fastest route to the nearest hospital.

Sam was sat in the back seat of the Impala with his brother sprawled across his lap and the back seat. Dean's skin colour was starting to lighten and he was making an occasional gasping sound, which was the only indication to Sam that his brother was feeling pain. Sam was alternating between holding on to his brother and clasping his own hands at his sides.

Seeing his father's furtive glances in the rear view mirror was encouraging in that Sam knew his father was paying attention to them and only them for once.

Hearing a sigh come from his brother Sam instantly looked down worried, but was faced with a contemplative face rather then a pained one.

"Hey Dean, what's wrong." Sam asked, trying to draw Dean's attention.

Dean seemed to ponder the answer, before the adrenalin and circumstance overcame his usual reluctance to talk, "I must have done something wrong."

"What?" Sam started, confused.

Dean lifted himself slightly to comment in a conspiring and concerned whisper "Dad's acting weird."

Sam could not help but laugh at his brother's concern "I think that's concern Dean."

"Did you check if he was possessed?" The question was serious and should have been expected, but it still took Sam by surprise.

"Dean!" Sam remarked the tone and volume causing his father to take his eyes off of the road and turn around to look at his sons.

"Is he okay?" John queried urgently.

Sam's wide eyed look at the road now behind John, caused John to quickly turn back around to the road, "Yeah Dad, just delirious." Sam replied chuckling slightly.

"He's hallucinating." John asked, concern still strongly lacing his tone even though Sam did not seem concerned.

"No sir, just being stupid." Sam commented, noting they had reached the centre of the town they had been staying in the last few days.

Sighing in annoyance that even now, one of his sons could not help but insult the other, John simply remarked, "Don't call your brother stupid."

"Sorry Dean." Sam looked down as his brother, a smirk still gracing his face.

Not wanting to be out done Dean replied, "Don't sweat it dork." But the humour of the situation was quickly drained away when the comment was followed by a groan.

Any humour on Sam's features was gone and he sat up a little straighter, ready to get his father's attention in an instant if needed. "Are you feeling okay?"

Dean put his arm over his chest on instinct, "Hurts."

Sam's head whipped quickly towards the front seat, "Dad…"

Having heard Dean's comment, John tried to coax a bit more speed from the Impala, "We'll be there any minute."

Sam held on to his brother tighter, getting eye contact before reassuring, "Dean, just a few more minutes."

TBC…With an epilogue….