Disclaimers and warnings see chapter 1

Chapter 6 Fall

Entering the fifth building in the block Dean felt bone tired. He guessed the drinks he had earlier were letting his body relax enough to finally get some sleep but now was not the time for sleep, even though his body and now his damned eyes were telling him a different story. His eyes felt like he had been to the beach and had sand blown in them. The building they had entered was nothing more than a small dilapidated shop, some 60 feet across with a narrow staircase at each side of the inside of the building. Using hand signals Dean and Sam split up and took a flight of stairs each with the plan to meet in the middle of the floor above. Dean took the stairs to the right and climbed slowly up. As soon as his head was high enough to see the next level up he immediately saw it had been used for storage for boxes and cupboards and general containers that were stored as high the ceiling.

As soon as he stepped onto the floor he realized he wouldn't see Sam until he came upon him providing of course he could make his way through the boxes and containers. His 'Bat sense' tingled as he moved to his left toward the boxes. He had no sooner stepped into the one narrow walkway between the boxes than he heard a low shuffle to his right low down. He stopped and looked closely at the dusty floor and saw very faint footprints. Dean pointed his shotgun at the noise and lowered himself into a crouch head tilted; he felt a quiver along his spine. The next thing he knew Sam was shaking him by the shoulder and saying "wake the hell up Dean."

Dean looked up dumbly at his brother; he was crouched on his knees, shotgun raised at the boxes he had been looking at. He had that funny feeling you get when you stare at something for to long and your eyes go crossed and watery. He was also missing some time, either that or Sam had got to him quicker than he had expected.
"What, did I fall asleep?" He said softly to Sam, not believing the words he was speaking.
"Man, I was calling you for ages. You were out, dude."
Despite his light words Sam was looking at Dean with worry. He had never seen Dean fall asleep during a hunt and looking at Dean's shocked face he didn't think Dean had before either.
"Come on."
Sam put his hand out to lift Dean up and no sooner was Dean pulled to his feet than the witch appeared in front of them.

The witch's appearance startled the boys for a moment as she appeared spirit like instead of the corporal person they expected. Then Dean's instincts took over and he was firing his shot gun at her but not before she slammed her hand against his chest and shoved him hard down the stairs. Dean tumbled down to the bottom of the stairs landing on his face with a bone shattering crunch. He tried for a moment,hearing Sam calling his name and his footsteps on the stairs, to push against the blackness and push himself to his feet but only got as far as his knees before face planting with spectacular style.

Dean came to with Sam calling his name and planting soft kisses on his face.
"I'm okay, Sammy." Dean reassured his brother.
Sam got Dean slowly to his feet. He had blood running from a cut above his left eye, a large bump on the back of his head and swayed on his feet, but Sam managed to get him out to the Impala and put a bandage on his head. Dean was quiet on the drive back making Sam concerned. He tried to get Dean to talk but received grunts for replies. Sam was a bit miffed at first but realized Dean was having trouble sitting up let alone talking.

Sam drove them back to the motel and Dean staggered in with Sam's help. Sam lay Dean on the bed and pulled the first aid kit out and got ready to stitch Dean up. Sam got pain killers into Dean before he tried to take the needle off Sam several times. It was clear to Sam, Dean had a nice concussion and there was no way he could do these stitches himself. Dean was groggy and felt sore all over from his trip down the stairs, but was only slightly nauseous. Sam finally got Dean stitched up and clean by distracting him from the needle by kissing him. Suddenly Dean was clingy and wanted to smother Sam in kisses but at least his attention was off the needle. Sam managed to get him looked after and put him under the covers after stripping his jacket, boots and pants off.

Sam stayed with Dean for the minute or so it took for him to fall asleep then lifted his T Shirt and inspected his back. Sam was worried he may have aggravated his recently healed lacerated and infected kidney or the back injuries received on that hunt involving the harpies, but there was a couple of red lines across his back but nothing more. Looks like he had tucked and rolled on and the fact that Sam was sure Dean was made of rubber. The amount of times he had fallen down steps, been thrown against walls, tombstones and the like. Sam went and had a shower and got cleaned up then went to bed himself making sure to switch the police scanner off as they both could use some sleep. Dean looked dog tired even while he was asleep. Sam woke Dean several times during the night just to be sure. Dean was grumpy every time but he settled easily with Sam rubbing his back and kissing him gently.

The next morning Sam woke up with bright sunlight coming in the window. He got up and dressed leaving Dean asleep and walked across to the diner and had breakfast. When he returned to the room Dean was still out for the count so Sam pulled the laptop out trying to find out who the mysterious spirit had been last night. By lunch time Sam had a feeling he knew who the spirit was but needed some time at the library to confirm his findings. Sam left Dean a note and had some lunch at the diner and walked to the library. When he returned to the room this time the sky was beginning to darken and Sam bought pizza with him for Dinner. Dean was still sleeping and Sam was starting to get a little worried. He had never known Dean to sleep this long except when he was very sick or effected by drugs or alcohol. He walked over to Dean and called his name several times and when Dean didn't stir Sam pulled Dean into a floppy sitting position and rubbed his hands along Dean's back roughly.

Dean stirred, his breath hitched then opened his eyes. When Sam let him go he flopped back onto the mattress but his eyes stayed open.
"Hey sleepy head." Sam sighed carding a hand through Deans spiky hair.
"What?" Dean mumbled.
"Got a salt and burn I need my big brothers help with. How you feelin?"
"Thirsty." Dean gulped and moved his tongue around his mouth.
Sam grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to Dean. Dean drank some down and looked through bleary eyes at Sam, then suddenly reached up and felt his eyebrow.
"Ow."
"You got yourself a few new stitches when you fell down the stairs. Does it hurt much? I can get you some painkillers."
"Its okay, Sammy. It's not that bad. So what's goin on?"
"Found our spirit. Woman by the name of Florica Doma travelled with a group of gypsy's about one hundred years ago. She was killed by a group of town's people in a riot against a group of travelers when they came through this area."
"That would explain the mobility but why now?"

Dean's voice was husky as he spoke.
"Turns out the cemetery where she was buried are redesigning the oldest section of the cemetery, trying to make it more appealing to tourists."
"Tourists? Cemetery? Well whatever floats your boat, I guess. So we gotta burn her bones tonight ?"
"Well it is tonight. Do you wanna eat before we go?" Sam pointed to the pizza on the table.
"Yes, I'm starving." Dean got up stiffly and walked over to the table amazed to find it dark outside and that he had slept the day away .

They dug into their food and Sam told Dean about his day. Dean looked through the research on Florica that Sam had done, something tugged at his brain as he looked into her past. Dean had heard something about the group of people she travelled with before. Had he come across them when doing research for the hunt? He thought so but couldn't think what it was about except a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Hopefully it wouldn't be that important, Sam seemed to think the salt and burn would finish this hunt.

TBC