Wow! Look at how fast that was? Huh? It seems like I posted the last chapter only minutes ago. XD

I don't own Supernatural. But I do own a dog.

It was a park on a warm fall day. The perfect day. Right before it got too cold, but after the summer heat. Dean was walking alone across a park toward a Biggerson's. He knew his family was meeting him there. He stuck his hands deep in his pockets and strolled without hurry. He had all the time in the world. They wouldn't eat without him and he had no pressing issues to worry about.

A dog barked and ran after a ball its owner threw. Its golden fur flashed in the sun as it happily returned the toy.

"You know," a deep voice said. "Dogs are pretty amazing creatures."

Dean turned to the bench behind him. A man in a trenchcoat sat there staring at the dog. Realization struck as he remember seeing the man before. He was the same man from the beach in the exact same outfit, shoes and all. In fact, Dean could almost recall him from a few other times. Dean shook the feeling away. "I'm not really a fan."

"I see." The man looked at Dean with piercing blue eyes. "Still, you shouldn't dismiss them. Sometimes they know things before people do. If you pay attention, they can hint at something bigger."

"Right." Dean rolled his eyes and edged away from the strangely familiar man. "You keep on watchin' that dog. See if it tells you something." He turned and walked away.

"Dean." The man was right next to Dean even though he hadn't heard him approach.

"Whoa!" Dean said, taking a quick step back. "Personal space, buddy."

The man said nothing. He simply touched Dean on the forehead with two fingers.

Dean bolted straight up in bed, wide awake. His quick motion roused Sam from his own light sleep.

"What? What happened?" he asked, his long hair stuck out at odd angles from his head and a knife was at the ready in his hand.

"Nothing. Just a dream."

Sam gave a tired look to Dean before flopping back down onto the bed. "Tell your dreams to tone it down."

Dean rolled his eyes and lay back down as well. There was no way he would be able to get back to sleep. He could still see the trenchcoated man when he closed his eyes, could see him reaching out and felt the touch of two fingers against his forehead.

Careful not to wake Sam, Dean eased out of his bed and went to the bathroom. He splashed water on his face and rubbed at the middle of his forehead where the ghost fingers lingered. A cough built in his chest and he tried to fight it down.

Once, when he was young, probably fifth gradish and at a school-of-the-week while his dad was on a hunt, the teacher took one look at his pale face and sent him to the office. The administration tried to get ahold of John Winchester for hours before giving up. Dean wasn't surprised. Dad was on a hunting trip and sometimes wouldn't even pick up if Dean himself called. The nurse wouldn't let him go back to class for fear of infecting the whole school, so she had Dean with her all day. She tucked him into the cot and took his temperature every half-hour. The one thing he remembered years later was her telling him to close his eyes and imagine his white blood cells fighting his fever. How they hunted down the bad guys in his body, infection and sickness, and destroyed them. Now Dean closed his eyes and imagined little soldiers running around, fighting off whatever was causing the cough. He would never admit to anyone this was what he did when he was sick. It was childish, but it was all about convincing himself he wasn't sick. The cough he'd been holding back broke free and he braced himself on the counter. He spit the phlem that came up into the sink, washing it down trying to ignore the crimson that swirled into the drain with the water.

Eventually he fell back into his usual fitful sleep. This time as he slipped into unconsciousness he wasn't greeted with blissful dreams or visions. Instead his mind kept him alert, even in sleep, in case one of the night time stalkers they hunted tried to take him or Sam.

Another shortish chapter, but I'm trying to not skip time within chapters so yeah...

Read and Review! I'll put the next one up soonish... hopefully... maybe today...

~abrokencastiel