Hey all! I'm not happy with this chapter.. so forgive me if its crap lol I just couldn't get it the way i wanted it and figured i waited long enough

Enjoy the Show tonight! Looks like a spooky one!! My awesome friends got me a Supernatural Shirt for my birthday! So i'm going to go back to my Geek X-files days and throw that on after work! LOL

Steph


Sam had driven through the rest of the darkness. He had clearly seen Gordon's car parked in front of the Roadhouse as he sped off and didn't relax for two whole hours. Once he realized they weren't being followed he started to ease his nerves a bit.

Dean never once drifted off… at least that Sam could tell. Every once in a while he'd sneak a peek at his big brother in the seat next to him. Dean was with him for the ride and even though the urgency to leave so fast left his adrenaline pumping and his nerves shot, he was still somewhat happy to have his brother along side him once more.

"We should pull over soon huh?" Sam glanced his brothers' way and saw a slight shaky nod indicating that the idea was a valid one.

"Where are we supposed to go Dean?" Dean didn't answer him, which wasn't a surprise to Sam. He was full of questions. How did Dean know Gordon was coming? Where were they supposed to run? Hell… What was going on? But he had kept them to himself for the trip. Only now did he resist the urge to keep them to himself. He learned a long time ago to try and trust his brothers instincts more then his own. This time he had to stick to it.

They had driven a good five hours. Surely that was a swell enough distance at the moment. Sam needed to get Dean into a bed to rest. The older hunter had stayed awake the whole five hours. The most he'd been awake since before this whole insane shit happened.

"There's a place coming up here. It'll have to do."

Dean nodded again and brought a lazy hand up to the door handle to try and hold himself sitting upright as the Impala took a right turn into a Red Roof Inn Parking lot.

The place wasn't terrible but Sam made a face anyways as he drove up to the door of the check-in office. "Ya know what Dean. I promise you one day we'll stay at a nice Holiday Inn."

Dean smirked a tiny bit and Sam's insides cheered over just that one little emotion seeping out of his big brother.

"H..hot tubs…" Dean got out in a quiet tone and Sam laughed out loud at the first thought that came to his brother's head.

"Yea Dean… they have hot tubs… and Cable." Sam laughed.

"Eh… O..ver rated."

"Oh who are you kidding big brother? You live for the Lifetime channel."

"Bah…" Dean blurted out and Sam reached over to pat his brother on the shoulder.

"Its ok. You're secret's safe with me."

Sam reached into the glove compartment in front of Dean's haphazardly sprawled legs and pulled out one of their trusty fake credit cards.

"I'll be right back. I'll get us a room."

Dean nodded slightly and gave up in trying to fight the exhaustion coating his eyelids. He let them drift shut promising himself that he'd be able to open them back up when Sammy' got back with a room key.

Sam had no problems inside and got them a nice cozy two queen's in the corner of the building. First floor at Sam's insistence. He didn't think he could help Dean up any stairs right now.

He found his brother's eyes closed. His head was leaning on the window and it only took Sam's gentle knock to illicit a response.

Dean sat up slowly and Sam grabbed the handle of the passenger door, pulling it open.

"Come on… I'll help you. We don't have far to go I promise."

Dean hated needing to have help but he'd have to deal with it for the time being. There was no way he'd be able to get into that hotel without assistance. Though sleeping in the Impala didn't sound like to bad an idea. The dull ache in his back however thought differently.

The older brother reached an arm out to the youngest and Sam grabbed it, gently lifting Dean from the confines of the old Chevy. The last time he pulled his brother from the car he was in a lot worse shape and the progress he had made in the last few days brought a small smile to his lips.

"Sam…" the youngest was snapped out of his reverie by his brother's suddenly stern voice and they connected eyes, knowing full well what his brother was getting out. His tone said it all.

"I know I know… I tell anyone and you'll murder me in my sleep."

"Goo..d boy…" Dean replied, a ghost of a smart-ass smirk resting on his features.

Dean weighed heavily on his brother but Sam was prepared for the burden. The youngest had expected it and before he knew it they were at the motel room door. Sam slipped the key card into the slot and used his foot to get the door open wide enough for their entrance. The two brothers finally fumbled their way into the dark room and Sam did his best to get his brother to the first bed. They were both exhausted and to a passerby they'd have looked like two drunken college kids stumbling in after a late night stupor.

Sam sunk Dean unceremoniously onto the musty comforter and the older hunter put his arms behind him just enough to hold his top half off the bed. He winced noticeably at the soreness in his lower back and his body wouldn't have minded at that moment to frump into a pile onto of the covers. But his sibling had other plans.

"Does something hurt?" Dean's obvious moment of discomfort had the younger hunter squatting down to look eye to eye.

Dean looked up at him sheepishly. He was never one to admit weakness but after everything that happened his mucho tough guy front was pretty much shattered. It was going to take a long time to build that back up again and unfortunately he'd have to deal with these kinds of concerned stares from his little brother.

"'m fine…" he mumbled weakly, tearing his eyes away from Sam at the fib.

"Sure you are." The snippy tone brought the older brother's attention back and Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh don't start getting an attitude Dean. If something hurts just tell me."

Dean closed his eyes in defeat and exhaled deeply. "Back…" he admitted. It really was the only thing that hurt and since everything else seemed to heal itself up it was confusing that this one thing still lingered.

"You're back hurts? Well see… That wasn't so hard. You want some Motrin for it?" Sam's eyes danced at the joy of the admission. It was a start.

"Yea…"

Sam nodded and stood up straight, making his way to the backpack he carried in. His long fingers fumbled around in search of the bottle of pills. He found them towards the bottom and gave them a little shake, signaling their appearance. Sam tossed them to the bed along side his brother and while Dean attempted to get his fingers to work with the childproof cap, Sam went to the bathroom for some water.

Once Dean's shaky fingers were done popping four Ibuprofen and working on controlling the glass of water, Sam took the glass away, putting it on the nightstand in between the beds.

An overwhelming guilt flooded through him at seeing how weak and helpless his big tough brother was. This certainly wasn't normal and even though he'd seen Dean hurt and sick… hell… even dying… this seemed so different. Someone took complete advantage of him. He was tied up… tortured… drugged… this wasn't their everyday bad luck. This was worse. Sam knew if he were in Dean's position… motivation to keep going would have been nonexistent.

But not Dean…

Never Dean…

Dean Winchester didn't have "Quit" in his vocabulary. Sam could recall many moments in their past where Dean was at his whit's end… but he never stopped trudging along. Even when that bastard Demon almost bled him dry and mouthed off in his own fathers skin about how much they DIDN'T need him… Dean never gave up.

Now certainly wouldn't be any different. Sam was sure of it.

The only problem lied in his big brothers emotional state. It was tough for him to handle those pesky closed off emotions. But they'd worry about that when the time came to bring it up. Now wasn't the time. Right now getting Dean better was the main goal. Then they could figure out all this crazy Gordon shit with a clear head.

Sam helped Dean scoot slowly up to the pillows, pulling the comforter out from under his brother's weight as much as he could with every shift. Once Dean was to the headboard, Sam stepped back. He'd helped his brother enough for one morning and if Dean had the strength and bearings at the moment he'd have reminded the younger man of that fact.

Dean pulled the top sheet and comforter up as far as his limbs would allow and cuddled close to the warm fabric. He felt chilled to the bone. He was desperate for the frosty feeling to dissipate but he was sure it wouldn't stop his involuntary shaking. Once he was settled he felt the bed move as Sam sat gently on its edge.

"You should eat something. It'll help with your strength. Do you want anything specific? Keep in mind I think you should start out slow."

Dean gave a lazy shrug under the covers and let his eyes drift closed. He didn't have it in him to make a decision at the moment and the thought of trying to eat? Forget it. Even though his stomach said "BRING IT ON!" His limbs said, "Screw you…"

"Well I'll order you some soup… I'm sure there's take out somewhere around here that will have some."

A nod was Sam's only response and the younger Winchester could already see from the state of relaxation that Dean was already on the road of no return into snoozeville. He wouldn't push it any farther. Dean needed his rest after all. Sam stood up from the bed slowly as to not jostle his now sleeping big brother and made his way over to the small table in the room for the phone book. There would be no way he'd leave Dean by himself just yet. He didn't feel comfortable enough with Gordon on the hunt.

Today… Sam was on Dean-Watch.


The Orange El Camino skidded to a halt in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. The black rubber marks following the car in its wake was an obvious sign of aggression in the driver. Customers turned to look out the big glass windows of the establishment, all in wonder of what was up.

Gordon was seething. His fingers were clenched tight on the leather steering wheel cover. And his teeth were gnashed together in a merciless growl.

'How did they get away?! How did they KNOW to get away? And where the hell did they GO!?'

And now those Winchester bastards must have had the kid. That was not good… not good at all. His plans were going down the tubes and there was nothing he hated more then losing control of a situation.

He had to find them… He had to find that freakin' kid!!

Nothing else was more important.

Gordon jumped out of his car and slammed the door shut. A crowd of customers still gave him curious sideways glances as he entered the building and disappeared towards the bathroom.

The Vamp hunter sauntered up to the payphone outside of the restrooms and grabbed the phone book heatedly. With one swift tug the book was released from the flimsy chain that kept it connected to the booth.

He'd find them… even if he had to go to every raunchy motel across Middle America.


Sam successfully found a little take out place near by that delivered. They had some chicken soup and it only took 30 minutes before the youngest Winchester heard a car pull up near their motel door. He managed to pay the delivery boy for the food and get the door shut and locked without out waking up his sleeping sibling. Even the afternoon sun that filtered through when he opened the door didn't faze Dean. But as soon as he started pulling out the food from the bag he caught a movement in the corner of his eye.

"You awake? Your soup is here." Sam only received a grumble and the young hunter laughed in spit of himself. "I love how your stomach is your alarm clock. Was it the smell or the sound of Styrofoam that woke you up?"

Dean pushed the blankets lazily away from his face and gave his little brother a groggy look. "Bite me…"

"Ah there's the Sass I missed." Sam grinned in spite of himself and popped the lid off of the small cup of soup. "Now you have to make me a promise you WON'T spill this all over. I'm not in the mood to change sheets."

Dean's expression turned from dazed to mean at the notion that Sam was the "Mother" in all of this. "Screw you!" He fired off. His speech and tone got stronger with every moment and at this very second Dean was channeling a one John Winchester. It was aggravating enough that his body was against him without having to deal with the constant need for help and Sam's cheery ass tone.

"Fine… here." Sam walked the few steps over as Dean pulled himself form the warm confines of the comforters. It was then that he noticed the extra blankets. Sam must have put his own comforter on him while he was sleeping. Was he really shaking that much?

The older hunter reached his shaking hands to the steaming cup, his cold fingers aching for the warmth it would bring. But Sam stopped.

"Dean I think you should eat at the table."

"Why?"

Sam exhaled deeply in defeat and took a step back absentmindedly from this brother. His eyes darted to Dean's shaking hands and the older brother caught on. He slowly lowered them down and held them in front of him. The hunter was sickened. He never felt so out of control of his own body before. The emotions from the feeling started to mist his eyes but in typical Winchester fashion he blocked it all out and threw on a front.

"Ok…" Dean pushed the covers farther down and slowly managed to pull his legs out of the blanket cocoon.

Sam knew right away he hit a sore spot. He hadn't meant to be harsh but Dean's side effects needed to be addressed. And it really wasn't the fact that he'd probably spill the soup all over him without a firm grip… but more that he'd burn himself. The last thing Sam wanted to witness right now was his brother in any sort of discomfort or pain. The younger brothers suggestion came selfishly. Sam's nerves just couldn't take it.

"I'm sorry…"

Dean lifted his tired head to stare into Sam's eyes and shook it. "Don't be…"

Sam lowered the soup back on the table and went over to take his brothers chilled hand to help him off the mattress. "No really… I'm sorry Dean. I shouldn't have left that night."

"What?" Dean's face was a mixture of pissed off astonishment. Surely Sam wasn't going to blame this whole mess on himself? "Knock it off."

"Dean…" Sam winced, hurt at the movement Dean made to extricate himself from the taller sibling in aggravation of his apology.

"Your not my keeper…" Even though Dean's voice was still just slightly above a whisper they still stung just as bad.

"No Dean but I'm you brother… you said it before. I'm suppose to watch your back and you watch mine."

"Isn't your fault…"

"Oh yea? Well it sure feels like it. If I didn't go out… If I had stayed in the room… I would have been able to stop him."

Dean's eyebrows fused together. "Oh really?"

"Yea.."

"Shut up Sam…" Dean's whisper of a voice was harsh and dejected. Was his brother really this stupid?

"I failed you." Sam closed his eyes at what he had just admitted and helped for some reason his brother went Deaf for that one second. Unfortunately Dean Winchesters hearing was spot on and Sam felt a sting as a hand reached up and swatted him harshly in the back of the head. When he opened his eyes again he was greeted by his brother's angry, hurt face.

"You believe that?"

"A little bit…" He admitted sheepishly.

"Well you're a little bit of an idiot." It had been the most coherent sentence his brother had said in a while and it sobered the younger man. Dean's features lightened somewhat and left it at that. His soup was getting cold after all. He turned his back on Sam and made his way over to the uncomfortable wooden Motel chair, leaving the other exhaling to control his emotions.

Once both brothers were seated at the same table the atmosphere turned highly uncomfortable. Dean attempted to slurp as much Soup he could off the spoon before it shook off from his shivers and Sam tried to ignore the painful scene. It didn't take long before Sam set down his Italian Mix Sub and looked up at his big brother.

"Dean... what did he do to you?"

The older hunter felt the question coming. He was surprised it took Sam this long in the first place. But he wasn't ready to get into it… not right now. He desperately hoped that his silence on the matter would give his little brother a clue that he didn't want to talk about it now. But of course his luck was shitty lately and Sam took the silence as his cue to continue on.

"How are you healed? What... Why…? It's just... I don't understand…"

Dean shut his eyes tight almost like he was willing this conversation to disappear and Sam winced at the rising turmoil he was causing his brother. It was too soon... it had to be. Dean was tortured at the hands of a crazed hunter and all he could worry about was finding out answers to questions that at the moment didn't need to be asked.

Sam mumbled a "Nevermind." and the two brothers ate the rest of their food in uneasy silence.