Dean eased open the door and went directly to the keypad on the wall next to the door

Dean eased open the door and went directly to the keypad on the wall next to the door. If luck was on his side, Brian's code would still be Sara's birthday. The mechanic was nothing if not loyal to the widow of his former partner. Despite Sara's apathy toward him, Brian made no effort to hide his affection for her. Sara for her part had never encouraged the younger man and had in fact, sternly rebuffed his advances. Brian in turn had hidden his disappointment and had gone on to become a good friend to the Power's family. So good a friend that he'd offered Dean a job working in his garage during the Winchester brother's first stay with Sara.

Ever since then, Dean and Brian had struck up a friendship of sorts, although they would never become close, their common concern for Sara and her small family was a bond of sorts. That's the only reason he'd suggested they take what they need from the shop, otherwise he'd have never broken in and stolen supplies from a garage in Sara's home town. When in the area, Dean was always as careful as he could be to allow no hint of what he and Sam were to touch Sara's life.

It took only a moment to realize that entering the code wouldn't be necessary. The indicator pad was already green indicating the system wasn't armed. Dean stared hard at the panel for a moment, unsure of why Brian wouldn't have set the alarm before leaving, he was normally very good about it. Shaking off his unease, Dean moved to the far side of the garage and hit the button that raised the large aluminum door. As the door crept up, he used the bit of moonlight that shone through the opening to take stock of his surroundings. The six-car garage looked the same as usual. There were two open bays and the rest were filled with cars and even a few SUV's in different states of repair.

Dean was surprised, if Brian was on an annual trip, he would have thought the other man wouldn't have left so many cars strewn about the shop. As Sam pulled Sara's jeep into the garage, Dean hit the button again effectively shutting the big door and cutting off all natural light. The good thing about the garage was the fact that there were no windows in the work area, only a couple small ones in the office.

Confident that no one would see, Dean flipped on a couple of the overhead lights. As his brother climbed out of the jeep, Dean indicated the storeroom. "I'm gonna get moving. If lucky we can be in and out within the hour."

Sam nodded and clapped his hands together. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just don't touch anything," Dean growled, "it'll be quicker if I do it on my own."

888

Sam didn't take offense at Dean's words, after all his brother was right it probably would go faster if he stayed out of Dean's way. Problem is that left him with an hour to kill and nothing to do. After ten minutes of watching Dean mutter to himself about the damaged Impala tires, Sam decided he'd be better off somewhere else. In Brian's small garage that left only the office.

He knew Brian had an internet connection and really if they were heading out of Pennsylvania they needed somewhere to go. Making up his mind to find their next hunt, Sam headed for the small room situated at the end of the garage. As he walked past the cars, he was surprised to find Brian's pick-up truck parked in the very first bay.

"Hey, Dean, Brian's truck's here," Sam called out, as he glanced over the big Ford.

Dean turned from the shop's tire changer and glared at his brother. "So, he probably drove up to the cabin with someone."

Sam glanced at the truck once more and shrugged, Dean was right and besides what difference did it make. They'd be in and out in an hour and back to Sara's place. By tomorrow afternoon, they'd be back on the road and the Power's family would be just another in a long list of regrets.

Sam opened the office door carefully. He didn't want to risk the light of the garage shining out of the office windows. He slipped inside shutting the door behind himself and allowed his eyes to adjust to the dim interior. Moonlight streamed through the two windows that faced the front parking lot, allowing Sam to see with little trouble. Spying the computer on Brian's desk, he made a bee-line for the battered leather chair that sat behind the mechanic's large metal desk.

A loud bang followed by an even louder curse had Sam pausing in his tracks. A moment later he heard Dean grumbling to himself so he assumed his brother was fine. Guilt was making it harder and harder for Sam to keep what he'd done to himself. If not for his ill-conceived plan Sara would have never even known that they were in town and Dean would never have had to suffer through watching her move on with her life. Problem was the only way Sam knew to lessen the guilt was to confess but quite honestly he was afraid that in this case, confession, while good for the soul, might get him killed.

Twice now the car had been damaged, either directly or indirectly as was the case of the semi-truck, by Sam. His brother had forgiven him for the crash, really, it had been out of Sam's control, but this, well this was bound to haunt Sam for the rest of his life. He sighed and moved forward his mind still grappling with his options, when he tripped and landed hard on the concrete.

"Shit," he muttered as he got his hands under him and pushed himself up off the floor. A glance over his shoulder at what he'd tripped over had him cursing even louder, "Damn."

"Dean," he yelled, as he took in the black boot that stuck out just past the desk. If he lived any other life, Sam would have assumed the boot was empty, however, given the fact that he was a Winchester, he knew better.

Sure enough, as he moved around the desk he saw the shoe was in fact, not empty. It still firmly enclosed a foot that was attached to a leg that, well, led upward. Despite the fact that the body laid face down Sam had no trouble identifying who it was. Brian's plaid flannel and blue chinos were as familiar as his face.

888

"Sam, you forgetting the reason we're here?" Dean asked as he pushed open the office door. Any other comments he might have made were cut off by the site of Sam kneeling down on the ground.

As the door swung shut behind him, Dean moved forward, an uneasy feeling sliding down his back. Once he'd rounded the desk the reason for Sam's posture became clear. "Shit," he breathed.

Sam nodded and looked up at him. "Yeah, that's pretty much what I said."

"No blood," Dean noted. He pulled out his flashlight and turned it on, as long as he was careful to keep it low, he didn't think it would be visible from outside. The idea of being found in Reed's Garage was bad enough before, but now with Brian lying dead on the floor it would be a catastrophe.

"I know, and he's been dead for awhile."

Dean nodded, and stood, toeing Brian's body, he flipped the corpse, grimacing at the bloated face of the man who'd once been his boss. "You see anything?" Dean asked on arm wrapped over his nose. Now that they'd disturbed the body the smell of decay was impossible to miss.

Sam shook his head. "No I can't find a mark on him. You think maybe it was just something simple, like a heart attack?"

"When are we every that lucky." Dean retorted, he was just about to turn away when something caught his eye.

"What?" Sam questioned as he noted his brother's sudden shift in focus.

Dean reached out one finger and gently rotated Brian's wrist so the dead man's hand was palm up.

"What the hell is it?"

"Vampire?" Dean questioned, as he stared at the bite. Normally, a vampire bite consisted of two small punctures if the vamp was kind, if not they often tore the skin in their haste to feed. In this case, the 'bite' for lack of a better word measured only a half-inch in diameter and was a single hole in the center of a dark purplish bruise. The hole was crusted with a small amount of blood, but if it wasn't for the bruising Dean would have never even noticed it.

Sam eased closer and shook his head, "Not like any I've seen."

"Yeah, but it's too damn big to be a mosquito bite, it's gotta be something," Dean said as he stood once more. "We've gotta get out of here, wipe down the room and meet me out in the garage. We can't afford to get caught here."

Dean's words suited his actions and within minutes he was back out in the garage working to finish up the tires. Now more than ever they needed his girl up and running. Something was going on and despite the perfect opportunity for him to declare 'told you so' to Sam, he was scared as hell it went hand in hand with his nightmares.

Faster than Dean could have imagined, they had the tires, mounted and balanced and were loading them up in the jeep. One last swipe of the interior of the garage and then Sam was backing the jeep out of the shop, while Dean waited to shut the door. In minutes, he was ducking under the already closing garage door, thanking their dubious luck that the alarm company would have no record of this little visit.

As he slid into the Jeep, he couldn't help but feel a pang for the man they left behind. Though Brian was beyond help, he wasn't comfortable with leaving his body undiscovered for another couple of days. There was really no way around it though, not if the Winchesters wanted to find the killer.

"We telling, Sara?" Sam asked as he drove the deserted streets back to her house. It was nearing four in the morning and the darkness still gripped the forest that surrounded them.

Dean considered the question and wasn't sure of his reply. He knew Sara would never forgive him if something supernatural had decided to squat in her neighborhood, but Dean also knew she would insist on bringing in the police. "What do you think?"

Sam shrugged and kept his gaze peeled to the road in front of them, deer in this area were plentiful, and he obviously had no intention of hitting one. "She's gonna see the tires, she's not stupid. And if we lie outright she might not forgive us."

"But," Dean prompted.

"But she's also gonna wanna call the cops and I'd rather not get fingered in Brian's death," Sam finished.

Dean nodded his agreement. "That about sums it up. We'll sleep on it tonight, well what's left of tonight," Dean said suddenly feeling weary. "Tomorrow morning is soon enough to decide"

888

Dean sat bolt upright, every last vestige of sleep leaving him as he gripped the knife in his hand. Jim stood only inches away from his side, a big grin on his face.

"Good morning," he chirped.

Dean had forgotten just how cheery Jim was in the morning. Sara liked to lay blame for that little habit on her husband's doorstep, but the fact was, she herself always awoke with a smile to greet the day. Granted the smile came easier with a couple cups of coffee but still, Dean had a feeling she'd been much like Jim as a child.

Hastily tucking the knife back under his pillow, Dean asked, "What's the matter, buddy?" A glance at his watch showed him it was nearly eight-thirty. Jim needed to be at the bus stop at the end of the driveway in about five minutes.

"Mom's still sleeping," Jim complained, the worry in his voice betraying his smile.

Worry shot through Dean as he contemplated Jim's words. Sara never overslept, not once in the time he'd known her had she been late waking up on a school day. Although, Jim was more than capable of fixing himself breakfast, and getting dressed, his mom was always up to walk him to the bus stop. Not wanting Jim to worry, Dean smiled and said, "No worries, Sam'll walk you up and I'll keep an eye on the kids."

Unsurprisingly, Sam, had awoken already. "Just give me a minute to throw some jeans on, Jim and I'll walk you."

Sam slipped from his bed and grabbed the jeans he'd worn the night before from the floor. Herding his charge out the door, Sam shot a look of worry over his shoulder. He was obviously every bit as worried about Sara as Dean was. "I'll be right back."

Dean climbed out of bed and grabbed the first thing that came to hand. Dressing in a rush he left the room ten minutes later. As he headed out into the house he noted the TV was on in the living room. Following the sound he found Jess and Mike both sitting on the couch watching cartoons.

"Morning, guys," he called, his gaze traveling up the stairwell. His fist instinct was to rush up the stairs and check on Sara but he hesitated. He didn't want the children coming with him in case something was wrong. Sam would be back in minutes and then he could go up unhindered. "Where's the big guy?"

Michael answered, "Jack went to the bus stop with Sam."

Dean nodded and moved toward the stairs. "Sam'll be back in a sec, you two stay put I'm gonna just check on Mom." He called over his shoulder as he darted up the stairs. Behind him the clatter of Jack's nails on the hardwood floor ushered in Sam's return. Dean breathed easier knowing that Sam would keep watch over the kids. The door to Sara's room was directly across from the stairwell. He was surprised to see it firmly shut.

Sara never slept with the door shut. She preferred it open so she could hear the children. No wonder Jim had seemed confused. Dean had noticed during the last few days that unlike the younger children, Jim seemed to sense that his mom had been acting differently. Fear now pulsing through him, he knocked lightly on the door. He prayed she'd answer right away, maybe with a little sound of panic thrown in for oversleeping.

There was no answer from the room beyond. No longer caring about improprieties, Dean opened the door and entered the darkened room.