Chapter 10

The house was quiet as the day wore on and the sun made its way across the sky. Bobby was in the library doing research for another hunter while keeping an ear out for the youngest Winchester. He had checked on him an hour ago and he was still sleeping. His fever seemed to be gone and he seemed to be resting easier. Bobby never sensed the being standing by the couch looking down at Sam. He stood there for a moment with his head cocked studying the young man, sensing his injuries. With gentle fingers, he touched his forehead and allowed his grace to heal him. He felt the other brother's essence moving protectively around his little brother's as he rested. He knew of the brother's deep, mental connection but had never felt it and was amazed at the power that wafted from it. The older one was strong and very insistent with keeping the angel at bay. Even in their sleep, the elder shielded the younger with a powerful ring of protection. He stepped back and left the youngest sleeping to appear by the bed of the oldest. The older brother shifted in his sleep as if he knew he was being watched. He was more perceptive than most people and that's what made him so good at being a hunter. He placed two fingers on his forehead and calmed his soul taking away the streaks of darkness that marred it allowing Dean to relax and rest. Stepping back, he looked down one more time at the older of the two, smiled and vanished. It was not yet time to reveal himself to the brothers per his instructions from his superiors. He didn't know the full picture of why these brothers were so important, but he did as he was instructed. He was a soldier and obeyed the orders from his superiors without question.

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Dean wasn't sure what disturbed his sleep as he rolled over automatically grasping the gun under his pillow. He looked around the room but didn't see anything out of place except that his brother was not in the bed beside him. He rolled back over and threw his arm over his eyes to block out the light streaming into the room trying to decide if he wanted to get up. Then he remembered his brother and what had happened and pushed his still tired body out of bed and stumbled toward the bathroom.

Dean didn't bother with his boots as he made his way down the stairs zeroing in on the still body that was still sleeping on the couch. He strolled over to the couch and knelt down placing a hand on his forehead to check for fever. Sam stirred slightly and cracked open his eyes for a moment before squinting them shut again. He moaned softly and lifted his leaden arm to his face to wipe the crust from his eyes before trying to open them again.

"Hey kid, how're you feeling?" Dean asked as he took his other hand and pulled the pad down to check the cut. He was surprised that it looked as good as it did. There wasn't any sign of infection and it was already starting to scab. He should be able to take the stitches out maybe today or at the latest tomorrow. He'd let his brother recover a little more before doing it.

"Dee?" Sam got out with a little effort before getting his eyes to open again.

"How's he doing?" Bobby asked stepping from his library to see both boys awake.

"Can ya sit up Sammy?"

"Yeah." he said swinging his legs down and carefully with Dean's help sat up. Sam took a deep breath to control the dizziness and swallowed down the sour bile in the back of his throat before accepting the water bottle Dean was holding out to him. He took it and sipped several mouths of the wet liquid letting it wash away some of the foul taste in his mouth.

"Good to see ya upright son, you had us worried." Bobby told him noticing his coloring was better than earlier. "I'll go start a fresh pot of coffee. Anyone hungry?"

"I could do with a bite." Dean nodded looking at Sam.

"Maybe." he answered clearing his throat wondering why it was so sore.

Dean saw him grimace and a puzzled look crossed his face.

"You did a little upchucking bro, talk 'bout some nasty shit." Dean frowned watching him for signs of a repeat performance. "You're not gonna do it again are ya?" he asked cautiously.

"No, I think I'm good." he sighed letting his head fall forward to his chest for a moment before looking up at Dean. "Bathroom."

"Ok, take it easy bro; you've not been upright in a couple of days." Dean cautioned him helping him to stand beside the couch for a moment before guiding him toward the downstairs bathroom. "Need help?"

"No, I can handle it." he said stepping in by himself and closing the door. He leaned against the door and assessed his injuries, shifting his body to determine his range of motion. Sam was surprised that his movements were better than he expected and with hardly any pain. He opened his shirt and pulled the pads away to inspect Dean's handy work seeing they seemed healed. He pressed the pad back and relieved himself. After washing his face and hands and rinsing his mouth, he opened the door to see his brother waiting on him.

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Dean stood outside the door listening and waiting for his brother to finish. He didn't hear anymore throwing up and hoped Sam was past that stage now. He was thankful to see a little color on his face and he didn't seem to be sweating so hopefully his fever had broke. Dean pushed himself from the wall as Sam opened the door and Sam didn't complain when Dean grabbed his elbow to help him.

"C'mon, Bobby's got some food ready." he told him guiding Sam to the kitchen table and sitting him down.

"I got ya some soup and dry toast ready Sam." Bobby told him sitting a bowl in front of him and a plate with toast beside it.

Sam looked down at the food and licked his lips not sure he wanted to put anything in his stomach or not. He knew Dean was watching him closely so he picked up a piece of toast and took a small bite chewing it slowly.

"Here, try to drink some Gatorade, you need to re-hydrate." Dean told him putting a bottle of drink near his hand.

Sam nodded thanks and took a sip to help wash the toast down so it wouldn't get stuck in his throat. The cold liquid felt good on his raw throat and he sipped some more but stopped for a moment to be sure it was going to stay down. He picked up his spoon and scooped up some soup, bringing it to his mouth. He swallowed the soup and waited to see how his stomach was going to handle it before trying another spoon full. He could hear rumbling in his stomach as it accepted the food without betraying him.

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Dean munched on a sandwich and kept an eye trained on Sam to be sure he was trying to eat and drink. He wanted to get some fluid in him and hopefully he would keep it down. After they finished eating, Dean was going to check his wounds and be sure they were looking ok and maybe let him get a shower. He didn't want to tell him, but he smelled pretty ripe now.

"If you're up to it Sammy, I thought we'd see about getting ya a shower."

"Sounds good." Sam replied taking another small bite of toast.

"You're a little ripe bro."

"Oh, ok." Sam said looking down at his wrinkled, dirty shirt wondering when the last time he had changed his clothes was.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" Bobby asked Dean directly deciding to get this over with.

"I was stupid, used myself as bait, figuring she'd go for me but she got Sammy when I wasn't watching." Dean admitted looking down at his plate guiltily. "I didn't have his back."

"Dean, it wasn't your fault." Sam assured him. "I don't blame you, you know that right?"

"Yes it was Sammy; I knew better, I'm not some damn rookie still wet behind the ears. I'm a better hunter than that; it was a lame ass move." Dean insisted.

"It worked out though and you killed her."

"And almost got you killed in the process. That's not acceptable, not in my book."

"Instead of blaming yourself, take it as a learning experience and don't let it happen again." Bobby broke in knowing Dean was beating himself up about Sam getting hurt. He knew how Dean carried guilt around on his shoulders, letting it weigh him down even if it wasn't all his fault. He didn't have the heart to lay into him about his dumb plan knowing Dean was already berating himself more than Bobby ever would. All he could do was hopefully help Dean work through this knowing he had learned from his mistake and was sure he'd never let it happen again.

"It won't, believe me." Dean said sternly and with determination.

"You gotta let it go, don't let it eat at you Dean. Hunting is dangerous, sometimes you get hurt and hopefully you don't get killed. You learn from your mistakes so you don't make them again. Any of this sinking in that hard head of yours?"

"Yeah Bobby, I get it. Don't worry it won't happen again." Dean said firmly as he mulled over how to keep Sam from hunting. He didn't want him to start in the first place, but Sam wouldn't hear of it. Sam's argument was no one could watch Dean's back better than him and that was the end of the discussion. He wouldn't take no for an answer no matter how much Dean argued with him. They had been lucky that this was the worse either had been hurt. Both had gotten scrapes, bruises, cracked ribs, concussions and Dean had been stabbed in the arm and leg by splintering wood when they took out a vengeful spirit, but this time was the worse.

"I think I'm done." Sam butted in pushing his bowl away. He had eaten nearly half of it and half a piece of toast deciding not to push it and stopped. He felt his stomach roll gently as it started to digest the food.

"At least try and drink some more Sammy." Dean urged. "It'll make ya feel better."

"I'll try." he said sipping some more of the Gatorade. He was glad that the foul taste in his mouth was gone now. He suddenly burped loudly, surprised that the noise that came out of him. It was usually Dean who did the burping in the family and was proud of it.

"Excuse me." Sam mumbled as his cheeks heated slightly and he coughed hoping he wouldn't do it again.

"Did ya sneak a little extra into your drink there Sammy?" Dean teased him as he sipped his tea to keep from embarrassing him any further. "So ya ready for that shower? I need to check your injures." he said getting up and taking their dishes to the sink.

"Yes, I do smell pretty bad." he said wrinkling his nose as he sniffed his shirt getting a sour, sweaty, vomit smelling nose full.

"Go on help yer brother, I got the dishes." Bobby told Dean as he gathered his dishes and took them to the sink.

"C'mon Stinky, your shower awaits you." Dean bowed to Sam before following him upstairs watching closely that he didn't stumble. He was surprised that Sam was moving better than earlier and figured the nap did him good. After the shower, he was going to see if he would go ahead and lay down knowing that rest was what he needed to let his body recharge. His own body was telling him it wouldn't hurt for him to retire early too.

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Sam stopped by their room and looked through his bag finally finding briefs and sleep clothes before joining his brother in the bathroom. He laid his clothes on the sink before sitting on the commode so Dean could look at his injuries. Dean helped Sam remove his shirt and leaned back so he could have better access to the pads. Being careful, he began to pull the tape from Sam's chest and peeled back the pads checking out each wound. He was amazed at how much they had healed already.

"Looking good Sammy. You know I can probably take these stitches out tomorrow." he told him after he removed the last pad. "You feel up to the shower?"

"Yeah, I'll be ok." Sam answered looking down at his chest and stomach. Dean was right, most of the cuts were barely noticeable now and the ones he stitched would only leave small scars.

"I'll be in the bedroom if you need me." he said tossing the pads and washing his hands.

"Alright." he said waiting until Dean was finished and leave before standing to turn on the water and pull off his jeans and briefs. He tested the water before stepping under the spray letting it beat on his head and run down his body. He stood there in the spray feeling the sweat and grim and other substances he didn't want to know about wash off his body. He wiped the water from his face and found his shampoo. He squirted some out and began to wash his greasy hair relishing at how good it felt to get clean. He was careful with his chest and stomach soaping it once and rinsing it good. After shutting the water off, he grabbed a towel to dry his lean body off before putting on his clothes. He brushed his teeth twice finally happy to not be tasting anything foul or disgusting in his mouth.

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"I'm done, it's your turn." he told him tossing his dirty clothes on his bag.

"You still feel ok? Not dizzy or weak?"

"Yeah, I feel better, just tired. I'm going on to bed. We need to do some laundry tomorrow; I'm out of clean ones."

"I'll be joining ya shortly." Dean replied heading to the bathroom. "Just leave them in a pile and I'll start a load when I get up."

Sam dumped his bag and moved to his bed to settle under the covers. It felt so good to be in his own bed and let his mind shut down and his body relax. His breathing evened out and Sam didn't hear Dean coming back into the room, nor him laying a hand on his forehead for a moment before slipping into his own bed. Dean stared at the mound in the bed next to him and listened to his slow breathing and creaking of the bed as he shifted to a different position and settled back down. He tried to stop the guilt and anguish that wanted to march through his mind when he thought about how close he came to losing his brother. He was going to be sure that Sam took a break from hunting to let himself completely heal. Dean closed his eyes and cast his senses out listening for any sounds that were out of place. He had learned every creak and groans of the house over the years and could feel when something wasn't right. He was ever the protective big brother making sure nothing would harm his brother. It wasn't long before both brothers were resting as the house settled around them.

A/N: Thank you for your following, favors and reviews. You guys are awesome. Please review. NC