Author's Note: First off I am so sorry that it took almost a week to get this out. Late last week I got very ill from food poisoning and was just starting to get better when I developed a severe inner-ear infection. But now I'm on antiboitics and painkillers and finally back to writing! So now I'd like to thank Eliza Ghost, Julefor, agent iz hyper, BranchSuper, babyreaper, NewbieOnTheBlock, 7kstar, dirtdevil76, Meggin Lane, emebalia, Nerdette92, O'erTheHillsandFarAway, SuperPenguinLovesHerEdog, PsychoPicasso, Guest, dianaj2w, tvj12, agrove, DimensionJumper, Guest, Guest, emoprincess3587, avirt75, elf, and sprntrlfn for their wonderful reviews. Now on to the story...

Chapter Ten: Another Rough Night

Dean wasn't on the rack. You'd think that in Hell getting off of the rack and away from the demon that consistently tortured you would be a good thing but it just meant that they were getting creative. And creative in the pit was never a good thing. Wherever Dean was now, it was pitch black. He could feel dirt under his bare feet but there were no walls anywhere within his reach. Dean was dressed in just a pair of jeans but clothes didn't really matter in Hell since they were usually torn to shreds within a matter of moments. He wondered how long he'd have to wait before whatever was going to happen happened. Then he heard something. A small skittering noise coming from in front of him. Dean tensed but then some kind of bug ran across his foot. He let out a small laugh. He was in a place of never ending torment and had gotten scared of a tiny bug. Then he stopped and thought for a moment. What was a bug doing in Hell anyway? His answer came seconds later and it wasn't one he liked. A huge mass of insects swarmed up over him, crawling on his skin, under his jeans, in his hair. Dean tried to swat them off of him, but for every bug that fell off, ten more took its place. Then they started to bite. No, bite wasn't even the right word. They were chewing on his flesh, eating him alive. Dean let out a scream and they rushed into his mouth as others crawled into his ears and nose. Those ones began eating him from the inside. Dean needed to get them off of him and out of him. He started clawing at his skin, trying to knock them off of him and rip them out of his flesh. But more kept coming. He was pretty sure they'd eaten his eyes but he couldn't see in here in the first place so it didn't seem to matter that much. If he were alive the insects would've killed him by now but as it was he knew that he'd stay here until there was nothing left of him. Dean's legs gave out as most of his muscle had been eaten away and he fell to the dirt floor. And now there were even more on him. They crawled over him and inside of him and he didn't want this to last any longer. Dean continued to scratch and claw at his own skin as he let out a gurgled cry of agony and fear. It came out much louder than he thought it would. And then someone was grabbing him. He tried to pull away and the person held on tighter.

"Dean, you must calm down."

Dean stopped his struggles. He knew that voice. It was Cas. The angel had pulled him out of Hell and Dean must've somehow ended up back there because here was Castiel yet again rescuing him. Dean grabbed onto the angel as tight as he could.

"Cas, please get me out of here!"

"Out of here?"

"I don't remember how I got back in Hell Cas, but please save me." Dean didn't even care that he was begging. He couldn't go back. Tears ran down his face as he clung to the angel, dimly aware that Cas was much bigger than usual.

"You aren't in Hell, Dean. This is Bobby's house. You were having a nightmare."

Suddenly Dean heard a door open and the lights flicked on.

"Dean!" Sam's voice called his name out in panic.

"He's alright. It was just a nightmare."

"No." Dean insisted. "I wasn't dreaming. I couldn't've been 'cause if it was just a dream, then why does it still hurt?"

"You're in pain?" Cas asked.

Dean nodded. The angel's hands gripped his upper arms gently but firmly and moved him back. Dean looked up and saw Cas's eyes widen. Sam obviously saw the same thing.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Dean looked down at his arms that were much too small to be his own, and memories of the past days returned to him. But the thing that really shocked him was the condition that his tiny arms were in. There were deep fingernail marks running from elbow to wrist, some oozing blood.

"Is that what hurts?" Cas inquired.

"Oh god, Dean." Sam gasped as he reached the side of the bed.

Dean nodded in response to Castiel's question. Then he added. "My chest hurts too."

The angel pulled the boy's shirt off to reveal the same damage on his chest and belly. As if in a trance, Dean looked down at his fingernails. There was blood under them. He had torn himself apart while he'd been caught up in that nightmare. Dean bit his lip anxiously and realized that he was still crying. The very young hunter tried to calm himself down, but it seemed an impossible task.

"Is everything alright up there?" Bobby's voice called.

"Nightmare." Sam responded. Then he turned back to his brother. "I'm going to go get the first aid kit, okay Dean."

Dean didn't trust his voice not to break and further embarrass himself, so he just nodded. Once Sam had left, Dean looked up at Cas.

"I don't want to sleep any more."

"You only slept a couple of hours. It's not enough."

"Dude, I can't keep going through this! They are worse than ever now!"

"It's because…"

"Yeah, the whole age thing. I know. But I don't want to dream like that anymore."

"Then I will put you back to sleep and wake you after the first two hours before you begin to dream. Once you have woken, I will put you back under. It is far from perfect and not a permanent solution, but it will get you through this night."

"I guess." Dean was terrified of going back to sleep, but he knew that his body needed it. He felt the exhaustion beginning to smother him already and with so many enemies looking to take advantage of his situation, he'd need to be as sharp as possible.

Just then Sam reentered the room holding Bobby's first aid kit. Dean sat through the process of having the fingernail marks cleaned out and ointment and bandages put on the deepest ones. When his brother was done, he stepped back.

"Well, I'm not taking you out to any more stores. Between the bruises and the bandages, you look like a severely abused child."

"But I'm still more attractive than you."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Hey, I can't help it if the chicks are into me more than you."

"Newsflash, Dean. You're four years old. You haven't even hit puberty yet."

Dean shrugged. "Neither have you."

Sam shook his head. "And to think that I was beginning to feel sorry for you."

"Well, you don't have to. I'm fine. Now just get your gargantuan butt in your own bed and let me get some shuteye, okay?"

"Are you going to be alright?"

"He'll be fine." Cas assured him. "I will keep watch."

Sam looked down at Dean with concern written all over his features. Dean wished that he'd just go back to the teasing banter of moments before. It killed him a little to see his baby brother worrying over him. Dean should be the protector, not Sam. But obviously Dean had screwed up that job and now he was unable to protect Sammy, but the least he could do was try to be as light a burden as possible.

"Seriously Sammy, I'm good. Go. Sleep."

"If you're sure." Sam leaned over and hugged Dean. The boy squirmed a little in the embrace. Then his brother let go and left the room, with one last 'Goodnight' thrown over his shoulder on the way out the door.

"Are you ready?" Cas asked.

Dean made himself comfortable in the nest of pillows and blankets on the bed. Then he swallowed his fears and nodded. Cas reached forward and laid his fingers once more on the child's head and Dean was back asleep.

…

…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…

…

The next morning, Bobby woke to the smells of coffee, bacon, and eggs. That was one good thing about having the Winchesters stay with him sometimes. If he woke up late, breakfast was always waiting for him. Of course, had he not stayed up most of the night researching for the boys then it was likely that he wouldn't have slept so long. Either way, he was going to enjoy the meal before he brought up what he'd learned last night to the boys. It was a good news, bad news kind of a deal and he wasn't sure how they'd take it. And the last thing he wanted to do was to upset Dean even further. The kid really needed a break.

Bobby rolled his damned wheelchair into the kitchen, expecting to see Sam standing at the stove. But that was not the case.

"What the hell do you think yer doin' Dean?!"

Dean spun around on the makeshift stepstool of piled books and fell to the floor, dropping the frying pan that he'd been clutching in his small hand. There was a loud thud and a clatter, followed by a cry of pain. The boy sat on the flood amongst the now scattered books glaring up at Bobby.

"Dude, what the hell! Are you trying to kill me? Or did you just feel like ruining breakfast?" Dean got to his feet and picked up the pan that had miraculously landed in such a way that the eggs had not spilled out all over the kitchen floor.

"What're you doing using the stove."

"Cooking. That's what stoves are for."

"Four year olds don't cook, Dean."

"Then it's a good thing that I'm not actually a four year old."

"Yeah, you are. And ya coulda burned yerself or fallen and split yer thick skull open."

"I was doing just fine 'til you tried to give me a heart attack!"

"What's going on?" Sam rushed into the room.

"Bobby is upset that your brother was cooking."

Bobby turned his head to see that Castiel had been standing there the whole time.

"And why didn't you stop him?" Bobby growled at the angel.

"Dean was certain that he could make breakfast without any problems."

"See! Cas trusts me."

"It's not about trust, boy. It's 'bout me not wanting you getting hurt."

"Dude, I've been cooking for Sammy since I was just a little bigger than this. I know what I'm doing."

Bobby sighed. "I know, Dean. It's just… you never had to cook when yer daddy dropped you boys off here. I see you now and I just kinda slip back into 'Uncle Bobby' mode. I always knew you could take care of yerself, I just enjoyed doing a little bit of it for ya."

There was silence in the room for a moment.

"Thanks for that, Uncle Bobby." Dean smiled. "Breakfast's ready, though."

"Well, let's get the table set, then."

After breakfast, they all gathered in the study.

"I found the cure." Bobby announced.

"Really?" Dean exclaimed.

"Yeah. It's a general antidote that works on most cases of supernatural poisonings."

"I didn't know there was such a thing." Sam commented.

"Well, there is. And I got all but one of the ingredients."

"Dude, that's awesome!" Dean looked ready to start jumping up and down in excitement. But Sam must've seen something in Bobby's expression.

"What's the catch?"

"The last ingredient changes with each different case. The antidote needs something added to it to alter the contents into the specialized formula. It needs a sample of whatever poisoned the victim."

"Wait," Dean spoke up. "You mean…"

"We need to get a sampled of the edderkopp-skapning's venom."

Author's Note Part Two: Hope you all enjoyed. Please please please leave a review and I'll have Dean make breakfast for you too!