Warnings: Spoilers for Hunted and Playthings. MILD Wincest. VERY mild.

Author's Note: Hello everyone and congratulations! We actually made it to the double-digits! *bounces up and down* But I'm sorry to tell you that the boy's won't have much to celebrate in this chapter. Takes place in between Hunted and Playthings.

Disclaimer: Does eBay sell djinns?

Playlist: Savior - 30 Seconds to Mars

Was it a dream - 30 Seconds to Mars

So here you have it.

Reviews are highly desired ^^

#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#

Chapter 10: Being brothers

He closed his eyes with a sigh. Enjoying the soft mattress in his back he felt himself relax. Everything was alright now that he was back. Home. This was where he belonged.

A soft whispering sound above his head interrupted his thoughts. Slowly he opened his eyes, staring towards the ceiling. The moment his brain caught up with what he was seeing, his world fell apart.

"Sam." she whispered. Her beautiful face contorted in accusation and fear.

He desperately tried to get her down, screaming, pleading and praying to every higher power he knew.

"Why, Sam?" Her right arm was stretching towards him, pale face surrounded by a halo of golden hair.

"Nonononono!" He reached for her, unbending his body until it hurt, tears blinding his vision. Just one more centimeter, just one more...
The second his fingers brushed against her cold skin blue flames erupted from the very spot he had touched, dancing across the paleness of her hand before dashing up her arm. In the blink of an eye her whole body was enveloped in fire.

"No! Jess!"

"SAM!" he snapped awake with a start. His heart was beating furiously as he took in his surroundings. He had fallen asleep at the desk, face first on his laptop.
Dean was leaning over him, one hand still on his shoulder from shaking him awake.

Two weeks ago Eva Wilson, a psychic that had saved Sam's life, had gone missing. They had found her fiancee, killed in his sleep, while Eva had vanished without a trace. Since then Sam had been scouring every police database he could find, searching for any sign of the young woman. So far all investigation had proved useless, but he wasn't giving up.

"How long have they been back?" Dean asked as he placed a paper cup of steaming coffee before his pale brother.

"What?" Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, blinking a couple of times. He could still see flashes of blue fire dancing before his eyes.

"The nightmares about Jess. How long they've been back, Sam?" Deans voice was heavy with concern. Sometimes it was nearly impossible to tell what was going on in that freakish head of his brother. However he had seen the repercussion of these dreams too often, to not recognize them.

"Just about two weeks."

Dean gaped at him for a moment, before he found his voice again.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Sam really had no time for this. He needed to get back to searching for Eva. So he simply shrugged his shoulders and turned back towards his laptop.

"Fine." Dean sulked. Sam didn't even have to look up to know it. He could hear it in the way his brother stomped off to his bed. When he looked up Dean had made himself comfortable on the comforter, munching on a burger, making as much noise in the process as humanly possible. He sighed and went back to work.

Sam had been withdrawn ever since that Eva girl vanished. Dean knew that his brother blamed himself for it. The nightmares were just another pointer towards his some reason though Sam's behaviour seemed off. There were no aggressive outburst, no wallowing in self-pity, no puppy dog eyes, no nothing, apart from the nightmares. Not that Dean was complaining, Sam in full on emo-mode was no fun at all. It was just...weird.

He looked over to Sam, who was sitting hunched over the laptop, completely absorbed in his work. Dean's eyes got caught at his brother's shoulders. He had to swallow.
Maybe it was the shirt, maybe not, but Sam's shoulders seemed to have broaden even further in the last couple of weeks. The guy was a hulk already, making Dean feel like a midget half the time.

No matter how much he tried to ignore it, Sam wasn't a kid anymore. He had faced things that would turn most men into whimpering messes. Of course Dean would never let his brother know this, but sometimes he couldn't help but think that Sam was the stronger one of the the two of them. The guy's heart was too big for his own good, but Dean admired his ability to hold on to faith or hope, no matter how desperate the situation. When it came to dealing with emotions he clearly could learn a lot from his younger brother.

"Dean, you are kind of making me uncomfortable." Ripped out of his thoughts his eyes met Sam's and he realized that he had been staring for quite a while.

"Ok, I'll go for another coffee run."

It wasn't the first time that he was thankful for Sam being the one with the disposition to blush.

"Harvelles Roadhouse." Ellens voice came through the speaker.

"Hey, it's Sam."

"Sam, good to hear from you boy's. Anything new come up about that Eva girl?"

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing." Sam answered, dragging a hand over his face in an attempt to clear his mind.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I wish I could do more. But no one's even heard of the girl, let alone seen her." Ellen had been asking around at the Roadhouse, even managed to convince a couple of other hunters to keep an eye out for Eva.

"Yeah, I figured as much..." He couldn't hold back a heavy sigh. "It's been a month now...I don't know what to do anymore, Ellen. There is just nowhere else to look."

"Listen, sweety. I don't know if you boys are up for it, but I got a possible haunting in a hotel not too far from you in Cornwall, Connecticut. Might be good to take a break from all of this."

Sam sighed again.
"Yeah, maybe you're right. You got any more details?"

(Authors note: The talk between Sam and Dean at the beginning of the episode Playthings follows directly after this. We cut back as they check into the hotel)

"Well, congratulations, you could be some of our final guests." Susan, the hotel owner, greeted them with a sad smile. The building definitely had style with it's wood works and timber frames. But even the size of the place couldn't quite hide that it was past it's prime.

"That sounds vaguely ominous." Sam had to grin at Dean's comment. His brother was clearly enjoying this job. Being stuck on finding Eva for about a month, without working any cases, had stretched his brother's patience to the breaking point. Being back in the saddle felt good. He inwardly thanked Ellen for the little nudge in the right direction.

"No, I'm sorry, I mean we're closing at the end of the month."

A honest smile spread over her features, making her look years younger, as she appraised them.

"Let me guess. You guys are here antiquing?"

Dean took a second to recompose himself. Glancing over for Sam's approval he turned back to Susan, charming his way through the lie.

"How'd you know?" Often it was the easiest way to just go with peoples assumptions.

"Oh, you just look the type."

Sam had to bite back a grin as a uncomfortable grimace etched itself onto his brothers face. Dean as a antiques buff, that was a sight to behold.

"So, king-sized bed?"

His own smile froze, while Dean's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Since the older one seemed to be dumbfounded and looked, like he was deciding whether to laugh or to cry, Sam stepped in.

"What? No, uh, no, we're, we're . . . two singles, we're just brothers."

A breathy "Yeah." was all Dean could muster.

Susan's eyes widened in embarrassment when she realized her mistake.

"Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry."

The distress in his brother's self-conscious expression would have been comical, if Sam hadn't been so rattled himself.

Dean was looking like a shy ten year old boy when he asked:

"What'd you mean that we look the type?"

#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#

tbc

#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#

I just love how flabbergasted Dean is in this scene.

Btw, 175% of you probably noticed already, but English isn't my mother tongue. So I'm really sorry if some formulations or syntax is off. I'm trying, people ^^

And I know that Sam's nightmares don't come up in canon anymore, but I'm pretty sure that they would return when he blames himself for Eva's disappearance. I'll get back to them in the next chapter, so they actually are a plot point ^^ !