A/N: A huge thank you to all who have been keeping with this story and leaving your comments, I really do appreciate it! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it! Oh yeah, the season one episode 'Faith' has a small part in this chapter, but it's only a few lines, so don't let that stop you!

CHAPTER 11

Geoff rounded the corner, head down, thinking through his fate. He sighed sadly and thought back through his actions. Would he have done anything differently? No. He did not regret what he did, he did not care for the consequences, but he did not regret helping Sam escape. He was afraid to think about what may have happened had he not helped the young man and everything he came up with made him satisfied that what he had done was the right thing. Sam was not the first man he helped to escape from death, he had helped others, those that had been wrongly accused of committing some crime, or those who had been on the wrong end of Adrienne's anger. He helped the innocent. He was a counselor of sorts, he enjoyed speaking with people and he knew that if one was about to die, having another human being to speak with would offer some comfort and if he could help the wrongly accused to escape an untimely fate, then he would do so, and so he had. He had been helping prisoners for nearly ten years, ever since Adrienne was given control of the kindom. The woman was incapable of running a kingdom without her jealousy or her pride getting in the way. She had been known to send people to death who simply looked at her wrongly on the street. She was royalty and she thought that she could get away with anything, but Geoff had made it his duty to help those innocent victims escape and in some cases relocate to a different town, take on a different name and essentially adopt a different life.

In his years of practice, never before had he been faced with a situation this extreme. The prisoners he helped had never claimed to know or to be related to someone in the castle, Sam was the first and Sam was also in danger from whatever illness he was suffering from and Geoff refused to stand aside and possibly let it claim the young man's life. Liar or not, the man was innocent. His only crime was seeking shelter from a storm in the castle. That and claiming to be Lord McMorrows' brother, but for all Geoff or anyone in the castle knew, Lord McMorrows may have had a brother. The man was fairly secretive about his life, he always had been, nobody knew much about him, he just tended not to speak about his personal life and Geoff respected that. However, some did not. Lord Rockwell for one, that man had never cared for William, he was always afraid that William would take Adrienne away from him, which was quite possibly one of the most foolish things Geoff had ever heard of, Lord McMorrows had never had feelings for Adrienne, she had always made the advances on him and he, being the gentleman, did not have the heart to explain to her the way he truly felt.

Now, more than ever, Geoff wished that William would forget his proper upbringing and turn her away, but even as he thought this, he knew it would not happen. William did not approve of the way Lord Rockwell treated Adrienne, he never had. He had always felt driven to defend her, extreme or not, to William, Adrienne was just a victim of Lord Rockwell's sick game. Still, if Lord McMorrows had turned the woman away int eh first place, he would not be hanging on the edge of death after being poisoned by Lord Rockwell. This was not the first falling out William and John had had, but it was by far the most extreme. There were several times before when William found himself on the receiving end of violence inflicted by Lord Rockwell, but he still refused to give into the man. His pride always got in the way and, Geoff thought, it probably always would. William was a proud man and he showed no signs of changing anytime in the immediate future.

Geoff's mind floated back to the situation at hand, he had helped a prisoner to escape, not for the first time, but this was the only time that Geoff felt his life was truly in jeopardy. He was about to give away his secret to the man, aside from Lord Rockwell, whom Adrienne had the most contact with. Could he trust him? He did not know. He did not know if he could trust the doctor with a secret on such a grand scale, but it was his only option. Lord McMorrows had commanded him to retreive help for Sam and he was obligated to obey. After all, William was of a higher status than he was and therefore he held a position of power over Geoff. Even though William was his friend, a good friend, he still had to do as Lord McMorrows said, it was just the way things worked. Geoff drew a breath and entered the Alchemist's office, the two men inside looked up at his arrival, saw his stony expression and started to put away the materials that they had been making an antidote with.

"When did he pass?" Doctor Grayson asked.

"I was certain there was enough time to make the cure and give it to him." The alchemist replied.

Geoff held up his hands in surprise. "No, keep making the antidote, Lord McMorrows is still alive, I am here for a different manner."

Looks of relief washed over the faces of both the doctor and the alchemist and they returned to what they had been doing. Doctor Grayson looked up as Geoff approached him.

"If Lord McMorrows is still surviving, why do you look so saddened?" The doctor questioned.

"Can I speak to you in private?" Geoff asked.

"Yes, of course." Doctor Grayson replied and excused himself before leading Geoff to the opposite side of the room.

"What is troubling you Geoffrey?" The doctor asked.

"Do you recall the peasant that arrived claiming to know William?" Geoff questioned.

"Yes, Adrienne said that he returned to the village safely."

"She lied. She ordered him to be imprisoned and sentenced to death." Geoff stated.

The doctor looked taken aback, but not entirely surprised. "Well, she does have strange mannerisms. Why are you concerning yourself with what Adrienne does?"

"Because, he is ill. Very ill." Geoff said.

"If he is being sentenced to death, it makes no odds how ill he is."

Geoffrey hesitated and the doctor's face turned to an expression of concerned curiosity.

"What did you do? You did not help him, did you?" The doctor whispered sharply.

Geoff was silent, the doctor's shoulders fell and he closed his eyes before sighing. "Geoffrey, you know the penalty for helping a prisoner is death, why would you place yourself in such a position?"

"He claims to know Lord McMorrows, I have spoken with him and I think I believe his words. He seems genuine." Geoff replied.

"I am sure a prisoner would say anything if he thought he would get an escape route." The doctor sighed, his eyes now locked on the young blonde's anxious features.

"This man is different, I know it. Ivan, I trust him. I do not know why, but I do, and I truly believe that he does know William, somehow." Geoff said.

"But if you are discovered you will die." The doctor stated.

"I do not regret what I did. I would do it again, but he does need your attention. If you could spare only a few moments to come and see to him, please."

Doctor Grayson sighed, running through options in his head. He finally nodded. "Very well, but be sure that we are hidden out of sight, if I am caught with you and the prisoner I will surely be put to death as well."

"You are not going to tell others what I have done?" Geoff asked in surprise.

"No, my good man, you should know me better than that. I am your friend, I will not turn you over for death. Now, take me to this man."

Sam leaned his head wearily back against the edge of Dean's bed. He drew breath after breath, but felt unable to take in enough air and so he continued his antics. He shifted position, trying to find one where as much air as possible would flow into his lungs, but he was disappointed when he realized that no matter what, his chest felt like there was a tightening belt around it, constricting his airways.

"How you doing?" Dean questioned shortly after Geoff had left to retrieve the doctor.

"I'm fine, how are you doing?" Sam asked, dismissing Dean's concern.

"I'm not dead yet...so that's gotta...count for..for something." Dean stated and Sam nodded, the answer was good enough for him for the time being.

"Dean, you're not going to die, period. You're going to be fine and we're going to end this case and get the hell out of here, okay?" Sam spoke and then saw Dean's eyes glaze over, while a shock of pain traveled over the pale face.

"Dean?" Sam asked.

Dean shouted and brought his hands to his head as the room dipped violently around him.

"Dean!" Sam replied, struggling to his feet.

He knocked on the door and waited. A few seconds later the door was opened and Sam stood on the other side, watching him through disbelieving eyes that glimmered with unshed tears.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam questioned.

"I checked myself out." He heard himself saying.

"What, are you crazy?" Was the startled response from Sam.

"Well, I'm not going to die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot." He spoke and felt a blossom of pleasure when Sam laughed and shut the door behind him. However, the young man's face quickly turned serious and he felt a grasp on his arm. He was being led to a seat.

"You know this whole I-laugh-in-the-face-of-death thing? It's crap, I can see right through it." Sam stated.

He shrugged. "Yeah, whatever dude. Have you even slept? You look worse than me."

"I've been scouring the internet for the past three days. Calling every contact in dad's journal."

"For what?"

"For a way to help you." Sam spoke, seemingly appalled that such a question would even be asked. "One of dad's friends, Joshua, he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska, a specialist."

"You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you?" He heard himself say.

"I'm not gonna let you die, period. Come on, we're going." Sam replied.

"What happened?" Shouted the doctor as he came into the room and saw Sam leaning over Dean, trying to hold him still as his body jerked and trembled.

"I uh...I don't know, it just happened. Are you the doctor?" Sam asked and a quick nod from Geoff gave him his answer. "Well, you gotta help him! Please!" Sam pleaded.

"Step aside and I will see what I can do." Doctor Grayson replied, pushing past Sam so he could see to Dean.

Sam watched as the doctor worked, ignoring the room as it spun around him. He stumbled, Geoff caught him by the arm and turned concerned eyes on him. Sam shrugged him off, but found himself swaying again. Geoff took a hold of his arm once again and Sam didn't offer to push the other man away this time. Sam brought a hand up to rub wearily across his face, feeling the strength draining from his body. The concern that he felt for his brother was the only thing keeping him upright, if it hadn't been for that he knew that he would have crashed.

Dean's body was quieting and the oldest brother was showing signs of groping his way back to consciousness. Sam watched anxiously as Dean groaned and slowly opened his eyes. The doctor leaned over him with concern etched on his face, satisfied with what he saw, he sighed a breath of relief.

"Lord McMorrows, can you hear me?" The doctor questioned and Dean nodded slightly.

"Good." Doctor Grayson stated.

"What happened?" Dean asked shakily and then the images that had just flashed through his mind returned and drifted lazily through his thoughts. He turned to Sam and watched the young man with piqued interest. He was familiar.

"Dude, what are you staring at me for?" Sam questioned groggily, his words slurring together.

"I know you, from somewhere." Dean murmured.

Sam stepped forward, Geoff still holding onto his arm. "Yes, that's right...you do know me. I'm Sam, I'm your brother."

Dean looked as though he were in deep thought as he ran through everything that was in his mind, either hiding in the shadows, or beneath a spotlight. He shook his head when things refused to come to him and closed his eyes for a short moment before opening them once more. His eyes wandered to Sam, them to Geoff, then to the doctor before drifting to Sam once again. A line of concern creased Dean's forehead as he saw Sam shake his head as if to clear it and stumble to the right, but Geoff held on to the young man tightly.

"Are you alright?" Geoff questioned the man he was holding onto. Sam nodded, but it was a weak attempt at a lie and all could see right through it.

Doctor Grayson continued to fuss over Dean, not noticing the other ill man in the room until the sound of commotion drew his attention to Geoff and Sam's direction.

"Oh god." Sam slurred as he physically felt the room run circles around him. He staggered back, Geoff held him upright, but only barely. Sam was larger than Geoff who was slightly smaller than Dean, and it took a lot of effort to keep the larger man from toppling.

A fit of coughing grabbed Sam and sent him leaning forward and struggling to take in breath. He grabbed for the aid of another to keep him from falling when his knees buckled, but the help that Geoff offered did no good as Sam crashed to the ground, the smaller man sinking with him, unable to hold the youngest brother up any longer. The room tilted again and Sam curled in on himself, willing the coughing to go away as he fought to draw breath. Every time he thought the fit was ending it would strike him again with full force. A few minutes passed and slowly Sam began to settle. Only then was he aware of the comforting touch on his back, rubbing soothing circles across the back of his shoulders. He turned his head wearily, groaning as the action sent the room twirling once again and his bleary eyes locked with the concerned hazel stare of his brother. He sucked in breath after breath, his lungs rattling with the effort and finally he calmed.

Dean watched through wide, terrified eyes and struggled to pull himself up when he heard Sam's words and saw him go down. He tossed the blankets back and slid his feet over the edge before pushing himself up and stumbling to where the other man was suffering. He reached a hand out and touched Sam's upper back and he automatically started rubbing his hand in circles over the jerking movement of Sam's shoulders. It just felt like the right thing to do in a situation like this. The simple movement of his hand caused images of Sam to flash through his mind and that one thing that he'd been grasping for finally came rushing back to him. Sam was his brother. He knew that now and he felt the urge to offer comfort to the man, it was his duty.