Disclaimers and warnings see Chapter 1

Thanks to SeaKat for the wonderful and fast beta job. All mistakes are mine.

Chapter 11 Note

Sam was given a pat on the back by each of the hunters as they headed back to the motel. They were all extremely happy that Sam had given Dean not one but two of the small tubes meaning he had four pain relievers. Bobby went out and got diner for them while the others had showers in preparation for an early night. John wanted to see Dean as early as possible in the morning so they could have the day to organize Dean's escape. Sam pondered going to the library and looking Dean's symptoms up but he knew it would only make him worry more so he settled for their beat up first aid book. It did little to ease his mind but let him know time was short to get Dean out as he suspected.

Dean was dragged outside again that night as was the pattern of his jailers. The same guard as always attempted to grab him around the shoulders and pin him against the wall on his way out but Dean used what he could tell was the last of his waning energy to knee the guy in the groin, use his handcuffed hands to give him a double uppercut and spit on him with the comment of "I hope you catch it to." Dean knew his strength was at an end and hoped he could con these men in to thinking he had something catching so they might leave him alone. He really needed it to work because he knew there was defiantly something wrong with his right hand now. He had felt the bones mash together further up at his wrist even though he had led the uppercut with his left.

Once he was down in what he now dubbed as "his hole", Dean carefully opened a tube and dumped the contents on a shaking hand. He popped the pain pills straight in his mouth but it took some time to get them down due to a lack of moisture. He ended up choking them down with a harsh cough. He unrolled the paper and used the tiny amount of moonlight he had to read what was written in Sam's careful hand.

'Dean. We are planning to break you out but need to know the best way to do it. If you can think of the best way please let us know and get this note back to the next one to visit. Please stay strong. We are all missing you. S,D,B, and PJ.'

Dean could sense Sam had some help with this but he appreciated it being by his brother's hand nonetheless. He grasped the tiny pencil with shaky, swollen fingers and used a small flat rock to write on the paper. It took him almost half an hour to write his short message as his brain was starting to get a little cloudy.

"Best place would be the hole out in the yard at four am. The guard goes inside for thirty to forty minutes and leaves a rock over the plate. This happens every night. No lights on. The lock on the outside gate is a Stanley secure padlock. This gate has not been used since I have been here. There is no lock on the hole but a barrel bolt. Ace in five."

Since Sam had given him two pieces of paper he wrote the same message on the other piece of paper, shoved it back in the tube and put one in each of his front pockets. He put the remaining painkillers in his pocket for the morning and buried the pencils in the bottom of his hole. The painkillers weren't doing much but maybe they were just taking the edge off the pain for a little while. Dean unwrapped his bandage and re-wrapped it using the other end of the bandage over the wounds. It was all he could do in the way of first aid for himself so after covering the wet bandage back up with his shirt he curled up to get some sleep. He was just about to nod off when he heard the pinging of rain hit the metal lid of his prison. He stood as fast as his body would allow and pulled his T shirt off soaking up the small trickle of rain as it came in. As he pushed the cloth up to the crack the guard moved off the lid allowing more water to flow in. Dean kept his head up allowing the rain to wet his face until the guard stepped back on the plate. Dean could tell by the crinkle of plastic he had put a rain jacket on. Dean was able to suck moisturize off the shirt twice before the rain stopped. He ran the shirt over the metal until it was dry knowing it wasn't hygienic but he needed the water. He put the shirt back on once it was sucked almost dry and slumped back down falling into a restless sleep.

The next morning Dean forced the painkillers down before he was yanked from the hole again. He was sorer and stiffer than he had been for a long time. The cold at night and sleeping in such a small space was really starting to hurt. The cramps were almost continuous and he felt hotter than he had in his life. His body wasn't even able to sweat to give him some relief. As he hoped, the guards were avoid touching him as much as they had in the past few days and he was quickly shoved back in his cell. He lowered himself slowly to the floor and lay down, and savored the room to stretch out before the rest of his aches and pains overcame the slight relief. He spent the next hour in and out of consciousness, his body jerking with cramps, while he waited for someone to come.

He was rewarded when Sam came stumbling in very pleased to see him. Sam wasn't happy to see how much worse he was looking in just twelve hours. At least he was awake this time and laying close to the bars before Sam kneeled down against them. As before Sam wound his arms through the bars and pulled Dean closer to him. He was dismayed how accustomed he had grown to the heat and shivers Dean's body was giving off. Sam managed to slip a few more painkillers in Dean's pocket as he slipped the note out and tucked it in his own pocket. Sam gave Dean the biggest bear hug he could through the bars and Dean returned it as hard as he could.

Sam leaned back slightly deciding to do something to give Dean the strength to hold on.
"I've got a memory for you Dean."
Dean licked his lips several times before he could speak."Why don't you keep it for later? It's my turn all right?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I've got it. Remember when you were seven we went to Seattle for the first time and there was that huge storm?"
"Yeah it scared the pants off me and I stayed in the bed with you all night and the next day. I was a quivering mess until you came to me. You held on to me so long I'm sure you had a cramp."
"You were still shaking a bit." Dean teased lightly then turned serious. "You wanted to know all about storms that night and the next few days."
Dean coughed around his abused throat as he finished.
"That's when I worked out what a cool big brother I had. You didn't lie to me like adults do to kids at that age. Like when they tell them thunder is God dancing and stuff. You told me lightning is electricity. It forms in the strong up-and-down air currents inside tall dark clouds as water droplets, hail, and ice crystals collide with one another."
"I said that?"
"Word for word. Then you went to the library and came back and told me: The positive and negative electrical charges in the cloud separate from one another, the negative charges dropping to the lower part of the cloud and the positive charges staying in the middle and upper parts."
"You remember that?"
"Hell yeah! It was the first time I understood you always told me the truth and explained things to me like I was important and deserved to be told."
"You were a geek right back then to. My little Einstein."

Dean pulled his best grin out which fell far short of his normal brilliant, winning smile.
"I asked so many questions back then and you were always there for me. I remember when I asked about fog when we were in Washington during the winter. I remember being scared of the clouds being to low but you turned from the front seat of the Impala and told me that like clouds, fog is made up of condensed water droplets which is the result of the air being cooled to the point where it can no longer hold all of the water vapor it contains. If the temperature near the ground has fallen under the dew point temperature then the air can't sustain any more moisture as vapor and has to condense it into droplets. That's when fog appears. It has nothing to do with the clouds the sky. It put my mind to rest and made dads eyebrows go into his hair."

Dean gave a small chuckle that made Sam wince with how painful it sounded.
"You learned that stuff for me. So you could help me learn stuff. You made me want to learn, Dean. There is nothing better than listening to you to teach me something. I soak it up like a sponge. I love you for that big brother."
Dean was feeling pretty out of it but could still glow at Sam's words.
"Just make sure you keep learning and go on and do something with it. You're too special to waste it."
Sam grinned but then the implications of what Dean had said sank in.
"Don't you dare think about checking out early on me, Dean! I want you around to teach me so much more. I need you."
Dean nodded realizing he had freaked his baby brother out. Sometimes he forgot Sam was only ten. He often acted a lot older than he was. As if he had heard what ran through Dean's brain Sam pushed hard through the bars to hug his brother again with tears in his eyes welling up so fast they spilled down his cheeks. The guard was there nudging Sam's boot with his foot and Sam gave Dean another hug and on impulse a quick kiss on the cheek.
"See you soon, Dean."
"You too, Sammy."

Dean rolled back the other way so the guard couldn't see the single tear that slid down his cheek. As strong and indestructible as he liked to make everyone believe, he was he was starting to think he wasn't going to make it out of there. Man, it would suck to die in jail in the wrong country cut off from his family and friends. It seemed he had a chose between dying in a hole and dying in a cell. Another tear rolled down as he curled up on himself to attempt to hold onto reality and save his strength.

TBC