Authors Notes: It's been a long time, over 2 months and I really am ashamed. I'm not going to go through all the normal excuses because you have heard them all before and I feel like im repeating myself and I'm sure you all would rather skip that part. It's never taken me this long to update a story and just know that it has been driving me nuts for the past few months and that I am really sorry. Thanks to Angelustatt and Mum ... they helped a lot in bringing this chapter to completion and keeping me sane during the long wait. I owe a whle heap of you for your continued support during my absence. Thanks everyone. Any mistakes are mine and I hope I didnt miss too many in my haste to get this posted tonight!

Chapter 13. Hope

"We're not going to hurt you."

"Really?" Bobby's voice rose ever so slightly to be heard over the wind and rain. "That second set of teeth you have beg to differ, darlin'"

"If we wanted you dead you would be dead by now." The woman pushed forward and Bobby raised the machete a little higher in anticipation. "If you want to save your friends I suggest you listen to me."

Bobby felt torn. He knew they were vampires and his natural instinct was to fight, to take them out but then the other part of him, the part that was well hidden but deathly afraid he would be too late to save the boys was waging a war within him.

"You're surrounded, what have you got to lose?" Bobby glared at the other vampire, Eli she had called him. "Other than your friends of course."

Bobby tried to ignore the rain hitting his face even as it was causing him to blink every few seconds. He was bound to catch pneumonia before he even reached the boys at this rate.

"Give me one good reason why I should trust you," Bobby growled into the wind.

"Because Sam did."

"What?"

"If it weren't for those boys of yours in there we probably wouldn't be here arguing with you right now, old man," Eli replied impatiently.

Bobby glanced at the vampires surrounding him, most of them shrouded in shadows and the dark of night. He turned back to look at the two lead vampires. He didn't recognise them and there was no reason why he should. Bobby had never known a vampire long enough to get acquainted but something clicked, information falling together to paint Bobby the picture he needed to lower his weapon … a little.

"You're Lenore."

xXxXxXx

Cold.

Biting cold stung throughout his body as he tried to listen to the voices talking around him.

They were in trouble. The danger was back. Sam was standing a few feet away from him and wavering in and out of his vision. He wanted to be closer to Sam. He wanted that connection, that physical connection with his brother.

"What the hell do want with us?" There was venom in Sam's voice as he spoke to whoever was standing on the other side of the cage.

"Straight to the point …"

Kate's voice came in loud and clear like she was standing right behind him and Dean tensed. He knew that he should move despite that the cage still separated him from the vampire but he couldn't find the energy. His limbs felt heavy.

"Please don't hurt us!" Tabitha pleaded in a high pitched wail.

"Shh … it's okay," Sam soothed the once again borderline hysterical black woman before turning his gaze to Kate. "Answer the damn question, bitch."

"Is that any way to speak to your host, Sammy?"

"My name is Sam."

"Can we get over this little petulant act? You want to know what the score is, or not?"

"Dad … Sammy, s-she wants … Dad." He remembered now. He remembered that she wanted to get revenge on their father for killing her mate. He remembered that it still killed him a little to keep having to repeat that his Dad was dead. The only thing that saved him from really losing it was that John was no longer in Hell.

"Dean, glad to see you're still with us. Your new friends are eager to finish their supper."

"You keep your filthy friends away from my brother, you hear me? I will kill you!"

Dean fought the fatigue trying to take him under and looked up at Sam when he heard the dangerous fire in the younger man's tone. He wondered if he sounded like that? To Dean, that tone sounded an awful lot like John Winchester. He wondered if Sam knew how much he was like their father.

"I'd like to see you try, Sammy."

"Dad's … d-dead," Dean whispered, pulling Sam's shirt more around him, seeking warmth, concentrating on the one thing that this bitch couldn't seem to grasp. "He's dead … damn … it!" Dean closed his eyes and tried to breathe properly. His heart was beating way to fast, almost fluttering at times. It was being overworked with the amount of blood that had been taken from his body.

"So you keep saying." Kate's replied sounding bored but one look at Sam, even with his blurry vision, and Dean could see his brother's anger building.

"He's telling you the truth." Sam confirmed what Dean had been trying to get across ever since he had been caught. "He died over a year and a half ago."

"I don't believe you."

Dean huffed out a frustrated breath, wrapping his arms around his middle, shivering. It didn't matter what they said or who told her, she was determined to get her revenge, truth be damned.

He wanted to let sleep take him but he couldn't, he couldn't leave Sam alone with these freaks.

A loud clap of thunder overhead was followed up by a bright flash of lightning. The white light spraying through the wooden planks of the barn wall illuminating the area with bright light and just as fast as it had come it was gone again. The shadows returned, heavy rain its background.

There was a hand on his arm and Dean flinched until his fuzzy brain caught up and recognised the touch as Sam. He wondered how he hadn't noticed Sam move. He must have faded out for a moment, gotten caught up with the sudden flash of light.

"Well then I don't know what to tell you." Sam wasn't looking at him. He was still looking over Dean's shoulder to where the vampire was standing on the other side of the cage but Dean felt better now that Sam was close.

There was a pause and Dean wondered what was going on. He hated being on the outer, hated not knowing what was going on, and he hated that he felt like the world was spinning out from under him whenever he moved too much. Despite hating everything about their current situation he trusted his brother, even if said brother had managed to get himself caught in the same vampires nest that Dean had been trying to keep him out of. Bobby wouldn't let them down. The older hunter was out there and a rescue could be coming at any minute. That was something else Dean had absolute faith in.

Back in Chicago when Meg had told them that John had actually come to town for them, Dean had been a little shocked because John never answered his phone, he hadn't even contacted them when Dean had been dying in Nebraska. But Bobby was different. Even after the long distance between them all, Bobby would have come in a heartbeat if any one of them had called, that included John. Bobby had always held that safe certainty for Dean that John had lost a little after disappearing.

"… what? You're right."

Sam's hand was on the back of his neck now and Dean realised that he had missed part of the conversation. He blinked his eyes open to help him remain focused.

"Our Dad is alive."

Dean scrunched his face up at that statement and looked up at his brother as if he had lost his mind. Dad was dead. He had been for too long and what the hell was Sam talking about? Sam's hand squeezed the back of his neck and glanced down at him for a moment with a reassuring gaze before looking back up.

Sam was playing into it. It made perfect sense and Dean wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it before.

This case had him screwed up from the beginning and now when they were right in the thick of things his concentration was no-where where it needed to be. Dean nodded his head slightly in understanding, letting Sam know he understood what was going on. He was with it.

"Where is he?"

"Having trouble finding him?" Sam asked almost smugly.

There was another pause and Dean wondered if she was starting to wonder herself. "I don't need to find him, Sammy. I have you. He will come to me."

Sam snorted, his eyes looking around them theatrically before resting back above Dean. "Don't hold your breath."

"Aww, does Sammy think that Daddy doesn't care?" Kate mocked and Dean wanted to rip her throat out. "I beg to differ. I saw all of his possessions in that truck. He cares about you two more than anything."

"No, not more than anything …" Sam's voice was lower now and Dean looked up at the familiar sentence. He had heard it before from Sam but in a different setting. He had a sudden flash of Sam's expressive eyes looking at him from the rear-view mirror of the Impala before he was brought back to the present.

Dean heard Kate shift and judging by the way Sam looked up higher he guessed that she was standing straight again.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Kate asked.

Dean shifted, feeling Sam tighten his grip on him, but allowing him the space to move. Resting his head on the cage, Dean twisted so that he was leaning on his side, Sam behind him. He could see Kate and he felt better now that he could see the enemy.

Kate lifted a cell phone to her ear. "Your father hasn't responded to our attempts at contact. Since John Winchester is proving to be such a coward I was thinking of sending him a little motivation."

"Please …" Tabitha cried again.

Dean tried to ignore Tabitha's frightened cry as he blearily watched the other vampires working for Kate come closer to the cage. He had a bad feeling … but then he was also suffering from blood loss. Sam's hand moved to his shoulder and gripped it almost painfully.

"He won't come, he's not stupid," Sam stated, ready to stand between him and Dean should the vampires breach the cage. Dean felt like he needed to be more mobile. He wanted to stand but was afraid that if he actually made it to his feet he would come crashing back down. "Besides, you've probably got the wrong number. He doesn't keep the same one for very long and if you were basing your whole plan on a phone call you really don't know my father."

Tabitha shrieked and moved closer to Sam, clutching his t-shirt when two of the nameless vampires approached the door to their cage. They weren't as big as the two that had feasted on him before but they didn't need to be. Vampires had an advantage of strength over them even when they were at the top of their game. Sam would stand his ground but in the end Dean knew that they were out numbered and would be made to do as they were told. Sam stumbled as Tabitha's movements knocked him his brother's side, causing both of them to gasp.

"Tabitha, calm down!"

"I can't!"

"Yes you can."

Sam's efforts on getting her to calm down were wasted as the door to the cage scraped open, garnering Dean's attention. He had the urge to back up as she actually started crying in paralysing fear. Only it wasn't paralysing as she left the make believe safety of Sam and cowered in the corner of the room. Now that the vampires were on their side of the cage wall, Dean didn't feel so calm himself. On a normal day he would have been standing tall, showing no fear to the enemy, just like he had been taught but it was hard to keep that calm exterior when he couldn't stop his limbs from trembling. He could fight them but he wouldn't last two seconds and either way he looked at it Sam was left by himself. He was scared. If you didn't have fear in moments like this you were crazy. He had always believed in that saying but it was made much more apparent now.

"Sammy…" Dean blinked a few times. He needed to be more alert.

He felt Sam trying to help him slide back away from the approaching Vampires. Dean tried to get his feet under him. When it was obvious that Dean's co-ordination skills weren't helping Sam gently let go and then stood in front of him, in a stance that dared them to try taking him. Dean managed to stay upright on his hands and knees, sucking in short gasps of air as he made a concentrated effort to get to his feet. He felt like congratulating himself when he pushed himself up and his legs, although shaky, held.

"Stay away from him," Sam warned.

The new altitude had Dean's head spinning and he stumbled forward, fingers gripping the back of Sam's t-shirt to keep from face-planting. He wanted to tell Tabitha to shut up, that her crying wasn't doing anything but giving these sadistic bastards satisfaction. He felt one of Sam's hands reach back as if to try and help Dean stay standing.

"Don't wait for permission," Kate called in frustration and Dean couldn't tell if the frustration was coming from the lack of phone response or her loyal subject's slow movements. "Just don't hurt the tall one … too much. Troy wants him for later."

"You're not getting him."

Dean could hear the sneer without even seeing Sam's face. He felt strange standing behind his brother. He wanted to be the one standing between Sam and danger, not the other way around.

"Step aside, boy."

"I don't think so."

"Sam …" Dean didn't like where this was heading. The last thing he wanted to do was allow those blood suckers to have another chance at him. In fact just the thought of it almost had him gagging but the thought of Sam getting hurt was even worse.

"It's okay, Dean."

"I'm not going to tell you again, boy."

Sam remained standing, not moving a muscle, not retreating further. "And I won't tell you again."

"Fine, you want to play this the hard way?" The Vampire looked over his shoulder to his friend and cocked his head in the direction of Tabitha. The second vampire didn't have to be told twice. He strode over to the hysterical girl in four long steps and wrenched her from her self imposed ball of fear against the wall and wrapped his arm around her throat, cutting off her terrified scream.

"You don't get out of our way, we will rip her apart."

"And they won't bother with keeping her alive like they will your brother, Sam." Kate warned her concentration no longer on the phone in her hands.

"Step aside, Sam," Dean rasped. The hand that wasn't holding onto the back of Sam reached up to his injured neck. He didn't want to go with them but he didn't want an innocent girl dying on his head either.

"What?" Sam asked without turning around. "Are you crazy?"

Tabitha screamed as the vampire dragged her closer to the door and the vampire in front of Sam lifted an eyebrow, silently telling him to move. It was all a freaking game. They could have taken him by force just as easy.

"Wait!" Tabitha pleaded she was dragged through the door. "I know things … I … please let me go and I'll tell you everything," she sobbed.

All eyes in the barn went to the captive. Sam backed Dean up towards the wall a little more while the vampire's attention was elsewhere. Dean's strength was waning. He felt woozy, like he had spun around on one of those office swivel chairs for too long. He was grateful when he felt his hand and then his back connect with the splintered wood of the barn wall. They had nowhere else to go now but he had something supporting him, he was less reliant on Sam to keep him up.

"Well, well, well …" Kate snapped the cell phone shut and walked over to Tabitha who was struggling in the hands of the two vampires. "And just what is it that you think is worth your life?"

"Some…someone's coming …"

"Tabitha," Sam warned.

"They said something about someone coming for them," Tabitha explained, purposely not looking back at them and Dean felt angry. He had been willing to jump in and let them take him as soon as she had been threatened and here she was giving them up at the first opportunity.

She was scared and he got that. It was stupid not to be scared but to actually turn on them? He wasn't even sure what he felt. Fair enough, she didn't exactly know them but hadn't this woman watched enough movies by now to know that the bad guys never let you go, not for handing over the pitiful amount of information she had on them.

Kate looked smug as she glanced back at them. "So he is coming."

"Th…They said something about a guy called Bobby," Tabitha elaborated, her voice shaking in fear, tears running down her face.

Kate's attention snapped back to the woman in front of her. Apparently Bobby hadn't been the person she had assumed was coming to get them. "Bobby," she spoke the name as if testing it on her tongue and confusion claimed her features as if she couldn't work out why this 'Bobby' was coming for them but John wasn't.

"Please … p-please just let me go. I won't tell a soul. I promise. Please …"

"One of you shut her up," Kate ordered, waving her hand in annoyance. "No-one is going free. Vince, Rochelle, head outside and keep an eye out. Janelle, go and see what's keeping Troy." She turned back to look at Sam who was still on the defensive. "Now, Sam, where were we? Oh that's right, step aside or the pathetic little bitch here gets it."

"Sam." Dean spoke before Sam could tell her no. He wasn't happy with Tabitha either but he wasn't going to let her be killed or worse because of him. They just needed time, time for Bobby to come through with a better rescue plan and then maybe they could all get out of there alive.

"Sam, move," he pleaded quietly.

Sam was fighting himself. He could picture his brother, his lips thinned in frustration, jaw clenched and normally soft eyes, hard and glaring at the vampire ready to rip him from Sam's protection.

For an agonizingly long moment, Dean thought Sam was going to stand his ground but then suddenly Sam was moving to the side, turning his body so that he was facing his brother, one hand pressed to his side as if in pain and Dean wondered how he had not noticed that before now. In a strange way, Dean was glad that the other vampire, Troy, had ordered Sam for himself. It kept his brother from being hurt further. He could handle anything that came his way as long as he knew that Sam was going to be okay.

As soon as Sam stood back Dean felt hands knock past Sam and clutch at his borrowed shirt. Dean was pulled forward and lost his footing almost immediately with the fast, rough motion. He heard Sam's grunt of pain as he past him and the younger man was pushed out of the way. He could hear his own strained breathing as he was all but dragged out through the open cage door and dumped unceremoniously on the ground in front of Kate.

There was the sound of a body hitting the ground and more crying and Dean assumed that they had dumped Tabitha back into their prison but he didn't look. He kept his head down for a moment to get himself under control before forcing his head up, his eyes meeting Kate's.

"Dean!" Sam shouted.

"Don't worry, Sam, we're just going to leave your Dad a little message." Kate held up the cell phone. Dean recognised it as his own. "Tell me, Dean, if your father is really dead then why is it you still have him listed in here."

Dean's eyes slid to Sam's and then back to Kate but said nothing. He wasn't going to say it again.

"I just told you he's alive," Sam growled, hands pressed against the mesh caging.

"Your brother's been persistent, but it doesn't matter that you're finally admitting it now because I know he's alive. I knew it as soon as we found his truck, it screams of your father's scent and he's been good at evading me, I'll admit that, but that's what I have you boys for. He's been hiding from me for long enough."

The vampire was crazy. Dean had known she was a few fries short of a Happy Meal when he'd first seen her again, but if there had been any doubt there wasn't any longer. The woman had convinced herself that John was alive and he had been hiding from her. Nothing was going to change her mind. They had no proof even if they wanted to prove it. There was no record of his death. Elroy McGuillicuddy had died in that hospital, not John Winchester and they hadn't exactly advertised his death.

Kate pressed a few buttons on Dean's phone and then held the device out for Dean to take.

"What …" he paused as his breath caught. "What do you expect me to do with that?"

"I think you know. Take the phone, Dean."

"I'd rather not."

Fresh pain exploded across Dean's face, stars exploding in front of his eyes and he found himself staring up at a blurry version of the ceiling. Why was he even denying her what she wanted? It wasn't as if his Dad was really going to get the message. No, Dean was pretty sure that his phone didn't cater for long distance of that kind.

He didn't want to hear his father's voice on the voicemail message. John's voice had such presence; it had always given such a sense of calm as a child because he knew that Dad would keep them safe. Now, it brought about pain and longing.

He came back to himself when pressure was put on his bloody throat, cutting off his oxygen, precious air that he had been forcing in and out of his lungs since being attacked was taken from him and Kate's face loomed above him and he realised belatedly that it was her boot that was on his throat. A weak hand came up and wrapped around the vampire's ankle and pulled ineffectually as he could hear his brother's not so happy voice in the background.

Kate leaned in close, the pressure carefully exercised on his throat. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding rapidly in his ears again as panic from lack of oxygen set in.

As suddenly as the pressure had appeared it was gone, leaving Dean gasping. Large hands were in his shirt and lifting him up with what seemed like no effort whatsoever and slamming his back into the cage. He grunted with the pain of the impact, Sam's voice loud and threatening in his ear alerted Dean to the fact that his brother was right behind, separated by strong mesh of metal. He couldn't work out what was being said, his head spun wildly as his lungs tried to accumulate the air it had been deprived. But he knew the tone in Sam's voice. He wasn't just mad anymore, he was livid.

"Fine, you want to be stubborn? Go ahead, Michael."

Kate pressed some buttons and then held the phone to her ear and smiled as she spoke but Dean didn't hear whatever it was she was saying. The vampire holding him against the cage was suddenly in his personal space, leaning in and it didn't take much for Dean to understand what was about to happen again. Sam's frantic, angry voice right behind him solidified it.

"Stop!! Get away from!"

Self preservation kicked in and Dean started a feeble struggle. With his upper body pinned down Dean kicked out, lifting his knee only to have it blocked. His muscles tensed as he strained against the vampire. He desperately didn't want the thing's teeth anywhere near him. He could still remember the feeling of his blood being drained, sucked from his body and it was something that he hadn't wanted to go through again.

"Get away you sic…" He was cut off mid sentence as his efforts at holding the vampire back failed. A gasp caught in his throat and his eyes snapped shut with the feel of sharp incisors entering already torn flesh. Sam was yelling, pounding on the cage behind him. Dean could feel each impact of Sam's attack on the cage as his body sagged and his mind retreated to its only escape.

xXx

"Dean!" Sam shouted, wide eyes watching as his brother's body lost its fight. "Damn it! You're going to kill him. Let him go!"

"Hear that, Winchester? I don't think Dean has much time left. If you want to see either of your boys alive again I suggest you get a move on." With that Kate snapped the phone shut and smiled, not at all worried with Sam's threats. "Michael, enough. Leave some for the others." Placing a hand on the Vampire's shoulder, Kate pulled him back a little.

Sam looked on in horror at Michael's mouth as blood dribbled down his dark stubbled chin. Dean was released and he slumped bonelessly to the ground. The sight of his brother's blood on the vampire's lips made Sam feel sick to his stomach and to make matters worse Dean had hardly made a sound during the whole thing. Sam wasn't even sure if the older hunter was breathing.

"Dean!" God, he was alive wasn't he? "Dean, answer me, man!" It was obvious Dean was no longer conscious but Sam couldn't stop himself still trying to get his brothers attention anyway.

"Your brother doesn't seem to be doing so well at the moment, Sam."

"I thought you wanted him alive until our Dad got here?" It was what Sam had been counting on.

Kate walked forward a little and lifted Dean's head. "My new friends might have gone a little overboard the first time around."

"What? What the hell does that mean?"

"Don't fret, Sammy. He's still alive … just."

"You're not going to get away with this."

"I suppose you believe this Bobby will save you? Are you really that naive to believe that just one person alone will get you out of this?"

Sam pushed off the cage and turned his back on Kate, the separation from his brother almost unbearable; Tabitha's quiet crying causing him to glare in her direction. "Yeah, well Bobby isn't just anyone," Sam muttered to himself.

With his back to Kate, Sam fumed. There was nothing he could do to help Dean. No amount of struggle or outward emotion as going to help. All it accomplished was making the situation more fun for Kate. Hell, Sam would beg if he knew it would serve the purpose of freeing his brother. But begging did nothing. Tabitha had just learnt that lesson. She had betrayed the only people that could help her and received nothing for her trouble.

Sam allowed his eyes to rest on the huddled mess of trembling, crying woman as he thought of Dean. His brother had willingly given himself up so that she wouldn't be hurt and now he looked so close to dead that it was hard to stomach.

It was even colder now; Sam could feel it in his bones, in the painful ache of his broken ribs. His thin t-shirt did nothing against the cold temperature.

"I sure will enjoy killing your father with this thing."

Sam frowned, his curiosity getting the better of him. He turned slightly, trying to ignore his brothers still figure. His eyes moved until Kate was back into view. His body followed when he saw a familiar object in her hands. Kate was holding the colt.

In a way it was the colt that had started this chapter in their lives. John had tested the gun's supernatural killing power by saving his life, taking out the vampire, Kate's mate. Now Kate was going to turn the tables on them. She obviously intended to finish what was started two years previous.

Sam's eyes couldn't remain on the colt any longer. Dean was still there and as much as he was trying to ignore that fact to save his sanity, he found his eyes were drawn back down to him of their own accord. He was too still. Dean was never still.

Fear and helplessness was helping to push the cold and pain aside. He was holding onto hope. All he had right now was hope that Bobby would burst in any moment now and save their asses.

With conditions the way they were, Sam knew that if something didn't happen soon to get them out of this, Dean wouldn't be cold anymore. He would be burning in the fiery pits of hell for eternity. God, wasn't it enough that they had to stress survival every day on hunts? Now they couldn't even die in peace because there would be no peace for his brother, Dean had made sure of that himself.

"What's the matter, Sammy?" Kate asked sweetly.

"Oh I don't know. Could it be that I'm trapped inside a crazy bitch's barn as she slowly kills my brother."

"Don't get all 'poor me' Sam. It's not a pretty look on you. Besides…" she shrugged, running her index finger along the business end of the colt. "You and your brother aren't so innocent. You destroyed my whole nest before your father killed Luther. You deserve to die just as much as he does."

Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes upward, resting a hand on the mesh caging. He brought his unbelieving gaze to rest back on Kate's. "But killing innocent people is okay though?"

Kate sneered. "We have just as much right to live as you do."

"So do the people you kill," Sam argued. "There are other ways for your kind to survive."

"And degrade ourselves?" Kate shook her head in disgust. "I don't think so."

Sam huffed in frustration, gave a quick glance down to his brother before leaning more forward, left hand joining the other one. He really didn't want to be having a conversation with her when Dean was barely alive at his feet but he felt like biding time was the only thing he could actively do to help them survive. He needed to keep her attention on him and not piss her off too much because she wouldn't forget that Dean was in striking distance.

"It's been a long time, Kate, why now?"

Kate looked at him like he was stupid. "You took out my whole family, Sam. I needed time to rebuild, to prepare so that when I finally found you I could make you suffer the way you deserve to. But I have to say that if your father thinks hiding like the coward he is will save him? He's pathetically mistaken."

Another loud clash thundered overhead, followed by smaller ones. The night sky lit up outside like floodlights and seeped through into the barn making Kate's eyes shine in the tell tale signs of a Vampire. Her skin was unnaturally pale, sickeningly not unlike Dean's.

Kate paused to allow Mother Nature to bellow, licking her lips, her face becoming hard, no humour or sarcasm behind it. "But let me tell you one thing. The longer he takes to come for you and your brother the more inclined I am to drain you both and leave your empty carcasses for the authorities to find."

The door creaked open, the wind almost taking it from the hands of the person that had opened it. Kate immediately turned around to find the source of the noise. A drenched, female vampire approached, wiping her hair back out of her eyes.

"Where is Troy?"

"I can't find him."

"What do you mean you can't find him?"

"Just what I said. He's not in the house and I searched around the yard but I couldn't see him. Vince and Rochelle aren't out there either."

Kate turned back to stare at Sam, chewing on the inside of her lip as she seemed to be working out things in her mind. Sam met her gaze head on, looking directly into her eyes. Hope soared through him at the unexplained disappearance of the others. That could only mean one thing couldn't it?

Woosh!!

Sam finally broke contact with Kate's gaze as gasps and startled noises were heard over the downpour outside. Janelle, the returning vampire, stood staring at Kate dazed, an arrow sticking out of her chest.

Time blurred for a moment and when it returned to normal, the big guy next to Dean was falling back onto the cage, an arrow sticking out of his chest. The next few moments were chaos. People appeared from the overhead loft, the big main doors slammed open, and the wild wind swinging them back even faster as figures moved in.

Sam's breath got stuck in his throat as he watched, not quite comprehending what was going on. His mind came back into action as a familiar figure rushed through, baseball cap and all. Allowing the fighting to go on around him, Bobby, machete in hand, ran to the cage door only quickly glancing in shock at the form of Dean on the floor.

"Bobby!"

"Stand back!" Bobby shouted over the raging weather. He pulled a gun from his waist band and stood back a step, firing at the lock keeping Sam inside.

Bobby's shot hit its target and the lock shattered. Bobby didn't hesitate in throwing it to the ground. He stood back to let Sam pass, looking once at the frightened form of Tabitha in the corner.

"Dean!" Sam leant down and placed his fingers against Dean's throat, ignoring the slickness there. "Oh god … thank god." Dean moaned, Sam could feel it against his fingers. He held onto that as just another sign that Dean was still with him.

Crouching by his brother, Sam turned to find Bobby standing guard over them. The older man almost seemed in awe at the sight before them. It was like an old fashioned barn yard brawl, only more vicious and bloody.

"Bobby, what the hell?"

"I had some help." Bobby indicated to a pale dark haired woman in the process of slicing through a vampire's neck with a Machete.

Sam's eyes widened as her face came into view as the body dropped. "You're kidding me?"

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, but Dean …"

"We'll have to worry about him later."

"What?" Sam was about to argue until he saw Bobby's attention snap up to his right. Sam followed the man's alarmed gaze. Five more Vampires moved in, these ones carrying weapons and ready for a fight. "Shit!"

"That's a tame way to put it." Bobby quipped as he stepped forward, machete raised. "Get your brother inside that cage now, Sam." Bobby took another step forward, swinging the machete down as one of the approaching vampires lunged right for them.

Sam turned away, needing no more encouragement, and reached for his brother, pulling him up and awkwardly dragging him back into the cell. He found it ironic that all this time they had wanted to escape and now here he was dragging Dean right back into the small prison.

Laying his brother on the cold floor, Sam reluctantly stood, hissing as his ribs protested. He was going to be hurting for a while once they got out of this. Turning, he quickly reached Tabitha's side and pulled her resisting form to her feet.

"Leave me alone!! P-Please!!"

"Shut up!" Sam shook her and then dragged her over to Dean. She pulled away from his grasp and fell to the floor beside the injured hunter. "Stay with him!"

He wasn't usually so rough with woman but he had no patience right now. He didn't want to leave his brother alone and she was the only one there that wasn't in the middle of a battle.

He felt sick as he exited the cage once more but the feeling was thrown aside at seeing the man he basically thought of as an uncle struggling on the ground, a raging vampire straddling him. It was a tug of war for the machete that Bobby wasn't willing to give up.

Sam rushed forward, hand forming into a fist against his side as his ribs moved. He gritted his teeth against the pain and swung his foot in a powerful kick at the vampires head.

The vampire was momentarily stunned, giving Sam time to land another kick, spinning the undead body off Bobby.

Bobby acted fast, belying his age and brought the machete down hard and fast. The head rolled away from the now very dead body, a look of horror still etched on his face.

Sam held his hand out for the older man to take and helped to pull Bobby to his feet. "You okay?"

"Don't worry about me, Sam. Just getcha self a weapon and lets get this done."

Sam nodded, looked around for anything that would be the least bit useful. His gaze came to rest on a large duffle bag against the opposite wall. Racing across, feeling the rain blow in to spray across his face, his arms, leaving goosebumps on his flesh, Sam skidded to a stop and knelt down. Pulling the bag open Sam was greeted with a mass of weapons he instinctively knew were his father's. The machete, gleaming in the moonlight that shone through the open barn called to him and he picked it up. Feeling the weight of it in his palm he wrapped his fingers around the black grip.

Running footsteps could be heard to his right once again as two more vampires were added to the fray. Sam stood, garnering the attention of the vampire closest to him. He wasted no time bringing up the machete, intent on slicing through the vampires throat more humanely than they had torn his brothers up.

His arm was blocked by a slender, yet toned arm, followed up by a kick to his ribs sending sparks of pain igniting there. His breath momentarily deserted him as he doubled over. He automatically allowed himself to fall into a roll missing her next attack and swiped his leg out catching her in the back of the calf. He felt her land on her back beside him as he pulled in ragged painful breaths. Her foot came swinging towards his head but this time he was ready and caught it with both hands, almost dropping the machete in the process. He twisted the limb cruelly and enjoyed her cry as the motion flipped her over onto her stomach.

A flash of something moving fast interrupted the battle and suddenly the leg he was struggling to hold no longer put up a fight. Sam looked up confused into the dark eyes of Lenore. The vampire had finished the job for him.

Her small but strong hand wrapped around his bicep and pulled him to his feet quickly causing him to hiss and hunch over in an effort to protect his broken ribs. The aching grinding pain was enough to take his breath away.

"Sam, where is she?"

"Who?"

Lenore rolled her eyes but shook his arm a little to keep his attention. "Kate!"

Sam once again surveyed the room. Lenore's gang were starting to get the advantage but as her question started to sink in he realised that he really wasn't sure where Kate was. Shit! How had he allowed her to get away?

"I don't know …" He began to look for Bobby. He needed to know that the other man was still okay. He found the hunter standing next to Eli, guarding the cage. Dean was safe.

"Dammit!" Lenore cursed softly, letting go of Sam's arm but not before giving it a slight comforting squeeze. "Go to your brother, Sam. We've got this."

"But …"

"Sam, your brother needs you more than we do … go!" She gave him a small shove in the direction of the cage and Sam found himself going without further argument.

He trusted Lenore despite the fact that he didn't really know her. She had proven she was trust worthy though and that was good enough for Sam. He wanted to be with Dean. He needed to get him help and he needed to get it yesterday so if Lenore said they had it covered then he could live with that and hopefully so could Dean.

Sam moved quickly, pain lancing up his side making him pant out harsh breaths through clenched teeth. He stumbled as he approached Bobby, the older man catching him before he could go head first into the mesh cage.

"Whoa, son …"

"I'm okay."

"The hell you are, Sam."

Sam stood up straighter and clenched his eyes tightly shut for a moment, letting himself ride it out. He needed to focus on Dean. "I will be. I need to check on Dean."

He was grateful when Bobby moved aside to grant him access. The older man probably assumed that he would be better off taking cover with Dean and he was probably right but Sam didn't really care as long as he got to his brothers side. He nodded to Eli in recognition and then stepped back into the cold, bare prison and found Dean exactly where he had left him, Tabitha too.

Tabitha shuffled back away from Dean as Sam approached. Dean was a pale bloody mess and it really was hard to tell if the older man was breathing. Sam's stomach flip flopped at the thought. Careful of his injured ribs, Sam lowered himself down to a kneeling position beside Dean's inert form. He bent over him, pressing his ear to Dean's mouth and was rewarded with the faint puff of air against his skin.

Sam's face broke out into a smile and he raised the hand he had placed on the ground to Dean's head and ran his fingers through his hair. "That's it, Dean."

"Has he woken up at all?" Sam asked Tabitha without turning to look at her.

"No."

Sam nodded absentmindedly as he continued to brush his fingers through Dean's hair as if trying to soothe him.

"Sam, how's he doing?" Bobby asked as he came to stand over both boys.

"He's still breathing." Sam remained watching Dean for a few more moments before looking up at the old hunter. "He's lost a lot of blood, Bobby. We need to get him out of here."

"There's a small emergency clinic in town." Eli appeared next to Bobby, looking down at Dean with concern and something else in his eyes.

Sam moved a little closer to his brother at the look he saw in the vampire's eyes, warning him with his body language to not even think about it.

"Don't worry, Sam." Eli told him gruffily. "You're brothers safe around me."

"I thought you don't drink human blood." Bobby shot the vampire a questioning look.

"Just because we don't drink it doesn't mean the urge still isn't there. We just control it," Eli explained, looking back out into the main area for a moment and then turning back. "It's harder when it's being practically advertised, kind of like a recovering alcoholic I guess." He shrugged. "Anyway, I think you are good to get out of here."

As soon as Eli had walked away, Sam brought his attention back to Dean on the ground as Bobby moved to his brother's other side.

"He looks terrible."

"Really?" Sam asked sarcastically

"I'm just saying." Bobby refrained from snapping back and instead reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bandana. "Lift him up a little, Sam."

Once Dean was raised, being held up in his little brothers arms, Bobby fashioned the bandana around his throat. Blood soaked into it but it was all they had for the moment. "Bobby, Dean and I … Hendrickson's really on our butts, man."

"You're starting to sound like your old man." Bobby griped. "Let's get him up, huh?"

Sam nodded and with Bobby's help gently eased Dean into a sitting position, both hunters paused when Dean groaned. Sam glanced across his brother to Bobby.

"I didn't say we shouldn't take him to the hospital, Bobby, I was just saying. If he catches us that's it, It's the end of the line and Dean rots in a cell until the hell hounds come for him."

"Sam … Sam! I've got it covered."

"What?"

"How…" Bobby grunted as the boy lifted Dean at the same time, helping to take his weight. "How about we worry about this later? Let's just get him out of here first."

Sam wrapped his brother's arm around his shoulder again, like he had when he had first gotten him loose from the chains. The wounds in Dean's arms where he had been cut were probably going to need stitches. Sam just hoped that travelling from here to the car wouldn't re-open the wounds. He really couldn't afford to lose any more blood.

"You're right, Bobby."

"I know I'm right, ya idjit."

Sam smiled and shook his head. He wasn't sure how they had survived without Bobby that first year back on the road after Stanford. He still wasn't sure why John and Bobby had the falling out. Neither Dean nor Bobby had elaborated and John … well their father hadn't lived long enough for him to ask him.

Bobby looked back at Tabitha, who was looking up at them with a mixture of fear and hope. "If you're comin' with us, sweetheart, you better come now."

Right now? Sam didn't really care what she did. All he cared about was getting Dean to some desperately needed help.

Carefully and slowly, Bobby and Sam helped Dean through the cage door and into the main area of the barn. Sam hadn't noticed it before but now as he looked outside the two big doors he could see that the rain had stopped. It was still windy as hell but the rain had stopped pelting.

"Sam."

Lenore approached the four humans with Eli at her side. Tabitha shrank behind the three men obviously not sure what to make of the new vampires.

"I don't know how to thank you."

Lenore closed her eyes and shook her head before opening them again. "There's no need, Sam. We owed you. Now go and get your brother some help."

Sam swallowed and nodded, a small grim smile on his lips.

"We'll do a clean up here and anything we find we'll keep for you whenever you're ready, including the mammoth truck out there."

"Thanks." He had questions, lots of them but they could wait until Dean had enough blood in his system to function properly. "Kate's still out there." He knew they needed to move but he was slightly unnerved that the vampire that had caused all this was able to escape.

Eli and Lenore shared a look. "We'll be keeping a look out." Lenore looked deadly serious and suddenly Sam didn't feel so worried. If she wasn't caught now then they would probably lose her but Sam had more important issues to worry about so knowing that Lenore and her family were going to try to find her made him feel a lot better.

Bobby nodded to the two vampires, saying thanks silently and then glanced at Sam. "Let's get this show on the damn long road."

TBC ...

Thanks for reading! Really thank you!! I owe you all and I hope I dont disapoint.