AN: Ok... I hope you all like it... take care, see you soon!
Dean knew that Sammy was tired but no matter how many times he suggested they rest, his little brother would just shake his head and they would continue on as if they were on a leisurely stroll instead of unsteadily stumbling through a forest. Looking over Sammy's appearance again, he knew that they were pushing it, but also knew that his brother had a point; they needed to get to the cabin soon. It hurt knowing that there was nothing that he could do to make his Sammy feel better at the moment, even the pain meds didn't seem to be doing as good of a job as before, but at least the fever that had ravaged the smaller body seemed to be letting up, giving Dean a sense of relief.
Looking around he knew they weren't going to reach their destination by nightfall, but he still hoped that they made enough progress that they could get there before lunch tomorrow. Of course if Sammy had his way, they'd continue walking through the night. He'd hoped that he had broken through the kid's insecurities, but it seemed that he had failed which only added to his worry for his brother. If he couldn't convince Sammy that there was no way he wasn't a part of the family then he was worried what that would do to his health. The medicines seemed to be working to keep the Staph infection at bay, but it was more the mental aspect that now concerned him. It was almost as if Sammy thought that in order for Dean to stay around then he had to prove that he wasn't a hindrance, which was complete and total crap but he hadn't been able to broach the subject and Sammy was determined not to be the reason why they didn't make it to the cabin before that crazy Cara chick found them again.
"Hey Sammy, how about we rest a few minutes?" he asked while pulling his little brother to the side and setting down the packs before turning his attention back to Sammy. "Look, I get that you want to hurry and get settled into the cabin, but Sammy, I gotta tell you, this isn't working." He could have kicked himself when he saw the flicker of fear flash across his brother's face. "No dufus, not like that, jeez… you're so concerned about holding us back that you've forgotten something more important." When he saw he had his brother's attention he finished his thought. "You're still sick Sammy, you almost died. I know that you know that, but you have to understand that your body isn't ready for what it normally can do. You need to rest more. Ok?"
Sam watched as his brother settled against a tree and knew that there would be no way of getting Dean to move until he was sure that he was rested enough. Sighing, he sat down on the forest floor and looked around. He had to admit the area was quiet except for the nature sounds that was heard through the trees, it was peaceful and that seemed to help him relax more than anything else. "I was doing over eight before I got sick." He said quietly, keeping his eyes averted towards the forest. When he looked back he saw the puzzled look on Dean's face. "Eight miles. Dad made us run five a day, I made myself run more. I thought if I could get up to ten then maybe he'd let me come back."
Shocked, Dean had no idea what to say. He knew that his little brother had continued to train, Pastor Jim had told him and their dad that, but he hadn't known just how far Sammy was willing to push himself just to be able to get their father's approval. Sighing, he shook his head and was just about to speak when Sammy interrupted and broke his heart all over again.
"I get it now though, I really do. I'll never be good enough, no matter how many miles I run, how many creatures I kill, or how many languages I know, I'll just be the extra Winchester that he has to drag along." Suddenly he started laughing softly. "I guess that's not true is it? Now he knows he doesn't have to drag me along anymore."
Dean sat there and watched his little brother fall apart in front of him. Not sure if he was about to make things worse or not, he wrapped Sammy into a hug and gently rocked him while whispering that he'd never leave him again, no matter what; all the while praying to a deity that he didn't believe in that he wasn't lying to his little brother.
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Nanci had seen a lot of weird people and had even been on the business end of a gun more times than she wanted to admit, but somehow this beat everything she'd ever faced in her life. It was bad enough that she knew those two brother's were in trouble, but now she hears a crazy woman talking about how that sweet sick boy was evil and how they all needed to do what needed to be done, and all she could think was 'why do I end up with the crazies?'.
Cara had pulled Nanci out of the diner and was ready to go to her car when she saw a Sheriff's cruiser skid to a stop in front of her, making her wish she had just killed everyone and been done with it. Watching the man behind the wheel rush out of his car and pull his weapon, Cara rolled her eyes before yelling. "Do you really think that's going to stop someone like me?"
Sheriff Stanford had no idea what to think except that maybe it was time to retire. He had started out the day with having to escort a social worker to the hospital to enforce a retraining order for one of the children there whose parents had openly admitted to abusing the boy but also insisted they weren't going to give him up. Then upon arriving, they walked right into a madhouse that involved a missing patient, a Sam Mitchell, who was still recovering from a kidney operation done in another state. Now he got a call that Nanci was in trouble at the diner and as far as he could see, he could honestly say that assessment was right on the money.
"Nanci, how you doing?" he called out, not wanting her to worry, but also knowing that whoever this person was, was completely out of her head.
Smiling, Nanci shook her head, "Oh you know baby, the usual. She ordered ham and eggs over easy; I gave her bacon with scrambled."
John couldn't believe what was going on. He and the others had just cleared the door when the Sherriff pulled up and now they seemed to be sharing a joke. He would have thought it was admirable if the situation wasn't so damn serious. Somehow he knew that if something happened to the waitress, his youngest would find out and then it would be disastrous. He felt Bobby's hand on his shoulder and he was pretty sure he understood that he needed to calm down.
Holding Nanci tighter, Cara wondered just what these people really thought was going to happen here. It wasn't as if they would really be able to kill her, the man in the shadows wouldn't let that happen, not until she brought Sammy to him. Smiling, she shoved Nanci roughly towards the Sheriff and took off across the parking lot knowing that the hunters would try to follow, but she'd make sure to lose them as soon as she entered the park. She knew her mistake now, she was thinking like a hunter when she should have just let herself go and allowed her senses take her to her target; she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
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Listening to his brother's even breathing, Dean was both happy to know that Sammy was asleep and sad to know that he cried himself to that state of awareness. He'd known they were pushing it, but had wanted his little brother to know that he trusted him, but now it seemed that the plan had backfired and Dean could only hope that there wasn't any residual damage. Thinking over what Sammy had said Dean was torn between the loyalty he had for his dad and the love he had for his brother. On the one hand, their father had kept them safe from the things out there that people turned a blind eye to, but at the expense of being their dad. It was a hard thing to admit, but even though he admired their dad, he was also angry with him for the way he handled the whole situation. Sammy was the least lazy person he knew, in fact he was borderline compulsive to the point that it was scary at times at how much a neat freak Sammy was and what he would do to keep wherever they were leaving 'clean enough', and for their dad not to notice that something was wrong was just… well… wrong.
Suddenly it hit him. It wasn't that their dad hadn't noticed, he had just trusted that Dean would make sure everything was ok, and when nothing was said he made the assumption that it was just a moody teenage issue. Sammy had always been Dean's responsibility, but lately it had grown more so, but somehow he had failed to pick up on it thinking that their dad still had an idea of what was going on. Dad hadn't failed Sammy, he had, and that's what hurt the most. He was the one who told Sammy to listen to dad, even when he knew something was wrong. He was the one who went along with the plan to leave Sammy even though deep down he knew it was the wrong thing to do. He was the one that didn't insist on going back because he was still sure that dad knew what he was doing. All the while their dad was taking his cues from him as to what the problem could be. How he could have missed that, he had no idea, but he was going to find a way to fix it.
Reaching into the pack, he pulled out an emergency blanket and wrapped it tightly around them. It would be enough to ward off the chill and hopefully help keep Sammy asleep a little longer, his little brother needed the rest and he wasn't going to fail him again.
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John and Bobby returned to the diner discouraged more now than ever. They had Cara in their sights all the way into the forest and then… nothing. It was almost as if someone took her right out of thin air. Searching for signs of what happened, they both knew that something supernatural just occurred and they needed to regroup if they were going to figure out what it was. Reaching the diner they saw Caleb and Joshua talking to Nanci and the Sheriff while drinking coffee and wondered if they managed to find out anything useful. Walking inside, neither were ready for what they heard.
"John, we think we know why Dean took Sammy out of the hospital, he thought children's service's was coming for them. The Sheriff here was there to help enforce a court order for another patient, but we think that Dean might have heard about it and made the wrong assumption." Joshua said while motioning for the men to sit down.
The new information actually made sense considering how quickly the boys had disappeared which gave him some comfort that Dean was as efficient as ever as Sammy's watchdog. That thought made him both sad and relieved; sad that he wasn't the father his boy's needed, but relieved that Dean had picked up the mantle and was there for his little brother. Looking at the waitress he was surprised to see her smiling.
"Don't worry, Steve here will help you find those boys." Nanci said before kissing the Sheriff on the cheek. "He was born and raised here and probably knows that park better than some of the Rangers posted there."
The Sheriff noticed the look the other men were giving each other and finally asked, "I take it you already know where they're going?"
Nodding, John wasn't sure how much to tell this man, but then again what did he have to lose. "Yeah, there's a cabin that me and the boys stayed in several years ago." He noticed the color drain out of the other man's face and wondered about it. "Something wrong?" he asked, looking at the others noting that they picked up on the reaction of the other man.
Nanci placed her hand on the Sheriff's shoulder, "Honey, you ok?"
Nodding, the man looked at her and then back to the men. "Let me guess, a little out of the way place that's tucked in between the rainforest and the forest, no one seems to know anything about it and it has enough stuff stocked for someone to stay for awhile?" he asked, his voice strained.
The hunters looked at John with unease and didn't know what to say when he hesitantly answered the question with a nod. Looking back at the Sheriff, they heard him let out a deep shaking breath before continuing.
"That place doesn't exist, not really anyway. I guess you could call it a ghost of sorts. There are records of it being there, when it was built and even about the man who lived there before the park was created, but no one looking for it has ever been able to find it even with an older map. Every couple of years though someone will say they saw it, but no one can ever prove it. It just seems to show up whenever it feels like it, or when someone is lost and needs it." The man said nervously knowing how crazy it sounded. Looking at Nanci he knew that she wanted him to tell it all. "My brother and I were camping and goofing around one weekend when we were teenagers, no big deal really until Nate got bit by a snake. We were in the middle of nowhere and tried to hike out of there but he was getting worse and we got turned around so I had no idea what to do or even exactly where we were. The next thing I know we stumble across this cabin and think it's the most beautiful sight. I managed to get him inside and set up on a bunk, even got some food down him before I left to get help. I realized where we were and knew it wouldn't take too long to get to a Ranger's Station as long as I hurried. When we got back, his pack was on the ground, but he and the cottage was gone."