A/N: As a thank you to my readers, I am posting this chapter early. I am anxious like you for the brothers to get back together and it is coming. Dean figures out what he is hunting and tries to come up with a plan to take it out. Sam isn't waiting any longer and goes in search of his brother. Thanks for reading my story and I hope you are enjoying it. Reviews would make my day. NC

Chapter 21

Dean had gotten a motel room and was going over the hospital records of three of the five patients in isolation at the hospital. The relatives of the last two were not at the hospital while Dean was there. They had gone home to shower and grab some clothes and were coming back later. He had the three files laid out on the table side by side and was going over them trying to see something that would link them. He picked up the photos and studied them closely, trying to figure out what could have caused the strange markings.

He snapped pictures of the photos with his cell and started to send them to Bobby but stopped. If he did, Dean was sure Sam would see them and he knew his brother and was sure he had come looking for him. He did not want that since it was so close to the full moon cycle. He did not want Sam around him when it happened. Instead he pulled up Sam's favorite website for searching out supernatural creatures and typed in key words of what he knew so far and hit enter. He hoped this might point him in the right direction and he would not have to contact Bobby.

Dean sat back and rubbed his tired eyes as he tried to decide what to do next. He had interviewed the family members that were at the hospital and was going to track down the other two patient's families to see if they had any additional info he could use later.

He checked the time and decided to go by the police department to see if they had learned anything. The police were brought in after the second patient was admitted gathering evidence and help with trying to find what had happened to the patients.

Dean headed to the bathroom first and came out to grab his jacket before heading out the door. He had found the address for the police department earlier and got a map to find it. It was across town, near the courthouse and would take him about twenty minutes to get there.

The traffic was not heavy yet and Dean was able to get to the station without any trouble. He found the visitor parking and took a space. He headed inside and stopped at the front desk, waiting for the officer to get off the phone.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm with the CDC and am looking into the coma patients that are at the hospital. Could I talk with whoever has been investigating the cases?"

"Of course, I'll get Detective Harper to help you," he replied getting on the phone and calling to the back.

Dean did not have to wait long before a middle-aged man stepped through the door behind the desk and step toward him.

"Hello, Detective Harper, how can I help you?" he asked.

"Steve Nash, CDC," Dean greeted him, flashing his credentials for a second. "I'm looking into the cases at the hospital of the coma patients. I wanted to see if the police had found out anything about the cases. Did the victims know each other or cross paths in anyway? Do you have any leads of the cause for the comas?"

"Why don't you come back to my desk and I'll go over what we've found, which I have to tell you isn't much."

Dean followed the detective into a squad room and to a desk near the back and took a seat in a chair by it. The detective took a seat and tapped on the keyboard in front of him for a moment staring at the screen.

"We were called in after the second person was brought into the hospital with the same symptoms. Before we could get started on the cases, another one was admitted. They were all put into isolation and the docs are trying to determine how this started and if it's contagious."

"And you didn't find any links between them?"

"No and I have looked at everything from friends, to work, restaurants, hobbies, family, and we can find nothing that stuck out. A couple knew each other in passing but really weren't friends. We've pretty much hit a dead end here. I just hope there are no more victims. From what the doctors are saying they don't know how long any of the affected ones will last."

"I spoke with a Dr. Houston earlier and she told me. She said one patient had traces of a muscle relaxant in their system. Did you find anything on that?"

"No, never found a prescription for any drugs of that type for any of them. But that alone wouldn't be causing this, so we're still trying to work the case with what little we have."

"Could I get copies of your reports so I can review them?"

"Sure, just give me a sec and I'll print them off," he replied tapping keys. "Gotta tell you not much here but maybe it'll help."

"Thanks for the help."

"If you need any assistance, just call me. Here's my cell and work number," he told Dean handing him a card.

"I'll do that."

"The printer's in the other room, they should be done by the time we walk out there."

"Good. Can you recommend a good place to eat around here? Thought I'd grab a meal and head back to the motel to work."

"There's a great steakhouse about four miles away heading toward the other side of town called Big Bob's. Can't find a better steak around."

"I'll check it out, nice to meet you detective."

"Same, I hope you can find something we didn't. I don't want to see any more victims being admitted to the hospital."

"I'm going to try." Dean accepted the printed pages and let the detective lead him back to the front so he could leave. He was going to grab a map of the town and see if locations of patients' homes, where they were found might shed some light on this case. He dropped into the Impala and cranked her to head to the steakhouse. Dean was feeling that itch and knew he needed meat, even if it was not completely raw, it would help the craving for now. He had six more days before the full moon cycle and wanted to get this wrapped up and head for the cabin.

spn

The detective was right, the steak was awesome and having it as rare as he could get it, really hit the spot. He pulled into the motel parking lot and parked in front of his room. Dean gathered the police reports and got out heading for his room. He wanted to check his search to see if anything had turned up yet.

Dean opened the door and decided to change into his sleep clothes since he did not plan on going out again tonight. He was going to go over everything again and hoped something stood out that he could follow up on tomorrow. After changing, he went to the laptop and woke it to see if there were any results.

He pulled up the results and stopped on the second names listed, a Buspara. It was a creature from Europe that had a human form, but when it attacked, its fingers would turn into suction cups so it could suck out the memories of its victims. Once it had drained them, they were a lifeless shell that would linger for weeks until they finally died. Dean cussed under his breath because he was sure he had found his monster. He clicked on a few keys and looked at pictures of the fingers and knew they matched the photos from the hospital. There was not a lot of information on the monster, but he did find what he needed; a headshot would kill it.

Now, all he had to do was to find this Buspara and end it. It had already killed five people and he did not want there to be a sixth. He moved the laptop and spread the town map out so he could start marking locations hoping to find some central spot he could check out. With his heightened senses, Dean was sure he could tell the monster when he found it. When he had taken out the vampires, he noticed they had a rotten, dead smell to them, since they were actually dead to begin with. He hoped it would be the same with the Buspara.

It was getting late by the time Dean finished with the map and his eyes were going crossed. He decided to head for bed and finish in the morning when he could think straighter. He flipped off the lights and pulled the covers down to crawl into bed, turning off the lamp beside it.

He was tired but his mind would not let him sleep. Dean knew he had to find this monster and kill it and tried to think who it could be that all five patients would know. He tossed and turned on his side as his thoughts drifted to Sam and hoped he was taking care of himself and would do what he asked and wait at Bobby's. He still did not know how he was going to tell him what happened. This could destroy their relationship forever.

spn

Sam was tired and he was ready to stop driving for a while. He had gotten to Brusett, Montana and decided to get a motel room for the night before starting his search for his brother. This area was where he had traced Dean's emails to. The town was small, and he chose a small motel on the outskirts. When he checked in, he asked if anyone fitting Dean's description had stayed there in the past couple of weeks, but they would not give that information out. So, he approached it another way, he asked the clerk if he had seen a black '67 Impala pass through recently and was told he hadn't.

Sam was disappointed but knew it would not be that easy to find his brother and he was not giving up. He paid for a single, catching himself when he first asked for a double. Sam took the key and moved the car to the back of the office where the rooms were spaced around a U shape with openings at each connection. He saw vending machines at one and an ice machine at the other. He parked in front of his room and grabbed his bag before going inside.

The room was small, but at least it smelled clean and there were not any nasty stains on the carpet or in the bathroom. He sat his bag in a chair and grabbed sleep clothes to change into before going to the bathroom. He did his routine and dropped his clothes on the chair before turning off the lights and climbing into bed.

Sam lay there as he thought about the email from Dean and what he had not said. There was a reason he was not coming back to Bobby's, but he had no idea what it could be. The one time he talked to him on his cell, he seemed a little distant and allusive. He was not acting like himself and even if he had met a girl, he would not have been gone that long. He knew his brother and staying in one place that long, even if he was getting great sex, was not him.

He turned to his side as he tried to make his mind shut down so he could rest. He knew there had to be a good reason for Dean's actions, he just hoped he could find him and get him to tell him what they were. If he had been hurt, Dean would not hide that from him. No, it was something else, he just could not see it yet. Sam began to drift off with memories of when they were kids playing in his mind. He planned on checking around town and the surrounding area to see if he could find Dean or any sign of him. The triangulation gave him coordinates for an area outside of town he wanted to check before moving on. He was not sure what was out there, but he planned on finding out.