Chapter 3

It was a brief time later that Sam stood in the doorway to Dean's bedroom again with a bottle of Tylenol and water. He looked in at his brother laying on the bed and took a deep breath before entering the room. He walked cautiously to the bed, giving the large room a wishful glance.

"Hey," Sam called to his brother as he tapped his leg with the water bottle. "Mom says dinner is ready and I thought you might want these." Sam dropped the two bottles on the bed beside Dean and turned to leave.

"S'mmy," Dean mumbled as he pulled himself from a light doze to look bleary eyed at him. "Wait," he spoke again as Sam turned to leave.

Sam faltered in his steps but didn't turn around. He looked down at the flooring waiting to be scolded or yelled at for coming into his room without being asked. The last time it happened, Dean had almost broken his arm throwing him out.

"Please Sammy, will you sit down for a minute?" Dean asked softly as he eased up in the bed and moved the pillow to lean against. He looked at the offerings by his leg and picked them up. After fumbling with trying to get the cap off the bottle of pills, he was relieved when Sam took it and opened it for him. "Thanks."

Sam sat on the edge of the bed, tense, and ready to flee if Dean tried anything to hurt him. He had been on the receiving end of his punches too many times to feel relaxed around him. He couldn't start his plan until tomorrow morning and figured it wouldn't hurt to hear what Dean had to say.

Dean shook three pills out and popped them into his mouth, following it with several long swallows of water. He closed his eyes and relished the coldness of the water for a moment before looking at his brother's profile. He swore it was like a dark, stormy cloud hung over Sam, making him look miserable and forlorn.

"I'm sorry," Dean offered after clearing his throat to speak.

Sam jerked his head around so hard his neck cracked. He stared in disbelief at Dean like he was a two headed monster.

"I never should have treated you that way and hurt you…" Dean started, his voice cracking at the end. It pained him to even say those words.

"Who are you?" Sam gasped. "You look like my brother and sound like him, but you sure as hell don't act like him. This is the most you've talked to me in years." It looked like Dean was playing right into his web and he could barely control the excitement building inside of him.

"That's just wrong. We're brothers. We should be looking out for each other. Like true brothers do."

"Mom has dinner ready," Sam told him again, as he stared at his clasped hands.

"Yeah, right," Dean mumbled wiping his face and swinging his legs from the bed. He sat there a moment to let the lightheadedness pass before getting up. "Let me use the bathroom and I'll be right there."

"I'll let her know," Sam got up and hurried from the room like there was a fire in there.

Dean went to the bathroom across the hall and washed his face with icy water, hoping it would help with the pain in his head. He used the bathroom and washed his hands before heading down the hall to the kitchen where Mary and Sam were sitting at a kitchen table waiting on him.

"Sorry, you should have started without me," Dean apologized as he took a seat.

"That's fine Dean, Sam said you had a headache. Did you take something for it?" Mary asked.

"Yes, Sammy brought me some Tylenol, thanks again Sammy, and it's easing some."

"Maybe eating some food will help. I made our favorite meal," she told him, holding out a platter with hamburgers on it. "I even put bacon on them like you always want."

"Thanks Mom," Dean told him, giving her a warm smile as he took the platter. "Sammy, how 'bout a burger?"

"Ummm…I don't eat meat," Sam grimaced as he poured dressing onto a large salad.

"No way, when did this happen?"

"Like forever."

"Dean, honey, are you sure you're okay? Maybe we should go see the doctor again?" Mary asked with concern giving Sam a worried look. "You're acting a little strange and you're forgetting more things."

"No!" Dean said quickly. "I'm fine. Honestly."

"Well, alright, but if this continues, you're going to see the doctor again, no arguing either."

"I'll be fine Mom," Dean assured her, thinking it was weird to be sitting there with his Mom and brother having dinner. He picked up his burger and took a bite, letting the tastes explode in his mouth. "So good," he mumbled around the bite.

"Thank you, Dean, it's the same recipe I always use."

"Don't care, it's delicious." Dean took another bite and hummed to himself. After several more bites, Dean paused and wiped his mouth before drinking some soda. He looked toward the sliding glass door when movement caught his attention outside. He blinked quickly and squinted when the same girl he had seen before came into focus. She was staring at him so hopelessly and mouthed the words 'help me.' Dean started to get up but was distracted when Mary spoke to him.

"Dean are you alright?" she asked looking the same way Dean was looking but didn't see anything.

Dean blinked and looked out on the deck again but didn't see anyone standing there. He shook his head before replying.

"Yeah, yeah, just saw some shadows on the deck," he told her.

"Okay dear."

"Mom, would it be okay if Sammy sleeps in my room while he's here?"

"What?" Sam asked in surprise. The only reason he was in that small cubby was Dean had refused to let him sleep in his room.

"Really Dean?" Mary asked arching her eyebrows her oldest son. She knew how he could be, and this was not him at all. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, there's plenty of room in there."

"Well, that's up to Sam dear."

"Whadda you say Sammy? Wanna bunk with me?"

"I-I don't know," Sam stuttered not sure what to say or how to react with the offer. This was so not his brother. He wondered if he was on drugs or have an episode.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Dean encouraged. "I'd like the company."

"Okay, I guess."

"Great!" Dean preened slapping Sam on the arm happily before continuing to eat.

Sam eyed him warily, not sure what his motive would be to allow him to sleep in the same room. Was he going to smother him while he slept? Why did he even agree to doing it? Sam thought he probably wouldn't sleep at all tonight for fear of something happening. He kept his focus on his food and didn't look up as Dean and Mary talked.

"Why don't you let Sammy and me clean up since you cooked the meal?" Dean asked as he finished the last bite of his hamburger.

"Really?" Mary asked. "You don't mind?"

"Of course not, isn't that right Sammy? We can do that for Mom."

"Okay, fine," Sam mumbled not sure what was up with Dean. He never volunteered to do anything, especially chores.

"If you're going to do that, I'm going to take a nice long shower and do some reading before bedtime." Mary got up and kissed Dean's head and went to Sam to do the same. She lingered with Sam for a moment longer, caressing his cheek and smiling lovingly at him. "I'll see you boys in the morning."

"I'll wash, you can dry," Dean instructed as he stacked the dirty dishes to take to the sink. He plugged the sink and began to run water into it before looking around for the dish detergent and finally finding it under the sink. After squirting a generous blob into the water, he watched it suds. He added the dishes and began to wash them before putting them in the other sink for Sam to rinse.

Sam moved to the sink and grabbed a towel so he could dry the dishes after rinsing them. He stacked them on the counter before putting them in the cabinet. He watched Dean wipe down the stove, counters, and table before rinsing the towel and hanging it on the sink.

"Why don't we go sit out on the deck and watch the stars come out?" Dean suggested. "Come on," he insisted opening the sliding glass door and screen so they could step onto the deck. He sat down in a lounge chair and smiled when Sam sat down beside him. "We used to do this all the time," Dean commented looking up at the stars.

"We've never done this before," Sam corrected him, giving him a frown.

"Yeah, we did…" Dean started but grimaced as the ache started back in his head. Flashes of memories rushed by of him with Sam sitting out under the stars. He saw them sitting on the hood of the Impala in a field star gazing.

"Are you alright? Should I get Mom?" Sam asked when he saw Dean's pinched face, like he was in pain.

"No, no, I'm fine," Dean grunted out as he drew in slow deep breaths. "What is wrong with me…" he mumbled to himself but didn't realize Sam heard it too. He looked up into the night sky and saw a shooting star making its way across the ebony darkness. "Look Sammy, a shoot star," he pointed up.

"Wow," Sam said. "I've never seen one of those before."

"They say if you make a wish it'll come true. But you can't tell anyone what it is."

"Okay." Sam closed his eyes for a moment before looking back into the sky as the stars began to sparkle, like someone threw a hand full of diamonds across the night sky.

spn

"We need to stop and fill the car before looking for Dean," John told Sam as he pulled into a gas station.

"Okay," Sam mumbled, as he concentrated on the files he was reading. He was going back over all the notes and articles they had on the case trying to find anything that would give them a clue about what they might be hunting. There had to be something in here that will help them find Dean before it was too late.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" John asked when he got back in the car.

Sam looked up from his reading for a moment, deep in thought before answering.

"I could use something cold to drink," Sam decided. He closed the file and started to lay it on the dash when a page fell from it. Sam picked it up and looked at it, seeing handwritten notes from his brother in the margins. He skimmed them and sucked in a quick breath. "Dad, did Dean mention anything about something called a Djinn?"

"Djinn, why do you ask?" John questioned him.

"I found Dean's notes on this page. What is a Djinn anyway?"

"It's from Arab folklore. It's a being that can make a person's deepest desires become reality. They poison the person with their touch, and it puts them in a coma like state. The Djinn feeds off the blood of the victim while the victim thinks they are living out their dreams. The thing is the victim may never know they're in this dream world until they die in the real world. They like dark, deserted places to hide all their victims."

"Dean mentions here about a witness seeing a stranger with all these tattoos on his body talking to one of the missing persons. The witness swears he saw a bluish glow on his hands, but the cops wrote it off to him being drunk. He must have done some research on the djinn from this note. Do you think that is what we are dealing with?"

"It could be and that means we need to find Dean fast. I don't know how long the Djinn keep their victims alive. But that bluish glow is new to me. I'll call Bobby and have him research it and see what he can find."

"How do we kill one?"

"A silver knife dipped in lamb's blood. We need to find a butcher or slaughterhouse before we do anything else." John cranked the Impala and pulled out of the parking lot to head to the other side of town where different kind of businesses were located.

"We have silver knives," Sam noted as he stacked the pages back together. He hoped they were one step closer to finding Dean. He wondered what type of dreamworld Dean could be in right now and if he was in it with him.

A/N: Dean's dreamwork is one of filled with nightmares and confusion. Sam will not give up until they find Dean. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Please leave a review/comment, it would make my day. NC