Chapter 4: Nightmares

Dean found a small motel just on the outside of town. It was a little run down but it was clean and it had two beds. Dean let Sam take a shower first since he was covered in blood all down his face and neck. Sam's bloody clothes were draped over the bathroom sink trying to dry from where Sam had washed the blood out.

Dean laid back on his bed and flipped through all six of the TV channels before finally settling on watching Jaws. Sam finally stepped out of the bathroom wearing just a pair of boxers. His nose had faired surprisingly well. There was a bit of a bluish tinge to it, but other wise it was fine.

"Did you say this place had a washing machine?"

"Yeah, there was a washer and dryer right next to the vending machines," Dean said.

"Good. Will you go and dump all of these into the machine. I'd go do it but walking around in my underwear probably isn't the best of ideas."

"Can't you just re-wear some of them," Dean whined. Honestly, Sammy put way to much value in clean clothes. As long as they could pass the sniff test what was the big deal if they were a little wrinkled.

"I've already re-worn them…several times. Pretty soon they are going to start walking around by them selves. Please, just once do me a favor and put them in the machine. I promise to wash your clothes next time."

"Fine." Dean stood up and started grabbing the clothes. As he held them he realized that they were actually pretty stinky. He took a moment to grab a few of his clothes as well. Might as well get it all done in one load.

Sam laid down on his bed and snuggled under the covers. It was really cold outside and the minute Dean opened the door a frigid blast of cold air rushed into the room. As he laid there he ignored the movie on the TV and thought about the conversation he had with Sarah earlier. His heart really went out to her. Not only did she lose her love, but her brother too. He'd lost Jessica, but he still had Dean. He was truly thankful for that. He couldn't imagine how he would go on if something happened to Dean.

Even when he was at college, he always knew Dean was there, somewhere, just a phone call away if he needed him. Dad and Dean thought it had been so easy for Sam to walk away form them. If they only knew! Leaving was the hardest thing he'd ever done. The first couple of weeks at night he'd bury himself under his covers and cry in his dorm room. He missed his father, but he really missed Dean the most. He missed not having his guardian angle there to look out for him and make him laugh when he was feeling down. Hell, he even missed the sound of Dean's snoring.

Then he met Jessica, and slowly the loneliness faded. Weeks went by and he didn't think about his family. Then months went by. Still, he always knew Dean was a phone call away.

The last few months, if it hadn't been for Dean holding him together, giving him a reason to wake up in the morning, he didn't know if he would have made it after losing Jessica. Thoughts of Dean and Jess filled his mind as he drifted off to sleep.

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Dean shoved the clothes in the machine and spent a two dollars on the soap dispenser to get a sample size box of Tide. After dumping the power into the machine with the clothes he walked over to the vending machines. One was filled with sandwiches that looked down right toxic. Figuring food poison would be a bad thing he opted for a bag of Doritos, two Cokes, and a bag of M & M's with a for Sam.

He glanced at his watch so he'd have some idea of when to come back and put the clothes in the dryer and finally went back to the room.

"Hey, I got munchies," Dean announced before he realized that Sam was asleep in his bed. He smiled at the sight of his baby brother curled up and half buried under the covers. Suddenly Sam wasn't six foot two anymore. Dean saw the Sammy of the past, the little boy who worshipped him and wanted to be just like him when he grew up. The little boy that Dean tucked in every night because their father was off hunting some monster and there was no one else to do it.

He set Sam's Coke and M&M's on the table next to his bed and then sat down on his own bed. Jaws was just getting to the good part. Roy Schneider just said "We're gonna need a bigger boat." He'd finish watching the movie, put the clothes in the dryer, and join Sam in dreamland.

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Sam was running through a field of corn, pausing every now and then to listen for a noise of any kind. He had to hurry, but he had to be careful. It was after him. There was a rustling of corn stalks to his left and he took off running again as fast as he could. He was running like the devil himself was chasing him.

Sam suddenly burst out of the corn field and was in an open meadow. Noise from behind reminded him that his life was in danger and he ran once more. Ahead of him he saw a farm house. He could hide there, maybe even get help. He looked behind him to see a body without a head slash his way out of the corn field. It was tall even without the head and the moonlight reflected off of its royal blue brocade riding jacket with a white ruffled collar and sleeves. Also reflecting the moonlight was a long and shiny blade that must have measured three feet. The sword had a razor sharp edge and a gilded handle.

Sam increased his speed but the horseman also moved incredibly fast and was catching up. Sam's breathing became heavy and his legs were slowing down against his will. He had been running for so long. He was almost to the house, almost there. His foot connected with the first step and then he stopped. The front door opened and Dean walked out onto the porch.

"Dean!" Sam choked out.

SLASH

Dean stared in horror as Sam's head was suddenly severed from his body with such a force that both torso and head were thrown for several feet.

"SAMMY!"

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"SAMMY!" Dean sat up in his bed and gasped for breath. His heart was beating so fast in his chest that it ached. "Oh god…Sammy…Sammy."

"Dean, what's wrong?" Sam asked, sitting up in his bed and turning on the lamp. "Are you okay?" Sam had thought they were under attack or the building was on fire.

"Yeah." Dean was panting so fast that it was difficult to speak. "I'm…I'm sorry…I woke you."

"Don't be," Sam said. "I've done it to you dozens of times. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Dean replied, realizing he was behaving just like Sam usually did after a nightmare. He wasn't about to tell his brother he had just watched him get decapitated in what had to be the most realistic dream he had ever had. "I'm fine, really. Go back to sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Good night." Dean turned off the lamp, laid back down, and rolled onto his side hoping like hell he was convincing his brother that he was okay. The truth was Dean Winchester was done sleeping for the night. There would be no way he could close his eyes and not see those images replay in his mind.

Some time later Dean heard Sam's even breathing and he knew Sam had fallen back to sleep. He sat up in his bed and stared at the wall for a while. He still couldn't believe the dream. It was so real that when he first woke up from it he actually believed that it had been real. It wasn't until Sammy called his name that he realized the truth.

He shook his head. He hadn't been kidding when he told Sam that they were a couple of freaks. His eyes drifted to Sam's bed when he suddenly heard moaning coming from that side of the room. So Sam was also having nightmares tonight. Actually, Dean had fully expected Sam to have them. As sensitive as he was, there was no way Sam could have listened to Sarah talk about losing her fiancé and her brother and not have been affected by what he heard.

"Dean…Dean," Sam mumbled, his head tossing and turning.

Dean got out of his bed and walked over to Sam. "Sam, you're okay," Dean told him. He put his hand on Sam's shoulder and squeezed it, hoping that even asleep he would know that Dean was there with him. It seemed to be working. Sam stopped thrashing and settled into a deeper sleep.

"Dean," he whispered one last time and rolled over. Dean didn't even stop to think about what he was doing. He needed sleep. Sam needed sleep. He had a feeling this was the only way either of them were going to get it. He pulled back the covers and crawled into the full size bed with Sam. In a matter of minutes both of them were sleeping soundly.

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Sam woke the next morning feeling wonderful. He just laid in bed with his eyes closed reveling in the comfort. The pillow was like a cloud under his head and Jessica's arm was wrapped wound his waist. Maybe he'd surprise her this morning. He'd get up and cook her breakfast in bed.

Sam's eyes shot open when he heard a familiar snore. He sat up in bed and saw Dean sprawled out next to him, his arm still tossed over Sam's side.

"Dean!" Sam called loudly. "By any chance did you get lost while traveling from the bathroom back to your bed?"

"Dude, it's early, go back to sleep," Dean mumbled.

"Seriously, what are you doing?"

"Hmm," Dean signed and rolled over, yanking the covers with him. "You were having bad dreams again."

"So you slept in my bed?"

"It used to work when you were little," Dean said as a matter of fact, "and you didn't have anymore dreams last night, did you?"

"I…uh…oh never mind," Sam said as he pulled back the covers and made his way to the bathroom. "Sigmund Freud would have a field day with us."

"With you, yes, me, not so much. I'm perfectly sane," Dean chuckled.

Sam came out of the bathroom with his toothbrush in hand. "Wait a minute! You were the one who had a nightmare last night!" he accused. "I remember. You were screaming my name."

"I don't scream!" Dean protested.

"Whatever, you were calling really loudly. Is that better?"

"Fine, I'll accept that," Dean grumbled.

"So you were the one who needed help sleeping last night, not me."

"No, no, no! I was fine afterward. You then started having bad dreams and started calling my name."

"Did not," Sam said.

"Did too."

"I did not ."

Dean was done with this conversation. He grabbed a pillow and flung it at Sam's face. Sam caught the pillow and threw it back at Dean before going back to the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth.