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Dream Slayer

Chapter four

Dean looked up from the journal and glanced at the clock on the wall. Sam had been gone a little over an hour. He walked to the door and looked out. It was pouring. Maybe he's waiting for it to slow down he thought or maybe the shop was extra busy.

"Told you you should have taken the car." He said out loud to himself. But even as he tried to convince himself that everything was okay he had an uneasy feeling creeping over him. He grabbed his car key and headed for the shop.

Dean parked outside and walked into the shop.

"Can I help you?" A pretty girl behind the counter asked.

"Yeah, I'm looking for my brother, thin guy about six foot something, long dark brown hair."

"Yeah I remember him, he was so sweet."

"Yeah, sweet." Dean gave a little laugh. "When did he leave?" He hoped she would say a few minutes ago and maybe he had somehow just missed him.

"Oh, he left about forty minutes ago. I tried to get him to hang around till the rain slowed down but he said he had to get going."

"Thanks." Dean said as he hurried out the door. Once outside he looked up and down the street, there was no sign of Sam.

"Sam! Sammy!"

A low moan from the alley behind the shop drew his attention.

"Sam!" He shouted as he ran into the alley.

"Ohhhhhh.."

"The sound was coming from a large dumpster. Dean ran over, lifted the lid, and looked in. Sam lay curled up on his side covered in trash. Dean quickly climbed in, pushed the trash aside, and gently turned his brother's face toward the street light.

"Oh God Sammy." Dean said wincing as he looked at his brother's bloody, beaten face.

"Dean?"

"Yeah Bro, it's me."

"What…what happened?"

"You've been hurt. Just take it easy and let me check you out."

Dean gently felt Sam's legs and arms looking for any sign that they could be broken. They didn't seem to be. He slowly and gently lifted Sam's shirt. He hissed in his breath when he saw the dark bruises on his chest and stomach. He could clearly make out a boot print mark on his brother's stomach.

"That son of a bitch! I'll kill him!" Dean yelled remembering Joe had been wearing boots at the diner.

"Dean…I didn't see…who did it." Sam managed to get out. "It might not…have been him…They jumped me…as soon as I walked by the alley."

"Oh believe me it was him. And as soon as I get you to a hospital, him and I are going to have a little talk."

"No…no hospital."

"Sam, they could have busted you up inside."

"I'll be okay…just no hospital."

"Sammy…" Dean knew his brother could have broken ribs or even internal bleeding. He knew he needed to get checked out.

"No Dean…now help me out of here." Sam said interrupting him.

"Damn it Sam!" Dean said as he carefully helped Sam sit up and then after a few minutes helped him out of the dumpster. He leaned heavily on Dean as he tried to straighten up.

"Well there's one good thing." Sam said giving Dean a small grin. "My ankle doesn't hurt anymore."

"Yeah, really funny." Dean said helping Sam over to the car. After he was in Dean climbed in the driver's seat. He reached in his pocket and took out the holy water and put it in the glove compartment.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"I don't want it to get broken when I beat the crap out of McMann."

"Come on Dean, just forget about it."

"Forget about it! Look what they did to you Sam!" He pulled down the visor on the passenger's side which had a mirror attached to it. "Look at your face!"

Sam looked in the mirror and hardly recognized the face looking back. Both of his eyes were swollen and already turning purple. Dried blood covered his forehead where a deep gash had finally stopped bleeding. His lips were swollen and split.

"Whoa…" Sam said touching his face.

"And you want me to forget it!"

"Yeah I want you to forget it. I don't know if I'll be able to back you up."

"Hey Sam, all you need to do is sit there and watch. I can handle him myself."

Sam knew that was true. Both of them had been trained extensively in fighting by their dad. Each one of them could handle most situations. But Sam knew these guys fought dirty. They had ambushed him, not even giving him a chance to defend himself.

"I really wish you'd just forget about it Dean. We need to concentrate on getting rid of the Dream Slayer before he kills someone else."

"The Dream Slayer!" Dean looked at Sam like he was nuts. "The Dream Slayer gig is over Sam…Look at you…you can barely sit upright in the seat. There's no way I'm letting you go after a Dream Slayer in your condition."

"You have to. Who else do we have?"

"Me."

"Ah come on Dean, you know it won't go after you. You don't have trouble sleeping, in fact you sleep like a log."

"Well I'm not letting you do it Sam."

"Um…I don't think we have a choice." Sam looked in the mirror then over at Dean. There was a faded red X on his forehead.

TBC