DISCLAIMER: It's official: I still don't own Supernatural and I never will. Bugger.

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Krista sped up in her reading, trying desperately to finish sooner. Dean didn't react. He knew this was coming and he knew he couldn't avoid it, so he just closed his eyes. But Sam reacted. Sam jumped forward and pushed his brother out of the way, receiving a slash across his right clavicle and shoulder. And he hit the ground, blacking out as he did so.

Dean landed underneath his brother, rolling on top in order to protect Sam. He felt how limp Sam was, and whirled around to face the demon. He had seen the blood and figured Sam was dead. This poltergeist was going to have to pay for that.

The demon was still smiling.

"You're going to die now," it snarled.

"Actually, you picked the wrong family to mess with," Dean hissed, as his anger fueled him. "I'm taking you down."

Dean charged at the poltergeist as the demon charged at him. They met in the middle of the bridge. Surprisingly, Dean's weight and momentum carried him into the spirit and backtoward the edge of the bridge. Taking advantage of his position on top, Dean started throwing punches. He knew that, in the long run, he would lose, because he couldn't possibly counter the strength of a deranged spirit, but he was too upset to care at the moment.

The poltergeist suddenly threw Dean off of him, standing and growling at his prey. His sword came around in a fluid motion, and Dean, who was just starting to rise, caught most of the blow on his leg and collapsed in agony. The demon was on him again in less than a second, swinging his weapon and cursing Dean, who was sprawled on the ground as the blood from his leg seeped onto the ground.

He couldn't get out of the way in time. He knew this in less than a second and therefore didn't try to move. Sam wouldn't be coming to his rescue this time. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for death. Again.

But someone DID come to his rescue, though it wasn't who he thought it would be. Krista gave up on her reading when she had seen what happened and took a dive atthe demon. Surprised by the unexpected assault, the poltergeist stumbled backward. Krista then launched herself at Dean, who was once again slowly and painfully coming to his feet. The two of them tumbled off the bridge. The poltergeist glared at them for a few minutes, stepping toward them. When he got to the edge of the bridge, he stopped, as though an invisible force held him back.

"I guess he only haunts the bridge itself," Dean whispered in awe, grateful to know the spirit was confined.

Then, realizing he couldn't have his original prey, the poltergeist turned to Sam, who still hadn't moved, and scooped up the younger Winchester, vanishing.

"No!" Dean shouted, trying to rise in spite of the pain in his leg.

"It's okay," Krista said calmly. "Sam won't die."

"It's okay?" Dean snapped back, eyes flashing wildly. "That thing took my little brother and you think it's okay?"

"Remember, he took you during your first time here, and now he's taking Sam. But the two of you can't ever come back because now you both have death sentences on your heads."

"Au contraire, my friend," Dean said, an evil grin creeping across his face. "I'm going to kill that thing for hurting my brother."

"You'll die!"

"No, I won't. See, there's only one thing more terrifying than an angry demon, and that is an angry Winchester."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Five angst-filled hours later, Dean had not only had twenty-eight stitches in his leg, but had also scoured the area surrounding Kars Crossing twelve times. He had sent Krista away a while ago; she didn't really understand everything that was going on and wasn't much help, anyway. She spent the majority of the time trying to talk him out of whatever plan he had concocted. He had called Sam's cell phone more times than he could count, without any results. The sound of his own phone ringing in the silence of Kars Crossing shocked him as he wandered through the wooded area near the bridge. He pulled the offending phone out of his pocket and shoved it up to his ear.

"Yeah?" he said absent-mindedly.

"Dean?" came a shaky voice.

"Sam? Where are you?" Dean asked quickly.

"I'm in the hospital, Dean. This nice old lady and her husband brought me here about an hour ago. They said I randomly showed up at their house."

"An hour? Could you not possibly have let me know where you were an hour ago?" Dean growled, ignoring the slurring in his brother's voice.

"Not really, Dean. They had me drugged an hour ago. I'm just waking up."

"Oh. Are you okay?"

"I think so. They say I had almost forty stitches and that I have a concussion, but I can't feel anything because of this glorious medication."

"So you wound up on this couple's couch?"

"Actually, they say I showed up in their bathtub, but that's another story. Dean, I don't know what happened."

"But that's normal, right? I mean, I didn't, either. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Well," Sam began slowly, "I remember us driving out there with Krista, though I still can't imagine why you let her come along. And then I woke up here. Did anything happen?"

"Not really," Dean grumbled sarcastically. "Nothing important, anyway. We just didn't exorcize the dead guy, is all."

"Are you okay? If I ended up like this, you had to be just as bad."

"I'm all right," Dean insisted. "Listen, I'll be to the hospital in about another hour to get you and we'll head to California."

Sam didn't see through this ploy for a second. He knew what his brother intended to do and couldn't let it happen.

"Dean, you can't take this guy on by yourself. Apparently, we couldn't even handle it when there were three of us! Come get me and we'll do it together."

"No can do, bro," Dean replied. "See, I have to exact revenge on him for what he did to us. Besides, now that I know what I'm up against, I'll be okay. Catch you later." And he hung up, ignoring Sam's arguments. He did, after all, have work to do.

This nasty poltergeist was about to feel the wrath of Dean Winchester on the warpath.