Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters and am not making any money on this…just having fun!

Den of Thieves

Chapter 3 – The Longest Mile

Sam's body was shivering violently and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Dean slammed his phone shut and gently grabbed Sam's head between his hands.

"Sammy…I mean it, you can't sleep now ok. Look, I'm just going to leave you for a minute…I need to get a fire going to warm you up….just don't fall asleep!" Dean watched as his brother's eyes opened.

"Dean…be careful…I think…I mean I felt something out there." Sam grimaced as a coughing spell took hold, causing him to grab at his injured ribs. Dean held Sam until the coughing spell ended and then quickly left to gather some wood…to hell with the park rangers…even Smoky the Bear wouldn't be able to keep Dean from doing what was necessary to help his little brother.

Sam tried to stay awake, but the coldness in his body kept dragging him down. As he started to doze off, he thought he felt something grabbing at Dean's coat. Thinking it was Dean who had returned, Sam reached out to grab his brother's hand.

"What the hell!" moaned Sam as he tried to get his eyes to focus…but there was nothing, only a slight stirring of the underbrush. "Man I must be losing it!" thought Sam, for a moment...he thought he had felt a hand, but it did not feel anything like his brother's, in fact Sam wasn't even sure that it was human. As he closed his eyes once again, he could have sworn he heard a high pitched giggle…but this time, Sam couldn't make his eyes open.

Dean returned a few moments later with an arm full of timber. "Sammy…damn it…I told you to stay awake." When there was no response, Dean quickly built the fire and pulled the body of his shivering brother as close to the fire as possible. Dean started to briskly rub Sam's arms and legs, trying to get the circulation going. A short time later, Dean was rewarded by a pair of soft brown eyes trying to focus on his face.

"Dean…what happened?" asked Sam softly "Where the hell am I…and what…what happened to my clothes!" Sam realized he was missing his jeans, T-Shirt and Jacket.

"Chill out bro', you decided to take an impromptu bath in the river…your clothes are on the other side of the fire, drying. So for now, you get to really commune with nature!" laughed Dean as he saw his brother's face turn red.

"Seriously Sam, I had to get you out of your wet clothes and get you warmed up. Unfortunately, my clothes don't exactly fit you, so I had to make do….besides what are you complaining about, I'm the one who has been running around with just my jeans on and I gotta tell you…it's freezing out here!"

Sam smiled as he took his first good look at himself. Dean had built up a small bed of leaves under Sam and had covered them with his shirt and T-shirt. He had also covered Sam with his own leather jacket. Sam gazed into the fire that his brother had built and realized that once again, Dean's ingenuity probably saved his life.

"Thanks Dude, but can I have my clothes back now?"

Dean rose and went over to the other side of the fire, feeling them to make sure that the clothes had dried. Satisfied that they were dry enough, he started towards Sam, intending to help him get into the warm clothes when he realized something was missing. "That's strange…Sam, I could have sworn that I put your socks over there…" Dean started to circle the fire, looking on the ground thinking in his hurry he had dropped them. "Huh…I must have dropped them somewhere…no matter let's get the rest of these clothes on you and get you back to the camp site so I can check out your other injuries."

"What do you think you are doing? I can do it myself!" Sam huffed as he struggled to get into a seated position on the ground.

Dean smiled as he pictured a four year old Sammy saying the same thing when Dean tried to get him ready in the morning. He walked over to grab Sam's sneakers but was snapped back to the present when he heard a muffled "Shit, that hurts!" coming from the T-Shirt that was now stuck part way down Sam's head and chest.

Dean laughed as he reached over to help Sam get the shirt pulled down the rest of the way.

"A little old for peek-a-boo aren't we?"

"Why did you do that?" demanded Sam as he carefully reached to touch the middle of his back "Don't I have enough bruises?"

"What are you talking about Sam?" Dean became instantly alert as he saw the look of pain cross his brother's face. Dean pulled up Sam's shirt and saw a dark red spot that he knew was going to be a lovely shade of purple by morning.

"What happened Sammy…how did you get that mark on your back?" Dean began to scan the woods as if it held the answers. Then he saw the large pine cone that was lying a short distance from Sam…the strange part was they were no where near a pine tree.

"Ah…Dean, I changed my mind, help me get dressed so we can get out of here…I have a bad feeling about this place."

ooooooooo

The lone figure in the isolated house gazed down at the book it held in its hands. It looked through the pages with interest, its anger building as it realized what the book meant. These travelers would be a little harder to handle…but no matter, it would protect its collection…no one would take what was his ever again.

"You have done well my friend…but be warned, these two are not like the others…you must take care when it is time…don't be impatient…there is plenty of time for a little fun at their expense."

As the figure moved to add the book to his collection, he smiled as he heard the high pitched giggle on the wind…"yes, there is plenty of time my friend…enjoy!"

ooooooooo

Dean struggled under Sam's weight as he felt his brother getting weaker. He estimated that it was only a little over a mile back to the campsite and more importantly the car. He didn't like the shivers that he still felt run through his brother's body. It seemed like days before he saw the campsite appearing through the trees. All he had to do was get Sam up one more hill.

Dean shifted his hold on Sam "Come bro'…we're almost there…just…a…little…farther…Man, when did you get so heavy?"

Sam could barely keep his eyes open. Every bone in his body seemed to hurt and what little energy he had, seemed to have gone. But somehow he managed to keep putting one foot in front of the other…he had to as the feeling that something was wrong was getting stronger the longer they stayed.

"Dean…um…I can't….it's getting harder to…breathe…can't we just rest…just a minute, I just need to catch…catch…my…ahhhh." Sam fell to his knees as his head dropped forward onto his chest.

"Sam…come on…just a little farther and you can rest…I promise. See the car is just over there…Sammy?" Dean was worried; he needed to get Sam to a doctor as soon as possible. Luckily, he had seen a sign when they had driven through the small town of Cooper's Ridge advertising a doctor's office. Since the nearest hospital was more than a 2 hour drive, he hoped the doctor was in.

Sam's head raised as he tried to get to his feet for one last effort. Luckily the car was fairly close. Dean reached into his coat pocket for his keys…"Great…now where did I put those keys? What the hell is this?" Dean looked at the fine golden grains that were on his hand…"How did that get into my pocket?"

Sam was leaning weakly against the car door. Dean decided the mystery could wait and he quickly searched all of his pockets. "Damn, I must have lost them somewhere back in the woods. "Sam…do you still have your set of keys?"

Sam didn't answer, but tried to get his numb fingers into the back pocket of his jeans. Without a word, Dean reached into his brother's pocket and found the keys. "Finally, something is going right!"

Sam groaned as Dean lowered him into the passenger seat. He quickly ran around to the driver's seat and started the car. Glancing over at his brother, he noticed that Sam had already fallen asleep. Dean switched on the car heater as he headed for the doctor's office. "Hold on Sam…we'll get you some help in a few minutes…the doc will fix you up and you'll be back to your usual crabby self in no time!"

Sam didn't respond, but then Dean knew that he was talking more for his benefit than Sam's.

As the tail lights disappeared, a disappointed moan could be heard. But then a calming voice sprung up through the breeze---"Don't worry…they'll be back…they always come back!"

TBC

Raven524: Thanks for the wonderful reviews...hmmm I especially liked the mutant octapus idea...maybe...no, I guess that can wait for another story. Remember to R&R...I love to hear what you think!