Disclaimer: The Winchesters belong to Eric Kripke and I will be forever grateful to him for sharing them with us. I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing them from time to time; I promise to return them as I found them. And I know the rule. If I break them, I buy them.

A/N: It's short but sets up some stuff. Is it getting repetitive to thank you guys for reading and reviewing? What about thanking Kelli for all her hard work?

Chapter 6

Sam went through the next few days without a single nightmare or premonition. It was almost like they knew he had a stressful week full of final exams and were intentionally leaving him alone. While Sam was studying or taking his tests, Dean kept himself busy. He thought about what Sam said regarding him living in Palo Alto several times that week and, as much as he loved his brother, just couldn't see it. He liked Portland; he actually did have some friends and working at the bar was fun as well as lucrative. He didn't depend on credit card scams or hustling pool for money to eat anymore; he was even able to help Sam out with some of his expenses.

He did miss spending time with Sam, though. They talked on the phone a lot but it wasn't the same as being together. And now that the nightmares and premonitions were back – but were they really back? Dean sat outside the coffee shop where he saw Sam collapse to the ground and thought about the last few days. There were no nightmares; not even so much as broken sleep at night. He hoped they were gone for good but couldn't quite believe that was the case.

Dean was right. Sam came home, exhausted, after his last test on Thursday afternoon. That one had been the most challenging and he barely slept the night before because he was so worried about it. Dean stayed up with him, asking him questions from the study guide, and was even up with him the morning of the test to wish him well. Dean made a point of being at the apartment when Sam got there but all his brother wanted to do was sleep.

"Sam."

He shifted in his sleep.

Jessica sighed. "Sam, you have to listen to me. Please?"

Sam saw Jessica standing in the doorway when he looked away from the television.

"What's up?" he asked.

Jessica came further into the room. Sam noticed something was odd – he looked at her again and for a moment could have sworn he could see through her.

"Jess –"

"You have to listen to me. You've sensed that things are changing, haven't you?"

Sam looked at her confused.

"Think about it, Sam. This isn't real; you're asleep in your bed –"

"Jessica, you're talking crazy. What's going on?"

"Honey, things are going to start happening again and you have to stop fighting. You need to finish school, but you can't ignore the other things –"

"Of course I'm going to finish school –"

Jessica smiled at him sadly. She didn't know how to get through to him and time was running out. The living room dissolved and she found herself in the bedroom, being lifted to the ceiling. "Sam, don't." she whispered, but it was too late.

Sam woke up sweating and breathing hard. He looked at the clock next to his bed; it was almost 6:30 but he couldn't tell if it was morning or night. After getting himself under control, he left the bedroom. He found Dean at the desk, laptop open in front of him, and realized it must be Thursday night.

"Dean--"

The older Winchester looked up and was shocked at how pale Sam was. It had been a hard week of exams but Dean guessed he'd had another dream.

"I figured you'd sleep through the night." he said, trying not to react too strongly to Sam's appearance.

"I had another nightmare." Sam said sadly as he flopped down on the couch.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Dean asked him that question more in the last year than in their entire life but it still struck Sam to hear it.

"Can we take off in the morning?" Sam asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I'm done with exams. Let's just jump in the car and go somewhere – I don't care where."

"Are you serious?"

Sam nodded. "I want to get away from here for a while. Please?"

Dean looked at his brother, surprised to hear the pleading tone. "Sure."

"How about Portland?" Sam asked, awake and suddenly excited. "I'll take a bus back so you don't have to drive me –"

"Hold on, there, kiddo. You want to go to Portland?"

Sam heard Dean's less than enthusiastic tone and felt like he was sinking into the couch. He realized that Dean was always ready to visit Sam, but never invited Sam into his world.

"Or somewhere else." Sam said quietly.

Dean paused watching his brother. "Sam, I will go anywhere with you. If you want to go to Portland, we'll go to Portland. But if you're trying to run from your dreams, it's not going to work. They go where you do."

Sam nodded. "I know that. You're really okay with me coming to Portland?"

"Of course I am. But I'm not going to make you take a bus back here."

Sam grinned the dopey little brother gin that always touched Dean's heart. Sometimes it really was easy to make Sammy happy.

TBC