Dean rolled his head on his neck as he walked, trying to loosen the muscles there. The door to the house loomed on the porch like a gaping mouth, and a sick dread filled him and he stopped at the threshold. He didn't want to go inside. He didn't want to see Sam's blood staining the floor.

But it was necessary. He had told Sam he'd banished the poltergeist, but the truth was, he wasn't entirely sure. He had woken up on the floor, mouth full of panic and dust, and from that moment on, nothing had mattered but keeping his brother alive. When Sam had stabilized, Dean had returned to finish the job. Only, the EMF meter was silent, and there was no sign of any supernatural activity. He'd swept the whole house to be sure, even put cleansing satchels in the four walls of the building just to be sure.

But nagging doubt had plagued him since, an unshakable suspicion that he'd missed something. So he had come back to do a follow-up sweep, secretly hoping that the fucker was still around so he could destroy it. All he had to do was step inside.

Taking a deep breath Dean crossed the threshold, his eyes darting immediately to the ragged gap in the balcony railing, then the large, dark stain under it. Bile rose in the back of his throat and he gulped, looking away again. He pulled out the EMF meter and switched it on. There was nothing, no reading at all.

Purposefully not looking at the railing, Dean climbed the stairs and swept the upstairs, to the same end. There wasn't so much as static electricity in this house anymore. Dean sighed and pocketed the meter distractedly. It was almost visiting hours – he needed to get to the hospital incase Sam woke up. There obviously wasn't anything here for him to deal with. He stood in the doorway for a moment, contemplating burning the place down, just to erase that bloodstain, but it was too risky. If he were caught… Sam would be alone.

And that was not an option.


Sam was still unconscious when Dean arrived to sit with him, but a kind looking nurse had explained that that was to be expected.

"Don't worry, the surgery went well." she called after him as he headed to Sam's room. As if his brother weren't lying in a coma, brain damaged, with a fucking tube in his skull. What kind of screwed up kind of logic did these people live by, to assume that he would be comforted by any of this?

He opened the door to Sam's room carefully, as though his brother were only sleeping and in danger of being woken. He looked the same as he had last night, and Dean was pretty sure he hadn't moved at all. It was unnerving, and he had to shake himself before taking a seat next to Sam's head.

As he settled in the chair, a high-pitched whine pierced the silence of the room. Dean's heart seized in fear and he stared frantically at the many nearby monitors, searching for the source of the alarm. His brow furrowed in confusion – they all showed stable activity. It took him a moment more to realize that it was coming from his pocket. The EMF meter he had forgotten to turn off at the house was picking something up in this room. He pulled it out, lowering the volume and staring at the illuminated row of lights.

Holding his breath, he moved it closer to Sam's still face. The pitch increased, and Dean almost dropped the meter as his hands went numb with shock.

There was something going on here, something supernatural, and suddenly Dean was fighting on a battlefield he was familiar with. Maybe…. Maybe he could fix this. The blood rushed away from his head and he gasped as lightheadedness assaulted him. His head dropped between his knees and he shook as he struggled to orient himself.

When the grey receded from the edges of his vision he stood and leaned over his brother.

"What's going on it there, Sam?" he asked softly, "I need you to help me out, here, little brother."

Sam didn't stir.

"Okay, fine. Once again, I get stuck with all the work. When we fix this, though, you are so gonna make up for it." He patted Sam's chest, letting his hand rest there for a moment before forcing himself to turn and leave the room.

He needed to do some research. And for the first time in three months, there would be no medical books involved.


"Goddamn it!" Dean shouted, hurling his father's journal at the wall of his apartment in frustration. The room was strewn with books and sheaves of paper, frantic notes scrawled on envelopes and scraps, none of them leading him to a solution to Sam's problem. He'd spent all day searching, the hope he'd felt earlier waning with each dead end.

He fisted his hands in his short hair and kicked at a thick, leather-bound book on the floor. The physical outburst felt good – he hadn't hunted anything since Sam had been hurt, hadn't been able to pummel out his feelings.

He kicked at the book again, then gave a choked cry and swept everything off of the table. He grabbed at fistfuls of paper and tore at them, panting and fighting back tears.

It's not fair, it's not fair, he thought brokenly, grabbing and empty beer bottle and hurling it against the wall. The glass burst against the wood with a satisfying smash, and Dean continued to lash out at anything within reach.

When his hands landed on Sam's laptop, he flung it without thinking and it bounced off the ratty couch to land with a crack on the floor. The sound broke through his blind fury and remorse filled him immediately.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry," he gasped, dropping to his knees and scooping up the laptop gently. "Sammy, I'm so sorry." His voice broke, and he cradled the computer to his chest. He looked around the apartment, taking in the destruction, the broken glass, the chaos. It seemed appropriate, a mirror image of their lives in general. Everything empty, pointless. Hopeless.

Dean wiped at his eyes, refusing to acknowledge that he had been crying, and stood. He set the laptop carefully on the now-bare table, running his fingers fondly over the dinged case. His heart numb, he began gathering papers and books into piles.

Tonight, he'd sleep, and tomorrow, he'd try again.

Because really, there was no other option.


A/N: This one's a bit shorter, but it was all I had time for before work. :)