Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: The Winchesters and Kripke own all rights to the characters of the Winchesters and the world of Supernatural. I have borrowed them for this story.

Dean's watch ended when Missouri Mosley bustled into the room. He inched upright in his chair. Time to rescue Sam from himself. He winced as Missouri approached, but she only touched the crown of his head with compassion. The pain pouring out of him was obvious to her. Squeezing his shoulder, she turned her attention to the still form on the bed.

Sam still looked towards the wall. She noticed that Dean had chosen to sit so that he could not see Sam's face. If he could not see the vacant gaze, he could pretend that Sam was only sleeping or unconscious. To her, Sam was a blank spot in the room. She reached out to touch his hand, and the closely shielded internal turmoil almost sent her to her knees. She turned to the other Winchesters. "It's only Sam. There's nothing else in there with him." They relaxed from their unspoken fear. "I can sense him, but he has built up a wall. It will take some time for me to reach him, and, I think, I'm going to need your help." The look she turned to Dean made him wary. What would he have to do? "I need you to go with me. Sam will respond to you. I can get you there, but only you can convince him to come back."

John Winchester started. Yes, Dean had been more of a father to Sam than John. But still . . .

Missouri turned her look on him. "John! You and Sam lock horns so much that he might stay there just to spite you! And don't you laugh, boy, this isn't going to be easy."

Dean sobered at her rebuke. "What's so hard about it?"

"What's in there," she said, pointing to Sam. "I don't know it all, but that demon showed Sam something that scared him. I need a bit more time to get a feel for things before we start. Why don't you two get something to eat? I want to check a few things out."

John looked at Dean, shrugged. "What do you want? No, don't tell me, M & M's. I'll be back in a few."

Dean retreated to his bed, watching, curious about what Missouri was going to do.

"Boy, stop thinking so loud. I'm not going to hurt him. I need to see what we're up against. I'm getting flashes from him. You're not going to like seeing them."

"See them? What do you mean?"

"We're going to have to go through Sam's recent memories to find him. He's hiding from them, not us. The best I can describe it is that Sam has locked his self away from all memories that are bad."

"Whew. That's going to be a lot of stuff."

"Yes, so you see what we're up against. I'm betting that most of this stuff is from the two of you hunting, maybe going even further back. I don't know. I just know it's going to be hard."

"Will it find us Sam?"

"Oh, honey, it should."

"Then let's do it." Dean was resolute. Anything to get that look off Sam's face would be worth it. He was so vulnerable to attack. They couldn't take care of him themselves, and they surely couldn't leave him unprotected. He drew evil like a magnet; it wouldn't take long for something to find him.

"Then hush and let me look."

Chastened, Dean leaned back into his pillows. She freaked him out sometimes.

TBC