AN: I'm having a slight obsession with angst at the moment, can you tell? Don't ask me why. Just bear with me a couple more chapters, I promise things will start looking up soon. I'm gonna get these three to sit back and party soon. Please R&R. AT

xxx

Greenfield, Missouri

Isabel didn't have a nightmare for almost ten days, but when she finally did, it was nothing short of epic. It had also scared the hell out of Dean and Sam.

A couple of days after the events in Iowa, after the Hook Man, Sam, Dean and Isabel had sat down for a 'family discussion', as Sam so formally called it, and together they had come to the decision that Isabel was now doing well enough that she could be in charge of her own medication, with Sam only slightly supervising.

This worked great for the firs few days, during which Isabel diligently followed her drug regime. However, on the Wednesday night she had decided, without telling the boys, that she would skip her sleeping medication, because she felt it turned her into a total zombie and all she did was doze off constantly. They had stopped for the night on the way to Graceland, like she had wanted, and the weather was warmer. All three were all in good spirits.

Everything was going really well that night. They'd gone out for dinner; they'd even gone to the bar for a couple of drinks and a bit of pool. Isabel didn't kick up a fuss,when Sam ordered her a soda and told her she would not be drinking anything containing even a molecule of alcohol. They went to their room at around midnight, laughing and talking, and turned in pretty much straight away.

The first thing Sam remembered hearing that night was the sound of the door closing. It hadn't slammed shut, but it hadn't been carefully closed, it had just shut of its own accord, as if someone had just left if open and the light breeze took care of the rest. If he hadn't been a light sleeper, he wouldn't have heard it, and as he turned to see his brother on the other bed, he realized Dean had not heard it at all. He hadn't even stirred. He thought he'd imagined it, except that when he sat up on the bed and looked across over Dean, Isabel's sleeping form was missing. If she had been sharing the bed with him instead of Dean, he knew he would have felt her get up.

Before panicking and waking up Dean, he decided to check out the bathroom. He moved quietly and walked in through the door, switching the light on and looking around. Now panic surfaced quickly as he realized that if she wasn't in the room, she had to have gone outside. He looked at his watch, it was almost 3am. He walked back into the main room and switched on the light.

"Dean!" He shouted.

"Dude, what the hell?" Dean asked, flinching from the glare as he threw an arm over his face.

"Isabel's gone" Sam said rushing to the window and brushing the fabric curtain aside as he looked out into the pitch black night.

Dean sat up and looked at the spot next to him on the bed "Shit!" He said getting up and throwing a shirt on over his sweats.

Sam was already out the door as Dean came running after him. They looked around the barely lit parking lot and their eyes settled on a small group of bikers near the highway at the entrance to the motel. They were looking out, toward the road and pointing. They rushed over in their direction until they too saw what the men were seeing. Isabel's small figure hunched over on her knees, her hands were on the ground and it looked like she was shaking. One of the young bikers had started walking slowly towards her. Sam and Dean rushed past them and approached Isabel at the same time, eyeing the man threateningly.

"Get away from her" Dean said to him as he moved closer to his cousin "Isabel?"

She let out a choked sob before crying out "Don't touch me!" causing Dean to draw back slightly as he looked at her in alarm.

The biker grabbed Dean's arm and pulled him back "You heard the lady, man" He didn't seem at all fazed at Dean's menacing glare as he called out to Isabel "Sweetheart, it's OK. You're OK now"

Dean's irritation was flaring and Sam knew he would explode in anger any second. He approached Isabel from the front, so that she could see him.

"She's our cousin" He said in a placating manner to the biker, who was staring his brother down "It's alright"

"I don't care who you are" The biker shot back eyeing the two men suspiciously "Why is she running away from you, huh? What you do to her?"

Dean made a step towards the biker "Dean!" Sam shot out, stopping his brother before turning to the biker "She's sick, OK?" The man looked at him warily "She just needs her medication. Please, just go"

The man looked at them doubtfully before taking in the scene in front of him a little more closely. It was true, the girl in front of him didn't look like she was physically hurt in any way. He relaxed slightly before backing away, but only a few steps. A couple of his friends had just joined him and they were watching the interchange.

"Isabel" Sam calmly spoke to his cousin as he kneeled a couple of feet in front of her "Can you hear me?"

She didn't look up, but nodded slightly. She was gasping loudly now, as if she couldn't get enough air into her lungs. Her long dark red hair had come loose off its tie and looked oddly black in the moonlight, falling limply to cover her face.

"Air!" She said between labored breaths "I couldn't breathe in there"

"Why did you sneak out like that?" Sam continued, still in a gentle, soothing tone "You should have let us know"

"No. Quiet. I have to be quiet" She shook her head vehemently and started sobbing again "I don't want him to know I'm awake"

Sam looked up at Dean, who was staring at Isabel worriedly, taking it all in with a grief-stricken look on his face. They knew who she was talking about.

It had started to rain slightly and even though it wasn't winter, it was cold, especially in the middle of the night. Isabel was only wearing a thin T-shirt over her pajama shorts, her pale skin had broken out in goose bumps and she was now shivering as the rain fell on her bare skin.

"Isabel, we have to go back inside. It's cold out here" Sam whispered, inching slightly closer to her.

"It's always cold" She said looking up a Sam with watery eyes "He took my clothes" She whispered to him, as if embarrassed to say it aloud, even to him.

The tears that had streaked her cheeks quickly blended with the falling rain, her bottom lip was quivering in fear and with great effort Sam resisted the impulse to reach out to her. He didn't want to scare her any more than she already was

"It's OK, Bel" Sam said, struggling to keep his voice even and calm "How about you stand up and come back with us to the room?"

"No!" She screamed and went back to staring at the ground below her.

"Sam, let's just take her inside and give her one of those shots. She's gonna catch a cold out here" Dean said impatiently "Just grab her!"

"No!" Sam said to Dean "We can talk her through this. She's remembering Dean"

"Yeah, that's right Sam. She's remembering, at three in the morning, half naked in the freezing cold rain by the side of the highway!" Dean yelled edgily, unable and unwilling to witness Isabel's torment any longer.

Sam pursed his lips. Dean was right. This wasn't the right time to delve into her memories and engage in a long intense conversation. Maybe tomorrow, once she'd had a good sleep and calmed down, they could talk about what she saw, what she remembered. He reached out with his hand to her, but she shrank from it as if he'd burnt her. She screamed and broke out in a sprint, away from them and towards the highway.

"Isabel, no!" Sam said running after her, with Dean close behind "Isabel!"

Dean rushed past Sam and reached Isabel before she ran onto the road. Even though it was deserted, there was the occasional vehicle that went past, and because it was so late and so deserted, they sped right through. He threw his arms around her and pulled her to him, lifting her feet off the ground. She screamed and thrashed, but he held on tightly to her as he turned and motioned to Sam to follow him back to their room.

He walked straight past the stunned bikers, only sparing them a glance as he held Isabel to him.

"It's me Bel" Dean whispered in her ear "It's just me. Dean"

She relaxed only slightly at the sound of his voice, before renewing her struggles as she realized she was being dragged inside.

"No Dean!" She screamed "Put me down! No!"

She kicked out as they reached the door and her knee made contact with the door frame in a loud thud, causing her to groan in pain. She started retching as soon as she heard the door shut behind her and Dean quickly rushed her to the bathroom, gently lowering her to kneel in front of the toilet as he pulled her damp hair back.

She emptied the contents of her stomach and continued to dry retch for about half an hour while Dean lightly rubbed a hand up and down her back, before finally breaking down into sobs. Dean flushed the toilet and hoisted her up to the sink, pouring her a glass of water.

"Here, rinse" He said, lifting the glass to her lips. She did as he told her and watched her cousin with dull eyes through the mirror.

Sam came in and handed Dean a towel and one of his own long sleeved shirts, nodding towards Isabel. Dean grabbed the shirt and turned to Isabel again. Her back was still to him, and he reached for the hem of her t-shirt, slowly pulling it up. She flinched and moved away from him slightly, still not turning around.

"Your shirt's wet Isabel, you'll catch a cold" Dean said patiently "You can wear one of Sam's"

She looked down at the shirt he was holding and nodded as she pulled her own shirt off. She lifted her arms and Dean took that as an indication it was OK to put Sam's shirt on her. He slid it over her arms and head. It was huge on her, and came to about mid thigh, the sleeves hanging limp and well past her hands. He turned her slowly around to face him and grabbed the towel before proceeding to dry her hair.

He walked her out of the bathroom and it took all of ten seconds before her eyes fixed on the door and she made another run for it. She tried the door but it wouldn't open, and Sam was glad he'd anticipated this and locked it. Dean reached her easily and grabbed her, spinning around and pinning her with his body, face down onto the bed. He looked up at Sam.

"The shot Sam! " He yelled "Now!"

"No!" Isabel cried out. She tried to free herself from Dean's grip but he was holding her down with all his weight "Get off of me!" She screamed.

Sam came back with the small gun containing the tranquilizer vial. The doctor had given it to him in case of an extreme emergency. He figured this qualified. She whimpered as she saw the needle out of the corner of her eye

"It's OK Bel. You'll just go to sleep" Sam said soothingly.

Dean grabbed one of her wrists and held it above her head, exposing her bare arm. Sam pressed the needle to her arm and pulled the trigger as the drug pushed its way through her skin. She immediately relaxed and her eyes glazed over as she exhaled loudly.

"I'm sorry" she breathed out.

Dean pulled his weight off of her and let her go, sitting on the bed and pulling her onto his lap as he ran a hand comfortingly over her hair and back. She turned her head to him and buried her face in the crook of his neck as she wept softly. Her hand clasped desperately at the material of his shirt as she fought the looming unconsciousness and her body shook for a few moments, before finally relaxing completely. Her sniffling stopped and her breathing became even, her fists unclenching and falling limply on her lap. Dean shifted and her head lolled back against his arm.

"She's out" Dean said lifting one of her eyelids.

He stood up, laying her down on the bed and covering her well up to her neck. He rested his palm on her forehead, before tenderly running it over the crown of her head. He walked over to the foot of the bed and sat down, his elbows resting on his knees as he looked at Sam, his expression desolate.

Sam had put the gun back in its pouch and was now quietly watching his brother from across the room, concern written all over his face.

"What the hell was that?"

Dean dropped his head to his hands "I thought she was doing really well" He said sadly.

"She is doing really well" Sam said "She's being trying so hard to not remember. I guess it was only a matter of time before it all came flooding back"

Dean looked at his brother with worry in his eyes "You think she remembers now? Everything?"

Sam shook his head "I don't know, Dean"

"I hope not"

"You don't want her to remember?" Sam asked, looking at his brother strangely.

"Not if it's going to do this to her" Dean said agitated pointing to Isabel's unconscious body.

"She'll be out for a while" Sam said finally "We should get some sleep and talk to her tomorrow"