Chapter 9

The day had lightened finally, and Sam and Meg crawled from their shelter, walking around and stretching to get the stiffness from their bodies. Meg pushed past Sam and took the lead this time, only to get a growl of displeasure from him, but he let her lead.

Meg set a steady, cautious pace as she zeroed in on the river again. They were closer, she knew that and was going to keep Sam under control so he wouldn't wear himself out and not be able to fight when they needed it. She counted the approximate time in her head thinking a couple of hours or more had pasted since they started out. They were lucky and hadn't run across any other monsters, or rather the monsters hadn't run across them.

A cry of pain and yelling had her pulling up short and easing around the brush to see two people fighting. She looked behind her for Sam and was shocked by what he did.

"Dean…" Sam gasped when he heard the voice. He knew his brother's cry of pain anywhere. "Dean!" he cried again, dropping his pack and rushing into the fray. He launched himself at the person on top of his brother that was trying to drive a crude knife into his chest. They tumbled to the side and Sam was up first, grabbing his dropped machete in both hands and putting all his weight behind it as he swung in a wide arch, taking off the vampire's head.

He was panting hard and looked down at a stunned Dean before offering him his hand to help him up. He smiled widely as Dean grasped it and let Sam pull him to his feet.

"Sam…Sammy…" Dean stammered. "How the hell are you here? Why are you here?"

"I came to get you and Cas out. Where is Cas anyway?" Sam asked looking around for the angel.

"Cas…well…" Dean started racking his brain for that name and who it was. "He went to scout ahead. He should be back shortly."

"Man, it's good to see you. I was afraid we wouldn't find you…" Sam continued to talk as he turned looking for Meg and wondering where she was.

Meg stood still and watched Sam take out the vampire. She had known the Winchester brothers for a long time off and on over the years. She had tried numerous times to kill them and had allied herself with them, like now. And one thing she knew for certain was this man was not Dean Winchester. She slowly reached down and opened Sam's pack to pull the angel blade out and melted back into the brush and started to circle around the small clearing.

She didn't know what kind of creature this was, but Sam was in trouble and didn't even know it. Meg saw the puzzlement on the fake Dean's face with the mention of Castiel and knew he didn't know who that was. He was doing a decent job of convincing Sam because Sam wasn't really looking at him. The Dean she knew would have Sam in a bear hug before he said anything and be fussing at him for coming here.

"Did you say we, Sammy?" Dean questioned as he reached to pick up the crude knife from the ground beside him. He gripped it tightly in his hand and moved slowly to Sam's blind side. He didn't need this human drawing attention to him in this place. There were enough monsters who thought he was this Winchester and hated his guts.

"Meg, it's okay," Sam called as he stepped once toward where he had come from. "Hey, it's Dean. We found him. Meg?" He started to turn back to Dean, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. He watched as Meg rushed Dean from behind and didn't realize that he was screaming his name.

Meg had managed to get behind them and was silently easing through the brush and trees to get to the clearing. She saw Dean pick up the knife and began to make his move on Sam. He was flanking Sam and she saw his intentions. Faster that a human, Meg ran from her cover and before Sam could do anything but scream his brother's name, she drove the angel blade into his back and out the front of his body.

Dean heard the noise too late to react and stared down in shock at the silver blade sticking from his chest. He gurgled and gasped as blood began to drip from his mouth and he dropped the knife, blinking rapidly. He raised his hand to the blade like he was going to push it out, but his knees buckled, and he fell face first to the ground.

"Dean! No! No! No!" Sam screamed as he stumbled to his brother's still body and felt for a pulse. He could see that life had left his eyes and glared up at Meg as he pulled the blade from Dean's back. "You bitch! I never should have trusted you! I should have seen through your goody goody act!" Sam was seething now as he saw red and stepped toward Meg, the angel blade clasped tightly in his hand.

"Sam, stop," Meg said holding up her hands. "That was not your brother, it wasn't Dean. He was going to kill you," she insisted. She stepped backwards as Sam moved toward her. "Think Sam. Did any monster pretend to be Dean that you killed? Think Sam! I don't want to hurt you."

What she said made Sam falter as he thought for a moment and pulled up hunts they had done. It had been years ago when they had partnered back up after Jessica was killed. He had gotten word that a college friend had been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Zack was his name. They went back to Palo Alto to check it out. There had been a shapeshifter taking on people's identities and killing loved ones. He had caught both of them and turned into Dean and then Rebecca, Zach's sister, and back to Dean again when he captured Sam at her apartment. He was going to kill Sam, but Dean and the real Rebecca showed up and he killed his lookalike.

Sam lowered the angel blade and stepped back to Dean's body. He looked down at it as tears filled his eyes for a moment and he blinked them away. He knelt beside it and pulled on Dean's ear only to have it come off in his hand. Shedding skin, this was a shapeshifter, not his brother.

"See, I told you. Now, are we good?" Meg stated with a huff.

"How did you know?" Sam mumbled dropping the ear in disgust and wiping his hand down his pants leg.

"Please! I'm a demon and I've know you guys for a long time. I can spot a fake a mile away. You didn't see his confused expression when you mentioned Clarence and you asked where he was. He had no idea who he was."

"This has to be the shifter Dean killed years ago right after we got back together. We didn't know Cas back then or even you for that matter. He wouldn't have those memories."

"Must be an interesting story, but we need to move. I'm hearing something coming our way." Meg looked around quickly before going to retrieve their packs.

"We can't leave him here," Sam whispered looking down at fake Dean's body.

"He's not your brother, Sam. You don't owe him anything. He's a monster that just looks like Dean. Now, come on move it!" She pushed Sam back toward the trees and bushes and in the direction of the river. Meg kept Sam in front of her and continued to prod him on as fast as she could. It was hard moving a shocked giant, but she did her best.

spn

"Look Sam, I can see the river through the trees," Meg told him, trying to get his attention. Ever since killing the shapeshifter that looked like Dean, Sam had been quiet and shutoff. He hadn't spoken or made any attempt to take over the lead.

The words pulled Sam out of his funk, and he looked through the trees and listened to the water rushing past. He straightened up and seemed more alert as they made their way between the stunted trees that were thinning now. They stepped out from the tree line and saw the expanse of the river running both ways. The water was dark and seemed cloudy, not sparkling and clear like on Earth. There was a hint of a mineral smell hanging in the air now, but it didn't seem to bother them.

Sam took another step toward the swirling water and looked one way, down the bank and then the other way seeing if he could spot Castiel or his brother. Without warning, the attack came from behind them. Meg was knocked to the ground and three vampires fell across her body to restrain her. Sam half turned before he was hit and fell backward, knocking the breath from him. He lay stunned and tried to get his breath as a knee was pressed into his stomach, making it hard to breath.

"Well, well, what have we here?" a male voice sneered as he walked toward Sam and Meg. "I heard there was another human here and should have known it would be you coming after your brother. Get him up," the voice ordered.

Sam was jerked to his feet and held with his arms wrenched painfully up his back making him grimace in pain. His head was hanging low on his chest but at least he could breathe now. After drawing in several gulps of air, he slowly lifted his head to see a man standing in front of him. He tried to place the face, but his vision was still blurry, and he couldn't make him out.

"You don't remember me, do you?" he asked Sam. "Maybe this will help," he told him letting the second set of teeth come down and snarled at Sam. "If I didn't have that damn Colt, I would still probably be alive today, but no, your Daddy had to have it. And what does he do with it but kill me and send me to this god forsaken hell hole."

Recognition slowly dawned on Sam and remembered the nest of vampires that Dean, their Dad, and him took out going after the Colt. They killed most of them, but a few got away. He remembered John shooting the head of the nest on a deserted highway with the Colt.

"You do remember me after all," Luther crowed stepping to him and slapping him across the face, snapping his head to the side and leaving a dark red mark on his cheek.

"Never…Got your…Name…Asshole…" Sam growled out in a raspy voice.

"Luther, my name's Luther, and we're going to have some fun," he smiled evilly. "Take him with us, leave the bitch, let the other varmints have her," he ordered. "But make sure she can't follow."

The vampires holding Meg down, began to kick and beat her, laughing as they did it. They tossed her away like garbage and followed their leader into the trees and disappeared.

Meg spit up blood and rolled onto her back to look up at the hazy, cloudy sky as she tried to breath. Her demon powers didn't seem to be as strong here and she wasn't healing as fast.

"Clarence, I can feel you, you're close," Meg prayed. "I've been hurt, and Sam has been kidnapped by some crazy vampire. You need to find me fast so we can go rescue him." She coughed and moaned in pain as she willed her body to heal. Darkness threatened to invade her mind and she knew that couldn't happen. She would be fair game to any monster that happened to find her. She faded in and out, hoping Castiel had heard her and would be there soon.

Scuffling and grunts of anger rousted Meg from the darkness and she could make out blurred figures moving around her fighting. She couldn't tell who it was and tried to move away when one figure moved toward her. She felt around for a weapon of some kind and wrapped her hand around a stone. When the blurry figure knelt beside her, she swung weakly, but her hand was caught, and the stone removed.

"Meg, it's okay. Hey, it's Castiel," the angel told her lifting her upper body from the ground. He looked at her injuries and laid two fingers on her forehead, releasing a small amount of grace into her body. He couldn't completely heal her or risk hurting or killing her.

"Clarence?" Meg asked as she felt the grace tingling as it raced through her body. She could feel the injuries beginning to heal and groaned as her body adjusted to the changes. When she could really see Castiel, Meg was shocked by his appearance. He was dirty, his clothes were torn and ragged, and his trench coat seemed to hang in shreds off his shoulders. His hair was disheveled and sticking out at odd angles, his face was covered with a beard and what skin she could see seemed coated in the dirt and dust from this place. She looked around his body searching for Dean. "Where Dean? Is he not with you?"

"No, but now's not the time to discuss that. Where's Sam?" Castiel asked quickly. "What happened?"

"We were attacked by vamps, and they took Sam. Seems the leader had a beef with old man Winchester for killing him. He was going to punish Sam for it."

"We have to find them before they kill Sam." Castiel helped Meg to stand and looked around seeing their packs.
"Can you walk?"

"Yeah, thanks for the boost," Meg told him as she shook her body and reached for her pack. "They went this way."

Castiel grabbed her arm and hurried her through the trees, checking the ground and seeing drag marks heading deeper into the forest. He kept a firm grip on Meg's arm and didn't see the look of affection cross Meg's face for a moment before it was gone. She didn't protest his closeness and picked up her speed so she wouldn't be dragged along by him.

A/N: Things are not looking good for Sam, but at least Castiel has found Meg and they are going after him. Hope you liked the twist I threw in here. You know I couldn't let it be that easy. Thank you Elliesamdeangirl and Kathy for your reviews. I do like reviews/comments. NC