Chapter 7

Morning light filtered in around the edges of the curtain as Sam rolled over in his bed and cracked an eye. He rubbed his face before throwing back the covers and sitting up in bed. He looked over to the other bed and got up to check on Dean. Sam placed a hand on his forehead feeling warmth and saw that his coloring was better. Dean moved slightly and turned his head but didn't wake. Sam decided to let him sleep while he took a shower and ran out to get breakfast for them. He would leave it up to Dean whether they left or stayed another day, but was sure he would want to head out. They could stay until noon anyway, since that was check out time.

Sam grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom to shower. He turned on the heat and started the water before stripping out of his sleep clothes. He stepped to the shower and adjusted the water before stepping under the hot spray. As soon as the water hit his body he relished the way it seemed to relax his tight muscles, draining the tension from them. He wiped the water from his face and sighed contently, happy that the shower had good pressure. Sam smoothed his hair back and let the water soak it so he could shampoo and rinse it. He picked up the small bar of soap and began to wash his arms, chest and stomach, stretching his shoulders and turning so the spray beat on them.

Once he was done, he just stood under the spray for a couple more minutes before turning it off and reaching for a towel to dry his wet body. Sam felt refreshed and cleansed after their last hunt. He towel dried his hair and pulled a comb from his bathroom bag to comb it out before pulling on his clothes and gathering up his other ones. He stepped from the bathroom and looked over at Dean to see him still sleeping. Sam tucked his clothes into his duffle and snagged his jacket to head out and walk down to the diner for breakfast.

spn

The sudden need to pee woke Dean and he groaned as he came to life. He wiggled and tried to work his way out of the blankets Sam had wrapped him in until he was able to sit up. It took a few minutes for the room to stop spinning before he could push himself up from the bed and weave to the bathroom and relieve himself. He moved to the sink and ran cold water to splash on his face trying to wash away the fog that was still invading his brain. He tried to remember what had happened the night before and could only bring up feeling so cold and weak and not able to get warm. Dean dried his face and hands before heading back into the other room looking toward the door as it was opened and Sam came in carrying two bags. A familiar aroma wafted through the room and Dean's stomach growled loudly as he drew in a breath smelling the food.

"Guess I got back just in time." Sam snickered heading to the table to sit the bags down. "How ya feeling?"

"I'm fine." Dean mumbled making his way slowly to the table and sitting down before he feel down.

"Right..." Sam noted seeing Dean's face pale slightly from his exertion. "Think you can eat something?" he asked pulling out the food and drinks. "I got coffee and a ginger ale. Didn't know how your stomach would be feeling."

"Thanks." Dean nodded pulling the coffee to him and taking off the lid. He blew across the top of the cup and took a sip of the bitter liquid feeling it burn down into his stomach. He could feel the acid churning as the coffee hit it and grimaced. Dean waited to be sure he wasn't going to upchuck before trying another sip. Deciding his stomach wasn't ready for coffee; he pulled the bottle of ginger ale to him and opened it to drink. The coldness of the liquid seemed to sooth his throat and felt much better on his stomach and he sipped more.

Sam watched him closely as he ate his breakfast sandwich trying to decide if he was fit for travel. He watched as Dean unwrapped his sandwich and eyed it before pulling the top half of the biscuit off and taking a small bite.

"So ya wanna head out or stay another day?" he questioned his brother.

"I'm ready anytime." Dean responded, swallowing hard to get the bite of food down without choking.

"Well, we've got until noon, so after you finish, you can lay back down for bit before we have to head out. It's still early, no need rush."

"Maybe." he mumbled forcing another bite of food down following it with ginger ale. He wouldn't admit it to Sam but laying back down did sound enticing but he wouldn't show it.

"You might like a shower. I got what blood I could off last night, but there's still some in your hair and down your neck."

"Blood?" Dean frowned slightly absently raising a hand to his hair and feeling stiffness in it. "You took a vamp out right?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? You went with one and got knocked out because there were two. When I found you they were draining your blood, that's why you still feel weak."

"Bits and pieces of it are coming back." he said rubbing his forehead and running his hand over his head to find a lump on the back of his head. He winced when he touched it feeling how tender it was. "Yeah, shower does sound good, maybe after a short nap." he said trying to suppress a yawn and sit up straight for Sam's benefit.

"You'll probably feel better if you try to rest a little more, there's no hurry." Sam said hoping he would take his advice and lay back down.

Dean finished the half biscuit he was eating and washed it down with a few more sips of ginger ale before nodding and getting up without speaking. He made is way back to the bed not noticing Sam had stood too and was close enough to catch him if he faltered. He pushed the blankets over to lie back down and didn't fuss when Sam took them and draped them over his body.

"Wake me in a couple of hours." Dean mumbled to Sam as he let the darkness back in and drifted back to sleep.

"Alright."

Sam looked down at Dean once he was settled knowing he was trying to hide how bad he felt. That was typical Dean and Sam had learned to see around his tough farce and see just how hurt or in pain he was. He went to clean up their trash and was going to step out to call Bobby and let him know they would be heading his way.

spn

Dean was in the bathroom showering when a shrill ring sounded in the room. Sam looked up at the sound and got up to find it. He picked up Dean's jacket and found his phone was making the noise. He looked at it and saw Dean was being alerted about an email he was receiving. Sam frowned wondering who it was from and went back to his laptop to pull up their email account. He clicked on the new one and started reading the contents before jumping up and hurrying to the bathroom door.

"Hey Dean." Sam called knocking loudly and opening the door enough to talk to him.

"What?" Dean asked looking out from behind the curtain.

"You just got an email from Lark and I think she's in trouble. Might wanna hurry the shower up."

"Give me five minutes." Dean replied

"Ok." Sam said going back to the laptop and searching for the town Lark mentioned in the email. He searched the quickest route there and scribbled the directions on a piece of paper. Sam dug his cell out and called her number only to have the call go to voicemail. He left a message for Lark to call him that they were heading her way. He looked up when Dean came out of the bathroom towel drying his hair.

"What did she say?" he asked looking over Sam's shoulder as he pulled the email back up.

"Basically it said if you read this then something went wrong on the hunt I'm on." Sam said letting him read it. "I tried to call her but only got voicemail."

"Doesn't she know better than to go after a djinn by herself?" Dean demanded. "Get your things and let's go find her."

"I've got the fastest route for Redwood Falls, Minnesota, but it's still gonna take us about six hours to get there."

"We better get going then. I'm sure I can cut that time down some."

"At least she gave us enough details that we should be able to find her." Sam said packing up his laptop and heading for the bathroom for his bag.

"The only good thing is djinn don't usually kill their captives immediately." he grumbled opening the trunk so they could stow their bags.

"Let me drive first and you can take over." he offered.

"I'm fine, get in." Dean told him as he went around to the driver's side. The food and drink and the extra rest did help him, plus the shower got him woke up. He was almost back to his old self, but still not anywhere near a hundred percent. But this information he would keep to himself what with Lark in trouble, her being in danger trumped him still feeling weak and tired.

"We need to head east to pick up the interstate."

"Got it." Dean said reining in his emotions and getting serious. They needed to find Lark before something bad happened to her.

spn

Because of Dean's heavy foot, Sam pulled into Redwood Falls in less than five hours. Dean had given in and let Sam drive the last hour and a half when he felt lightheaded and started seeing double. He wasn't about to wrap his Baby around a tree and risk hurting both of them or worse.

"Dean, we're here." Sam said touching Dean's arm to wake him.

"I'm up." Dean grunted sitting up straight and looking around. He rubbed his eyes to get the sleep out of them. He felt around for his water and took several swigs of it to wet his dry mouth. "Any idea where this warehouse Lark was talking about is?"

"No, I'm gonna stop at a gas station and pick up a map. Shouldn't be hard to find I hope." he said pulling into a gas station on the corner. "I'll be right back."

"I'm gonna hit the head." Dean grunted opening the car door and getting out stretching as he walked toward the store.

Sam got out and followed Dean into the store going to the cashier to get a map and ask about the location of the warehouse. He had the guy mark the map and went to the door to wait for Dean.

"You got it?" Dean asked as they headed back to the car.

"Yeah, we're only ten miles from it. It's on the other side of town on the outskirts. The cashier gave me a short cut."

"Tell me." Dean said as he got in and cranked the Impala pulling away from the station.

"Go to the light and turn left and take the third side road on the right." Sam instructed looking at the folded map and back up at the road signs. "This'll let us by pass most of town and get there quicker."

"The faster the better. We need to find Lark." he said turning and looking for the side roads on the right. Dean's face clouded thinking about what could be happening to Lark.

spn

"Look, isn't that Lark's truck?" Sam asking pointing to a vehicle almost hidden off the road.

"Yeah, that must be the warehouse; we'll leave the car here and walk the rest of the way." Dean said pulling off the road and easing in beside the truck. "You got the knives?"

"Yes, they're ready." Sam said reaching for the bag between his feet. "One for each of us."

"Let's do this."

The brothers headed for the warehouse and checked the front door finding it locked from the inside. They moved to the side of the building and found the other door the same. They continued on around the building until Dean spotted a window and used a knife to jimmy it open. He crawled through first and motioned for Sam to wait while he checked the area out. Once he was satisfied it was safe, he let Sam crawl through the window too.

"He's in here, I can feel it." Dean whispered letting his eyes continuously scan around them for the djinn. He used hand signals to tell Sam what to do. They separated enough to have room to fight as they silently moved out into the room with knives ready.

Sam was four steps behind Dean and moving carefully watching their back when he was suddenly thrown sideways into a pile of broken chairs and empty boxes. He hit his head on a filing cabinet stunning him enough that he couldn't get up at first.

Dean quickly turned to be hit by the djinn and stumbled backwards. He tried to keep his balance, but the djinn kept coming at him, knocking the knife from his hand. Dean struck out blindly but only caught him on the shoulder barely grazing him. Before he could react and still weakened from the blood loss, the djinn had him pinned down on a metal desk trying to get his hand to Dean's face. Dean blinked hard and fought through the pain, grabbing his hand and holding it mere inches from his face. The djinn pressed harder and Dean pushed out harder trying to break the hold. He could feel himself weakening as he watched the hand covered in sigils and tattoos move closer when suddenly the djinn stiffened and a surprised look crossed his face as he fell down beside Dean. He saw Sam standing there breathing hard as a thin line of blood trickled down the side of his face.

"Are you ok?" Sam gasped pushing the dead body of the djinn on to the floor. He reached and pulled the knife from his back and wiped it off before sheathing it.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dean grunted, catching his breath and forcing himself to a standing position. He steadied himself with the table before moving on into the room to look for Lark. Not seeing anything in the front room, he led Sam to the back of the building and stepped into the room to see the bodies hanging in there.

"Do you see her?" Dean asked moving around the check the bodies for a pulse.

"No." Sam said using his knife to cut down the woman who was still breathing. He removed the needle from her neck and the one in her arm.

"This one's alive too." Dean told him taking his knife and cutting a young guy down.

"None of the others are, but where's Lark?" Sam asked looking around until he spotted a small area curtained off and went to check it out. He pulled the sheet down and found Lark hanging by herself, unconscious. "Found her." Sam called pulling the needles from her neck and arm and cutting the rope around her wrist. He caught her as her limp body fell against him.

"How is she?" Dean asked as Sam carried her over to the others.

"I don't know." Sam said checking Lark's pulse and breathing.

"The others are starting to come around, they're weak and disoriented, but I think they'll be ok." Dean said kneeling beside Sam and Lark.

"We need to get medical help for those two." Sam said patting Lark's cheeks. "Lark can you hear me?"

"Why isn't she waking up like the others?" Dean asked looking to the other victims who were watching them with glazed eyes.

"I don't know." Sam said looking her over but not seeing any injuries on her body. "Lark!" Sam said louder shaking her shoulder this time, but still didn't get any response from her.

"Something's not right." Dean said getting up. "Hand her to me and help those other two to the front. We'll get them help and take Lark to Bobby's since he's close. He'll know what to do."

"Right, Bobby can help." Sam agreed picking Lark up and settling her in Dean's arms. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I got her." Dean grunted trying to keep his balance with Lark's additional weight.

"C'mon folks, let's get you guys out of here and we'll get you some help." Sam told the young guy and woman, helping them to their feet. He made sure they were fairly stable and understood what he was doing before moving toward the front door. The guy stumbled in his weakness since he had been captive the longest. Sam got a better hold on him and moved them toward the front door. He saw Dean had gotten it open and headed for the light. Once he had the two outside, he found a place for them to sit up against the building.

"Go get her truck and bring it over here." Dean told Sam holding out a set of keys he had found in her pocket. "I'll drive it with Lark and you can take the Impala and take these two to the emergency room and drop them off. We'll meet at that same gas station on the edge of town."

"Got it. I'll be right back." Sam said jogging across the parking lot toward where the vehicles were hidden.

"Who are you?" the young woman asked as she watched Dean tend to Lark.

"No one." Dean told her looking at her to see if she understood.

"Thank you, both of you." she said earnestly.

"Thanks." the guy said hoarsely. "I just knew I was a goner."

"We've got some waters in the car. My brother will take you to the emergency room and drop you off. You can let the cops know about the others."

"Who was that guy?" she asked.

"A bad person." he said knowing they wouldn't understand if he told them the truth. He looked up when Sam pulled Lark's truck up and got out leaving it running.

"I'll put her in the passenger seat." Sam said hefting Lark's body and carrying her to the truck. He looked worriedly at her wondering if the djinn had done something more to her and that was the reason she hadn't woken. He got her into the seat and put the seat belt around her before looking over at Dean. "I'll meet you at the gas station, be careful."

"I will. Gas station." Dean answered handing over the Impala keys and waiting for Sam to close the door.

Sam nodded and patted the hood as he stepped back so Dean could drive away. He turned to the two victims and said, "I'll right back." They watched him jog off again and looked at each other happy to be alive. It wasn't but a few minutes that Sam was back driving a black Impala. "Ok, let's get you two some medical help." Sam said helping them up and to the car.

spn

After filling the truck with gas, Dean pulled over to a parking space to wait on Sam. He checked Lark to be sure she was breathing and her pulse was ok and brushed her loose hair out of her face. Her head lolled to the side, but she didn't respond to his touch. He pulled his jacket off to make a pillow for her to lean against. He eased her head against the side window, making her comfortable. He watched the road waiting for Sam to join them. Dean eased a sigh of relief when the Impala pulled into the gas station and up to a pump. He got out and started to fill the Impala watching as Dean got out of the truck to join him.

"Any change?" he asked as Dean walked over to him.

"No, she's still out." Dean said tiredly.

"You ok to drive?" Sam asked looking at Dean closely.

"Yeah, I'll make it it's not that far." he said. "I'll go grab a coffee from inside, should hold me. I'll follow you."

"Alright, I'll be ready in a couple of minutes."

"I'll call ya if there's a problem." Dean said before heading into the station for coffee. He came back out sipping on a large cup and saw Sam was waiting on him so he headed for the truck.

Sam pulled out and watched to be sure Dean was behind him and headed for the interstate and Bobby's. He pulled his cell out and dialed Bobby to let him know what was going on so maybe he could do some research on the situation. He listened to it ring, waiting for Bobby to pick up.

"H'llo, Singer Salvage." Bobby growled out.

"Bobby, its Sam."

"Sam! How are ya boy?" Bobby asked happily.

"I'm good Bobby. Dean and I are heading your way with a mutual friend who's in trouble."

"Don't say and who's that?" Bobby asked with interest.

"A girl named Lark said she knew you."

"She does, what's wrong with her?" he asked as the tone of his voice changed to one of concern.

"She went after a djinn but he caught her. She had a delayed email sent to Dean to let him know she was in trouble. We got there and killed the djinn, saved who we could, but she's not woke up yet. The other two victims I dropped off at the ER. They came to, but Lark never did. I was hoping you could do some research and see if maybe he did something different to her."

"I'll get right on it. I told the lass she needed to be more careful hunting alone."

"See ya in about an hour and half."

"You boys be careful."

"We will, 'bye." Sam replied hanging up. He kept check in his rear view mirror to be sure Dean was behind him and doing ok. Dean could put on a strong face to hide how he really was but Sam had learned to see through his mask and knew he was hiding how bad he really felt. Sam hoped he was able to make it as far as Bobby's.

A/N: So this story took on a life of its own and ended up being longer than I expected. Hope you are enjoying the read and if you have a moment would love to know what you think of it. Please review. NC