I ran out of the warehouse, the vampires closing in behind me. I was greeted by cold, pouring rain, the blade in my hand slick with blood. The nest was bigger than I was expecting. If I had known there were going to be almost ten of them, I wouldn't have gone in alone. I heard the remaining three vampires catching up to me. I quickly turned right into the forest and hid behind a tree. The creatures raced loudly after me, breaking twigs and hitting every bush in their path. I waited until the last one was just passing the tree I was hiding behind. I leapt and tackled it to the ground. Its head was off before it even knew what happened. The other two turned back to face me.

"He was my brother!" the taller of the two spat angrily. I stood up. I could take two. But I was tired. I had already fought so many. I had to be careful. The tall one charged. I ducked out of the way at the last moment, and lunged for its companion. It caught my arm as I swung for its head, but I kneed it in the stomach, and as it keeled over, I slipped my arm from its grip and sliced its head off with ease. I spun around just in time to see the last vampire lunge for me.

I dropped my blade as I hit the ground. The vampire pinned down my arms. It grinned at me as its fangs extended and leaned down to bite me, but I headbutted it. It howled. I wrenched one arm free and grabbed its neck. Its arms flung up to my hand, trying to pull me off, freeing my other arm. I sprang forward, so I had one arm squeezing its throat and used the other to punch its face. Its hold on my arm loosened, and I used the opportunity to jam my second hand next to my first. I squeezed as hard as I could. The vampire clawed my arms, drawing blood, but I just focused on squeezing its neck. The vampire cried out mutely before it passed out. I stood up and walked over to my blade and picked it up. I walked back over to the vampire and beheaded it.

I sighed. I was soaking wet, and my shirt had blood on it. I flicked the hair out of my face and walked back to the road. I went to the car I had stolen earlier when I heard a cry sound from the warehouse. Before I could turn to look, I was knocked to the ground. My knees and elbows scraped across the asphalt, and my blade clattered to the ground. I frantically turned only to be slammed into the road. My head hit the ground hard, and I saw stars. I was moved to my back, and a female vampire stood over me. She grabbed my hair and pulled me up. She slammed me against the car and yanked my hair to the side, so my neck was exposed. I pushed against her, but my head was still ringing, and everything felt distant. My arms moved as if underwater, and my head painfully pounded with each heartbeat. She opened her mouth, and her fangs extended. She moved to bite me, but her head suddenly fell from her body. I leaned forward and watched it thump to the ground, her body falling in the other direction. And then I saw a pair of shoes. I looked up.

Dean.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" he took a step towards me and pushed me against the car. My head screamed in pain at the movement. Pretty sure I had a concussion. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" My brother continued, "Even for you, this was pretty stupid. Going after a whole nest alone?"

"I didn't know there were going to be so many," I countered.

He scowled but moved forward. He grabbed my chin and turned my face to the side.

"Ow!" I exclaimed. "What—" He touched my head where it hurt the most. Everything went black for a moment, and my legs felt like jelly. I instinctively reached out and grabbed Dean's arm for support.

"Dammit, Sam!" He looked down at my arm holding onto him. He saw the bloody claw marks. He slipped an arm under my left one and guided me to the Impala a few feet away. I hadn't even heard him drive up earlier. Dean opened the passenger door and set me down. He grabbed my chin again and looked at my face. "How bad does it hurt?"

"It's fine."

"Liar." Dean went to the trunk and grabbed something. He returned and tossed the first aid kit at me. I moved too late, and it hit me in the chest before falling in my lap. "Good thing there weren't more," he remarked bitterly.

He went to his side of the car and got in. I closed my door. Without a word, he started the car, and we drove away. I rolled up my sleeves, and focused on patching up my arms. My vision kept going in and out of focus, and every time I concentrated on a cut, my headache would worsen, so I had to keep taking breaks in between each scratch. We slowed down, and I looked up. We were at some motel.

"I'll get us a room and come back for you." Dean didn't even look at me before leaving.

I sighed. He was pissed. I looked back down at my arms. I hardly made any progress, but the thought of starting again was too painful, so I just sat in silence waiting for Dean's return. The motel was on the shadier side, and only two other cars were parked outside. The sky was cloudy, and the morning sun was minutes away from rising. I saw Dean come out of the motel lobby. I got out of the Impala and opened the trunk and took my bag. Dean was by my side in a few moments. I followed him to our room. He unlocked the door. There was a...smell: an odd funk all these motels seemed to have. Dean turned on the light and walked over to the far bed. I set my bag down and sat on my bed. Dean was in front of me holding the first aid kit. He knelt down and grabbed my left arm and began working. He refused to look me in the eyes.

"Dean," I said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Then don't ever do this again." He stopped what he was doing and looked up at me. "I know we can fight sometimes, but that doesn't give you permission to go off and do something suicidal!"

"You're one to talk," as soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I felt his grip on my arm tighten.

"Don't turn this around on me; this is about you." Dean started working on my arm again.

"I'm sorry," I blurted. "It's the concussion talking."

"Shit!" He looked up at me again. "It hurts that bad?"

I didn't mean to say that. "I guess. I don't know."

Dean stood up. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No, Dean, it's fine. I'm fine."

He didn't move.

"I promise," I reassured.

"You're so stupid," he said kneeling down and grabbing my arm again. "And you're not sleeping just in case it is a concussion."

I sighed and closed my eyes. He was right. But I was exhausted.

"After I get you fixed up, maybe we could go into town or something to keep you moving around, so you don't nod off."

"Yeah, okay."

We didn't talk until after Dean patched me up and showered. He did his best to fix up my head. I could hardly stand him touching it and even asked to take a break not even halfway through. That only seemed to worry him, but he didn't say a thing. I changed clothes while he showered. I didn't feel like doing anything. I felt gross, but I was too tired to do more than I had to. We eventually drove into town for breakfast. Dean picked a diner, and I felt a little better when he kept glancing over at me so much that he didn't even notice how cute our waitress was. The town turned out to be pretty cool. It had a few historical buildings downtown that I liked, and Dean called boring, but I caught him reading some of the historical plaques a few times.

We found a small local restaurant for lunch. We got to sit outside. The menu was unique and had some cool choices, but my head still hurt too much to care about trying anything new, so I just ordered the chicken Caesar salad. I sat back in my chair and looked out at the town. Small shops lined the streets, and a few families and couples walked down the sidewalk. The sun peeked through the clouds, and a nice breeze ruffled my hair. The flowers around the restaurant smelled sweet and fresh.

"We should do this more often," I commented.

"Do what?"

"Take days off to do this." I looked over at Dean. He was staring at a young woman in tight clothing passing by the restaurant. He turned his attention back to me.

"This has been nice," he admitted. "Except for how it started."

"I did mean that I was sorry when I said it earlier."

"I know. You just scare me sometimes."

"You scare me, too."

He leaned forward. "How about, from now on, we don't run off and do stupid shit after we fight?" He extended his arm.

I laughed. He kept staring at me. "You're serious?" I asked.

"Deadly."

I reached over and shook his hand.

He smiled at me.

I smiled back.

And then our food came, and the moment was over.

After lunch, we went back to the motel. I took a shower, and we were back on the road again. I was already missing the little town and this relaxing day as Dean pulled out of the motel parking lot.