In the gentler light from the bedside lamp, she watched him wincing as he dreamed and saw his lips murmuring. Frowning in concern, Jo sank the wet cloth back into the bowl on the locker and refreshed the water. Placing the flannel back over his forehead, she heard him groan slightly and then watched as he opened his eyes for a brief moment.

"Cold …"

"Yeah," Jo smiled, "That's sort of the whole idea."

Dean shuddered, clutching his arms over his bare chest. "Cold!"

"No, actually you're way too hot." Jo countered gently, "109 when I last checked."

Turning his head towards her, Dean blinked open his heavy eyelids and tried to focus on her face.

Remembering the very different Dean of a few hours ago, she sighed in relief as she watched him drift in and out of sleep. She had known his angry words were spoken in the confusion of his high fever but that had not made it any less upsetting. She took a deep breath and smiled down at him. "Martin said you'll be fine." Jo shrugged, "Even though you nearly boiled your internal organs."

"What … ?" Dean husked.

"Nothing," Jo smiled and touched the cloth on his head to check it was still cool.

Dean closed his eyes and rolled his head back to rest against the pillows. He then felt the stinging in the back of his hand and lifted his arm to peer at the thin tube that sank under his skin.

"Antibiotics." Jo explained quietly, "A whole truck-load." She watched him nod and relax back with a sigh. "Your leg is a bit of a mess." Jo offered warily.

Dean lifted his head and looked down at his left leg. Free of the plaster and propped up high on cushions, the whole of his leg below the knee was bruised and swollen, the wounds from the surgery an angry red. He grimaced in revulsion and flopped back onto the bed with a groan.

"It'll be okay." Jo assured quietly and watched him turn to face her. "Martin's a good doctor."

Watching her weary face for a second, Dean could recall vague memories of the plaster being removed and the agony of the doctor examining his leg. And then he remembered Jo gently reassuring him and holding his head in her lap.

"Who's Mina?"

Dean saw the intrigue that Jo tried to conceal her sadness with and his heart thudded against his chest. He knew how Jo felt about him, anyone who watched her for more than a second would see the way she looked at him. Once he had felt a flicker of something in return but it had been amid the pain and sorrow of losing his father and - despite his usual tactics - taking advantage of her sympathy had seemed very wrong.

"I'm sorry." Jo sighed as she saw the sorrow on his face, "It's none of my business." She took the warm flannel from his head and dipped it into the iced water. Wringing out the cloth, she placed it back over his forehead and held her breath as Dean reached up and grabbed her hand.

"Thank you."

Jo shrugged and smiled quickly, "Sure."

Dean watched her look away from him, seeing she was suddenly shifting in discomfort and he let go of her hand. He saw the brief sadness that filled her face as she turned from him and combed her fingers through her hair, flicking it back from her shoulders.

"I'll go get some fresh water." Jo husked and stood quickly.

Dean watched her leave and listened to the hushed, worried voices from beyond the open door. He then saw a tall, grey-haired man step into the doorway and he frowned in interest. "Martin?"

"Hello there." The man nodded and stepped further into the room. "You're awake, huh?"

"How long was I asleep?"

"Oh, only a few hours." Martin shrugged and strode up to the bed. "But it seems to have helped some." He peered down at Dean's face and reached out to touch his hand against Dean's forehead.

Dean watched the doctor frowning in thought as he grasped Dean's wrist and counted his pulse against his watch.

"Good." Martin smiled and then glanced at Dean's leg. "This can happen sometimes with a nasty break like yours." He shrugged, "That's why you should have stayed in the hospital." Martin watched the dismay fill Dean's face and smiled warmly. "But I'm sure you don't need me lecturing you. You've already got Ellen on your back."

Dean saw the doctor grin cheekily and he gave a short laugh. "Great."

"Yeah," Martin chuckled, "If ever there was a good reason to get well soon." He shook his head and smiled down at Dean. "I don't know what's worse: being her enemy or being someone she really cares about."

Dean felt his throat tighten and smiled a reply.

"Anyway." Martin sighed, "I've shown Jo how to start a new bottle of antibiotic in a few hours time." He checked his watch and took a deep breath. "I'll come by around lunchtime and check on you."

"Thanks."

"Oh, no problem." Martin smiled, "Just glad to help. Lord knows how much folk like you do to protect the rest of us."

Dean felt sudden tears and returned the smile, watching in silence as Martin waved and wandered from the room. He heard the doctor talking quietly to someone outside the door and then recognized Jo's voice. Wiping his eyes, he smiled in greeting as she stepped into the room.

Jo nodded briefly and set the fresh bowl of iced water on the cabinet beside the bed.

"So." Dean regarded her in amusement. "You finally got me undressed, huh?"

"Oh no," Jo grinned suddenly, "That was my Mom." She saw the uncertainty in his eyes and chuckled merrily. "Nice shorts, by the way."

"Yeah?" Dean peered down and lifted the waistband of the white pants with a slight murmur of surprise. "Actually, I think they might be Sam's."

Jo laughed and shook her head. Refreshing the flannel, she handed it back to him and grinned happily. "I'd rather take your money than your Calvin Klein's, anyway."

"Hmm." Dean frowned, wiping his face with the cold cloth. "I'm sure you cheat."

"Oh?" Jo demanded.

Dean smiled up at her and shrugged slightly, "Well, it's that or you're better than me."

"Oh, right. And there's no way - " Jo stopped suddenly and turned towards the door as she heard shouting coming from downstairs. She then smiled as she recognized one of the voices and looked back at Dean. "Sounds like Sam's back."

Dean nodded and listened in concern as he heard his brother charging noisily up the stairs.

"Dean?" Sam burst through the door, flushed and breathless, his brother's pallid face only increasing the panic in his eyes.

"Wo!" Dean urged with a smile, "It's okay, Sammy. I'm alright."

"God - !" Sam dragged his hands through his hair and breathed a sigh of relief. "Dude! I was so scared that - "

"Hey!" Dean leaned up on his elbows and frowned up at his brother. "You haven't just broken every speed limit in my car?"

Jo rolled her eyes in disbelief and glared an exasperated warning at Dean.

"No!" Sam replied quickly, walking towards them and then smiling sheepishly. "Well, there was this cop that I had to lose back in - "

"What?" Dean gasped.

"Dude! I'm joking!" Sam laughed and sat down on the chair at the foot of the bed. "I was careful, okay? And it made it feel like forever, man …"

"Yeah, sorry Sam," Jo offered, "I tried to call to let you know it wasn't as bad as we thought but you had no signal."

Sam nodded and raised his hand in reassurance. "It's okay." He smiled, the smile becoming a wide grin as he turned back to his brother. "I was probably moving too fast for a signal to catch me."

"Not funny." Dean groaned.

"So." Sam looked at Dean's injured leg and grimaced in disgust. "Is it gonna fall off, or what?"

"If it does, at least I'll have something good to slap you with." Dean retorted merrily.

"Gross!" Jo complained and stood from the bed. "Can I get you anything, Sam?"

Sam shook his head, "I'm good, thanks." He watched her leave and then looked over at his brother. "So … told you it was too early to leave the hos - "

"Yeah, yeah." Dean groaned, holding up his hand, "Dude, I've had enough of a hiding already."

"Really?" Sam smiled at the image and saw his brother glare a friendly warning at him. "What happened, then?" He asked, peering over at his brother's elevated leg.

"Infection, apparently."

"Eww." Sam frowned and then shuddered, looking away from the puffy red skin in revulsion. He then sighed and hung his head. "Man … I was so worried …"

"Yeah … sorry …" Dean shrugged, "How's Sarah?" He saw the instant smile that filled his brother's face and laughed gently. "That's my boy!"

Sam could feel his cheeks reddening and cleared his throat. "Anyway … we heard anything more back about my vision?"

Dean frowned in thought and gave a small shrug. "Last I heard, Ash was still looking but … he smiled wryly, "That was before all the fun of a fever …" Seeing his brother troubled at the thought, he sighed gently. "I'm okay, Sam."

"Yeah," Sam nodded slowly, his eyes betraying his concern, "I know …" He seemed about to say something more but then forced a quick smile and got to his feet. "Ellen was still up a moment ago … I'll go see what she's heard."

"Sure." Dean nodded and watched quietly as Sam headed from the room.

"Dean …?" Pausing at the door, Sam slowly turned back and seemed to find it hard to find the right words.

Dean saw the sorrow that suddenly filled Sam's face and his heart sank.

"You do this to me one more time … scare me like this … " Sam offered quietly, his voice tight as he smiled briefly. "I'll kill you myself."

Dean smiled. "Love you too, little brother."

Canestota, South Dakota

The aging jeep whined as it pulled to a stop and shuddered as the engine was switched off. Frowning in thought, the driver peered out at the small town and raised his eyebrows in wonder. It was exactly as it had been described, right down to the flaking paint on the wooden fences beside the railroad crossing and the scaffolding on the tall spire of the church on the edge of the town.

It was early morning as Carlos picked up the notes from the passenger seat and leaned back against his seat to read through them. Again amazed by the level of detail, he frowned as he scanned down his rough handwriting.

Ash had managed to deduce from the number on the side plate of the train Sam had seen and the direction of travel that the accident would occur around 09:15 - or, at least, that was when the Amtrak service to Casper was due to pass through Canestota. Taking a deep breath, he then read through the information Sam had given regarding the woman he had seen killed and Carlos frowned in thought.

Sam could tell from what he had seen from inside the car that it was a silver Ford and it was new; the driver had been unsure as to where switches and controls were situated in her panic to stop it moving. Ash had looked up the recent registrations of all new purchases in the area and had found five vehicles that seemed to match. Looking at the list of names and addresses, Carlos sighed and started up his old jeep again.

The town was starting to come to life as Carlos idled through the new housing estate on the south side. Figuring a new house went with a new car, he had decided to check out the two women that had recently moved in and also bought new Ford. The first had seemed hopeful and Carlos had thought luck was on his side but Sam had clearly described a rosary hanging from the rear-view mirror and a small blue teddy bear sitting on the dashboard. Seeing nothing even similar inside the new sedan, he had moved on to the second possibility.

Bringing his jeep to a halt at the side of the street, he watched the business-like woman who hurried from the large house and jogged down the drive. Seeing her climb quickly into the car, he watched her reverse towards him and then groaned in dismay as he also saw the lack of ornaments in her car.

Lady number three lived on the north side of the centre of town. Here the older, colonial style houses along the long straight Main Street were stacked neatly in their almost identical, symmetrical plots. Peering out at the house numbers, he counted aloud and guessed where 284 was situated. Pulling over against the curb, he looked across the road through the growing flow of traffic and could see the silver sedan parked up beside the house.

Pulling a pair of binoculars from the glove box and hoping no one saw him and became suspicious, he took a closer look at the car. His heart leapt as he saw the rosary and the pink bunny that smiled back at him from inside the car. Smiling merrily, he grabbed his phone and hurriedly dialed the number.

"Sam!" Carlos greeted quickly, "I found her!" He looked down at the list of names and nodded as he heard Sam's enthusiastic response. "Julia Beaumont." He offered, frowning as Sam asked for more detail. "Uh … DMV records say she's 23 ... Ash said the house is registered to a Mr & Mrs Gerald Beaumont - maybe her folks ..."

Carlos looked over at the house and saw movement behind the net curtains of the large lounge windows. "And it looks like she's up and about. What shall I do?" He listened to the reply and nodded slowly. "Okay, sure. I'll stick with her. See you soon."

Ending the call, Carlos shifted his position in the driver's seat and flicked on the radio, ready to sit and wait. He then saw something moving at the side of the house and frowned in concern. The dark figure was moving stealthily along the gap between the corner edge of the property and the large garage at the top of the drive. Carlos could feel adrenaline building as he watched the suspicious and careful advance of the hooded person and he quickly decided he ought to investigate.

Whoever it was, they were cautious and waited at the corner of the garage, hidden from the house. Carlos crept along behind the figure and held his breath as he neared the apparent threat. Pausing for a second to decide whether to announce his presence or simply use surprise to grab the person, Carlos then gasped as the figure spun at him.

"You?" Carlos hissed, instantly defending himself as the woman launched at him. Deflecting the first of her blows, he swung his fist and felt his knuckles slam into her head but she quickly recovered and jabbed at his face and side.

Edging back from her, Carlos stumbled and slammed back against the wall and threw out his arms to steady himself. Tensing in anticipation of her next move, he grunted in pain as she punched him hard in the abdomen and he doubled over.

Grabbing his hair and forcing him back upright, she moved in close and pressed her arm across his throat.

Seeing stars and unable to catch his breath, Carlos struggled and grabbed at her arm. He then saw her smile and watched in horror as a second set of sharp teeth descended and she opened her mouth as she moved closer.

Closing his eyes and cringing away from her, Carlos whimpered in fear. And then suddenly she released her grip and stepped back from him. He looked up to see her flushed face return to normal and she frowned as she regarded him in interest. Unsure what she was waiting for, Carlos remained slumped against the wall and rubbed at his bruised neck.

"What are you doing here?" Mina asked in a whisper.

Carlos cleared his throat and smiled nervously. "I could ask the same of you."

Mina nodded and straightened her hooded jacket, sighing loudly. "I'm not sure." She replied honestly. "I just had to come here." She nodded towards the house beside them and shrugged her shoulders. "There's something about this family."

"Not you, as well." Carlos smiled warily, "I'm here 'cos psychic Sam saw the young daughter die."

"He did?" Mina urged, looking around in surprise. "Is he here?"

"He's on his way." Carlos affirmed, "Quite a nice little reunion, huh?"

Mina seemed unconvinced and stepped away from him to peer round at the house. "Something is going to happen here. Something bad." She muttered quietly, "I can sense something - ..."

"What?"

"I'm not sure." Mina sighed and turned back to see Carlos frowning in intrigue. "What did Sam see?"

Carlos explained the train crash and shrugged slightly, "I guess we're gonna stop her going out in her car today. Sam said he has a plan." He stepped away from the wall and coughed dryly as he continued to rub at his neck. "So … you're really on 'our side', huh?"

Mina smiled slightly, "Seems that way, doesn't it." She then stepped back along the side of the garage and gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "I guess I'll head back … wait for Sam."

Carlos nodded in agreement and watched her disappear into the bushes that divided the gardens. He then checked his watch and frowned in concern; they had only 45 minutes before the expected time of the accident. Sure of movement behind him and again and thinking Mina had returned, he looked round and could see nothing in the quiet passageway. His frown growing, he headed towards the rear of the garage to creep back out to the road and gasped as something pressed against his back. Spinning round, he was sure he saw a strange dark haze in front of his eyes and then his world went black.

Pulling out from the junction as the lights changed and crossing the main highway to enter the town, Sam could feel his heart racing as he took in the familiar landmarks of the place he had seen so clearly in his dream. His face was troubled as they drove over the railroad crossing and headed into the centre of the town, following the directions they had been given.

"He really did do a good job with her, didn't he?"

Sam laughed suddenly and turned to see Bobby smiling happily in the passenger seat. "Man, that's the fifth time you've said that!"

Bobby gave a small shrug and leaned forward to stroke his hand along the dashboard. "I just appreciate good workmanship, is all."

"Sure. I'll let Dean know that if he ever decides on a change of career, he should look you up."

Bobby chuckled softly and gave an enthusiastic nod, "There's a lot of money to be made in restoring old classics." He turned to Sam and his smile grew, "That's not a bad idea, you know."

"Great." Sam sighed, "Like my brother's infatuation with this car needs any encouraging." He grinned and shook his head slowly.

Bobby raised his eyebrows in interest and turned round to face Sam more squarely. "And yet it was you who insisted she not be scrapped!"

"Yeah …" Sam agreed quietly, his smile faltering slightly. "I know." Guiding the Impala around a steady corner, he then turned onto Main Street and peered out to try and spot Carlos' jeep.

"Now that is a piece of old crap!" Bobby offered merrily, shaking his head in dismay as they pulled up behind the battered jeep.

"Hey!" Sam defended merrily, "Maybe she's just as valuable to Carlos. I mean, she might have a name and everything." He laughed and watched the other hunter climb out and head towards them.

"Morning." Carlos offered wearily.

Sam looked up through the open window at the Latino man's bruised face and frowned in interest. "What happened to you?"

Carlos sighed and opened the rear door to climb in behind Sam. He relaxed into the back seat with a groan and smiled sheepishly. "Got jumped by your favorite 'fang'."

"What?" Sam urged, sliding round to face him. "She's here?"

"Yup."

Sam took a second to absorb this and was then aware of Bobby watching him in intrigue.

"It seems," Carlos continued, "Miss 'I-might-be-an-evil-undead-killer-but-really-I'm-harmless' was 'called' here for some unknown reason." He shrugged and laughed gently, "At least, that's what she told me. And I wasn't about to argue."

"Is she okay?" Sam queried.

Carlos gasped in mock offense and pointed at his face. "I'm fine. Thanks for caring." He laughed softly, "Yeah, she's okay … jeez, I can't believe I got my ass handed to me by a girl!" Sighing, he then gave a small shrug, "Granted, a supernaturally powerful girl …"

Bobby looked from Carlos to Sam and shook his head in confusion. "And this vampire is not toast because …?"

"Because she's on our side." Sam answered, a little too quickly, "She's the hunter we met who had the knife."

"The sacred Indian knife?" Bobby gasped. "You mean … she was the Cheyenne warrior … and now she's a vampire?"

"Yeah." Sam agreed, shrugging his shoulders, "It's a long story."

"And one we'll have to save for another time." Carlos suggested, checking his watch, "We need to go stall Julia somehow."

"Agreed." Sam opened the glove box and took out the small box of fake IDs. He had decided it was a good idea to refresh the collection a few weeks back and now frowned as he tried to think which might be the most appropriate alias.

"Already covered." Carlos offered quickly, peering over Sam's shoulder. "There's a planning application for this house filed with the county courts. I phoned her a little while ago and said two surveyors would stop by this morning to assess the proposed work."

"Really?" Sam enthused.

Carlos nodded merrily, "But I can't take the credit. It was Ash's idea."

Sam laughed in delight, "Who'd have thought a seventies rock throwback who goes by the nickname Dr Badass would be such a genius!"

Bobby nodded in agreement and then gave a loud sigh. "And who'd of thought that hunting down evil would become so technical." He smiled wryly at them both, "In my day it was track it, find it, kill it. Now it's texting and web-searches and other such modern nonsense."

"Aw, don't despair." Sam grinned cheekily, patting Bobby's shoulder, "There's still much need for you old-timers in this gig." He dodged the punch that was swiped at him and scrambled from the car.

Sam rang the doorbell and adjusted his tie, glancing at Carlos and sensing an equal anxiety from the man. Deciding it was most odd not to have his brother by his side and feeling his chest ache with the thought, Sam hoped he would be able to generate the same easy ad-lib style with the Latino man.

The door opened and Sam smiled in greeting, his heart sinking as he took in the young blonde woman and the baby she was balancing on her hip. He paused for a second and was relieved to hear Carlos quickly introducing them.

Julia nodded and stepped back to let the men enter the house. "It's really just an idea my dad has been playing with." She began, closing the front door and showing them into the lounge. "There's quite a lot of us living here at the moment and we're tripping over one another."

"You need the extra space." Sam nodded in understanding. "And it's not usually a problem. We just need to take a look at the place and where you'll be building."

"Sure." Julia nodded, moving the small boy to her other hip and smiled as she looked between the two men. "It's my fault really." She looked down at the baby and smoothed his white-blonde fringe back from his face. "But Thomas here wasn't exactly planned."

"He's a cute kid." Sam offered warmly, taking a deep breath before then asking: "How old is he?"

"Six months today." Julia replied, smiling happily down at her son.

Sam closed his eyes and could taste bile in his throat. A confusing collection of thoughts from wishing his brother were there to even regretting coming to the town rushed through his mind and he suddenly felt dizzy.

"Are you okay?"

Looking up quickly, Sam saw both Julia and Carlos watching him and he quickly forced a smile to his face. "I skipped breakfast." He shrugged.

Julia frowned in concern, "Would you like some coffee or - "

"No. Thanks. I don't want to be any trouble."

"Oh, it's no problem." Julia enthused, "Really. I've just made some." She nodded towards the kitchen and smiled up at him. "Can't have you fainting on the job."

Sam paused.

"You go ahead." Carlos slapped his arm merrily and balanced his briefcase on the arm of one of the sofas. "I'll start the survey."

Glancing into the case, Sam saw the ESP detectors and night vision camera equipment, as well as an array of charms and bottled water. Hiding his smile, he followed Julia into the kitchen.

"Thank you for this, Miss Beaumont." Sam offered, shrugging in slight embarrassment, "It's not usual policy to take breakfast with the first client of the day."

Julia laughed and sat her son into his highchair beside the kitchen table. "Really, it's no trouble."

Sam held his breath as he saw movement at the kitchen window and watched a familiar baseball cap quickly duck under the sill. He saw Julia was facing the other way and let out a quiet sigh of relief, smiling as he imagined having to explain about the strange man with an industrial size salt sack in her garden.

Pouring a cup of coffee and opening a tupperware of muffins, Julia turned back and smiled up at Sam. "How about your colleague?"

"Oh, one of us had better make a start on what we came here to do." Sam laughed gently, "We don't want to take up too much of your morning." He glanced at the clock on the wall and watched the hands click onto the hour. Only fifteen minutes and they knew she would be safe for the moment.

"Speaking of which …" Julia also turned to read the time and sighed loudly. "I completely forgot! I need to take Thomas for his check-up."

Sam's heart slammed into his chest and he gripped his mug tightly in his hands. "Oh?"

"Just a routine appointment." Julia shrugged.

"Ah, that's unfortunate …" Sam began, thinking fast, "Strictly speaking we can't look around the property if no one is home."

"Oh." Julia frowned up at him. "Why?"

"Company policy." Sam replied quickly and gave a small shrug, "For our protection - in case anyone decided to accuse us of stealing something while we were here."

"What?" Julia laughed and shook her head, "God, yeah … that sounds about right. The world's gone crazy, hasn't it? I mean, everyones blaming something on somebody or trying to sue for something …" She sighed and shook her head. "It's no problem. I'll call the doctor and make a new appointment."

Sam could still hear her muttering about silly rules and regulations as she hurried from the kitchen and he breathed a sigh of relief. He was then aware of the baby watching him in interest and he looked down at him. "Close one, Thomas." He offered quietly.

"Dah!" Thomas yelped in reply, holding up a chubby hand towards Sam and baring his toothless gums in a wide smile.

"Oh, man …" Sam stepped closer to the boy and perched on the edge of the kitchen table. "So … is this all about you, little man? Huh?" He watched Thomas chuckle in response and, laughing in amusement, Sam took the boy's small hand in his own and watched Thomas' smile grow. "God … you've got no idea what I'm saying, have you …" His smile faltered and he looked down to his hand and where the child had wrapped his fingers around Sam's thumb. "Or what dangers are out there …" Sam continued quietly, glancing up at the kitchen door.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry."

Startled by the voice, Sam stood quickly and spun to see Carlos standing in the kitchen doorway. "Jeez! Dude, you scared me."

Carlos smiled.

Aware of Thomas whimpering quietly, Sam looked back and saw the boy's face full of fear. Thomas still had tight hold of Sam's thumb and squeezed a little tighter as his round face crumpled and tears welled in his eyes.

"He doesn't need to worry about the things out there." Carlos continued softly.

"Hey …" Sam moved closer to the boy and smoothed his hand across his head. "It's okay buddy." He then glanced up at Carlos and saw a strange look on the hunter's calm face.

Carlos stared at the child for a moment and then turned back to Sam. "I'd be more concerned about the things in here." He smiled and his eyes suddenly glowed a bright yellow.