Disclaimer: "Supernatural" does not belong to me. It belongs to a talanted man named Eric Kripke.

Yay! I've been trying to post this chapter for three days and it finally posted!

Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I was backlogged three months on reading other people's work, and wanted to do that first. There are some really good writers here, btw.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Dean knew that the time that he had to figure out what was going on was limited. If he didn't figure out how to stop this woman before his forty-eight hours were up, Sam would be put back in danger. Whatever Sammy had that he didn't was making him a target to her anger, to her vengeance. He needed to stop this before it happened again. Leaving his broken baby brother in that hospital, where he could not protect him, had been brutal. It would be even more brutal if he had to watch yet another suicide attempt, though. He knew that this needed to be finished, because he would much rather leave the case, allow the same thing to happen to more people, than watch anything else happen to his brother. The fear that he felt when he found his brother on that bathroom floor still made him have a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. It needed to end, for his sake as much as for anyone else.

Taking a fake ID out of his glove compartment, Dean walked into the police station. By now, it was near morning. It would still look odd for someone to be requesting records, but he had hit a dead end everywhere else he looked. He knew it was risky, but he needed the original files on each of the victims. He walked into the building, casually, trying not to be detected. He glanced at a board that listed the different areas of the building as he walked passed, checking quickly to see where the "Records" department was.

Walking up to the desk he needed, Dean flashed the middle-aged receptionist a million-watt smile and showed her his ID. In his best southern accent, he began speaking to the woman. "G'morning, ma'am. I'm Detective Paul Manning from the Georgia State Police. I'm looking for a copy of any information you have on these people."

He laid a list of all the victims along with Rachel and Dane on the counter in front of the woman. She looked at them for a moment, and then looked back at him. "Oh, these are all those young people that killed themselves over at the college. I'll go find the files for you, Detective."

He had worked to find the names in obits, looking for anything that would have made the pattern. There had to be some kind of pattern, something that linked them together, and after hours of looking, there still wasn't anything he had to go on. They all had different majors, different life goals; nothing was the same. His father or even Sam would have had more of an eye for the pattern, but now Sam was a part of the case and he was not ready to call his dad on this one. 'Hi dad, just wanted to let you know that I screwed everything up again, that Sammy tried to kill himself and I did nothing about it until it was too late. I know it's the first case back, but I wasn't watching him close enough. Can you come and bail us out?' He shook his head, not even wanting to think about that as an option. They'd done harder things without help. Glancing down at his watch, he realized that he lost half an hour just dwelling on his guilt. Time was ticking away, and he became focused on the clock that had been set for him. Just as he was getting up to ask where the files were, the file clerk came around the many rows of filing cabinets, carrying several thick manilla folders. Her high heels clicked on the tile floor, and he was reminded of the mom on "That 70's Show" for some reason.

"Here you go, Detective. Sorry for the wait." She told him with a smile as she handed him the files. He glanced through the folders, and noted that she had made copies of all the files, neatly put together in a pile. He sighed as he tried not to think about how much work this was for such a short time. Forcing a small smile of gratitude, he thanked the woman.

"You're welcome. Hope you find what you're looking for." He gave her a nod as he left the cramped room, glad to be out of there.

Hours later, sitting in the same hotel room his brother had nearly died in, nervousness made Dean jumpy and unfocused. Every few minutes, he got up to stretch, to make more coffee. After hours of being awake and the stress of the previous evening, it was the only thing keeping him going. He had been looking through the files for nearly three hours and had yet to find anything that would help him. These people were all just average. Certain things started to look alike, but then one or two people wouldn't fit the pattern. What was worse was trying to fit them together with Rachel Connor and Dane Underwood.

Looking back at the folders again, Dean sat back on the bed and took a deep breath. Rachel had a domestic violence charge against Dane; Sam either hadn't noticed the date or hadn't thought it was important. Dane had been abusive to Rachel... the theory wouldn't work, not for Sammy. Sammy was never hurt when he was around. He would never let anyone hurt Sammy as long as he was around. It could be a pattern, though. Maybe they had just pissed her off by nosing around. He looked at the other records, scrutinizing each of them in this last ditch effort. Each of the women had recently been involved in domestic violence cases. He knew he was wrong, though, as he looked at the other men's folders. Sighing even before he opened it, he grabbed Joshua Manson's folder. Domestic violence? Joshua had been raised, for the most part, in foster care. There was a history of physical abuse from his father, and he had need to be removed from the house when he was eight years old. It counted. He set the folder down, reaching for the other two. One of the men had a similar past, but he reached for Benjamin's folder. He set his coffee down, looking at the folder with anticipation. He and his current wife had a beautiful marriage, but he had an old girlfriend arrested for domestic battery. Dean's eyes got big as he read on, noting that the woman had taken a steak knife to the man while he lay sleeping. He tried to stifle the laugh. "Buckets of crazy." He muttered, before moving on.

How did all of this fit in with Sammy, though? Why had Rachel hurt his baby brother if she was going after people who had a history of domestic violence? Both he and their father had gone out of their way to make sure that Sammy was protected, safe, at all times. Their father had even instructed Dean to look after Sammy when he went away and didn't bring them with. The only one who had ever abused Sam was Sam, with how hard he drove himself and the depth of that guilt complex. No one else had ever laid a hand on him, though.

He held out the files again, sprawled out in front of him, trying to figure out what the missing link was, where Sam fit into the equation. They all fit nicely into the puzzle now...except Sam. The more he looked at it, the more he understood. All of them, even Sam, were the submissive person in their relationships. Not just romantic relationships, but probably all of their relationships. The other person took over, was essentially the alpha male, just like Dane was. Just like Dean was. In all of their relationships, the partner became more aggressive, more angry, before the person killed themself. If Dean was honest with himself, he knew that he too had felt the anger, too. He had more of an edge to him, less tolerance and compassion towards his baby brother. His heart pounded harshly in his chest. He finally figured out the link, and he had done this to his brother. Quickly, and without thought, he pushed all the folders away from him and ran to the bathroom, heaving violently. How could he have missed this?

When he had calmed himself down, Dean came back into the room. He knew what needed to be done, more than the "why" this was happening, he needed to know "how" to stop this. Rachel was trying to reenact the situation that she had with Dane, so it should be as simple as finding, salting, and burning the bones. There was work to do.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment any way that you would like, whether it be constructive criticism, praise, or any questions.

Now that I'm done reading everything, there will probably an update every other day.

Happy hunting.