First, my most sincere apologies for not posting sooner. Starting a new job, and accidentally losing the final draft of this chapter put a bit of a crimp in the posting process. But I suppose it was a good thing, for I like this version a heck of a lot more than the first one!

With any luck, I'll have another chapter up this week. Thank you so much to everyone who's been sticking by me through this beast of a story. I appreciate the support so much!!!

And now...enjoy!

A Mother's Love

"This is freakin' ridiculous."

Dean leaned as far back as his tender ribs allowed, giving his back a good stretch. "There's gotta be, like, four thousand miles of forest in this crappy little podunk town."

Sam looked up from the large map that was spread out on one of Trinity Library's oak tables. "Would you keep your voice down!" he hissed. He looked up and gave a wan smile to the white-haired librarian who glared at the brothers from the front desk.

Dean snorted and raised his voice even louder. "Oh, please. What's she gonna do? Rubberstamp me to death?"

"Dean…" Sam broke off and rested his forehead onto his hands. His head was pounding from the beating he'd taken the night before; although dealing with an impatient, antsy older brother had probably contributed to at least half of the headache.

Sam closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment to collect his thoughts before he went off and said something he'd regret. It felt so good to retreat into the soothing darkness, away from the harsh glare of the library's fluorescent lights. A part of him wished he were back at the motel, his head resting on the slightly musty pillow while his aching knee lay buried in an avalanche of ice. Instantly, that image was replaced with a vision of Jenna Donovan huddled in a cold, dark cave, her clear blue eyes scared and pleading for rescue.

Sam started at the vivid image and lifted his head out of his hands. Dean had sat down directly across from him and was regarding him with more than a little concern.

Sam sighed. He knew that expression all to well; Dean was beginning the descent into mother hen mode. "Look, Dean---"

"You know, Sam," Dean interrupted, "maybe you ought to go find Hannah Eagan's son, Michael. After all, he did somehow escape from the bendith when he was a kid. Maybe he can give us some info that will narrow down the search perimeters a little."

Sam sat back and regarded his brother suspiciously. "Uh huh. And while I'm doing that, you'll go ahead and take on the bendith by yourself."

Dean grinned. "You read my mind! See, now that's why I pay you the big bucks."

"Dean, we've been over this." Sam said, a bit heatedly.

Dean's smile dropped; his green eyes turned serious. "Yes, Sam, we have. Look." he gestured at the large map that covered the table. "We have no way of knowing where the bendith is keeping the kids. There are 4 caves on this map, and probably even more that aren't even marked. That's a hell of a lot of territory to cover."

Sam squirmed in his chair, knowing exactly where Dean was headed. "You could barely make it up the library steps, Sam."

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing there are no stairs in the forest." Sam replied smugly.

"Sam, we've been over this."

"Yes, Dean we have." Sam's voice began to rise. "Jenna reached out to me for help, and I let her down. If I had only gone to her last night she might still be safe. And now she's out there, God know where, probably scared out of her mind, all because I wasn't there for her. And I'll be damned--- "

Sam broke off as the librarian cleared her throat in warning, glaring at him over her spectacles. Sam guiltily hunched his shoulders and lowered his voice. "I will be there to save her, Dean. I won't let her down again."

A pained expression flashed across Dean's face at Sam's final fiery declaration. Before Sam could wonder about it's origin, Dean blinked the expression away and smirked.

"Very moving speech, Sammy." Dean said slowly, the twinkling of his eyes belying the seriousness of his tone. "For a minute there I could've sworn I was in one of those cheesy Lifetime Movies of the Week. You know, the ones with all the 90210 chics?" Dean sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Man, that Tiffani-Amber Theissen has one fine rack."

Sam gave Dean a look, trying to keep the corner of his mouth from twitching into a smile. "Dean."

"So, are you going to sit around speechifying all day, or are we going to work on finding the bendith?" Dean got out of his chair and resumed his position over the map.

Sam rolled his eyes and copied his brother's movements. Using a black marker, he drew an X on the lower left of the map. "Ok, so this is the Donovan's house. And over here," another black X was drawn one inch below the first, "is the Lanigan's."

Dean pointed to an area of the map three inches past the first mark. "Right about here is where the Eagan's lived."

Sam marked the spot Dean had indicated and raised himself to his full height to get a better look at the map. His keen hazel eyes moved about, quickly analyzing the area and comparing the distance of the homes and the caves. "Which means---"

"Which means," Dean took over, tapping his finger on the map, "that it has to be one of these two caves."

"Well, technically, it's the same cavern system. Just two different openings." Sam couldn't help but to throw that in, enjoying the dirty look Dean sent his way. "Otherwise, yeah, I'd say that's where we need to be."

Dean walked over to the nearest bookcase and grabbed a small blue book. Returning to the table, he stood with his back to the librarian. He smiled at Sam, then coughed loudly, ripping a page out of the book at the same time.

Sam's mouth dropped. "Dean!"

Dean had already begun to draw his own version of the map on the pilfered piece of paper. He glanced up at Sam's perturbed face. "Oh please. Who reads the dedication page, anyway?"

"Dude, I brought a notebook!" Sam whispered loudly, pulling out the tiny pad of paper.

Dean finished his drawing, then folded the paper and put it in his pocket. "Before you go all holier than thou on me, let's not forget who just drew all over public property in permanent marker."

Public proper... oh crap!

Sam breathed in sharply as he looked at the map. He'd been so preoccupied with finding Jenna that he hadn't even noticed he was defacing the library's map.

Dean came around to Sam's side of the table. He placed his hand on Sam's shoulder, and bent down so he was level with his horrified brother.

"Congrats, Sammy." Dean said. "You made your very first treasure map."

Sam managed to close his gaping mouth and turned his head to glare at his smirking brother. "Cute."

Dean stood up and laughed, giving Sam a good whack on his back. "Come on, let's get out of here before Old Mother Hubbard gets a load of your latest masterpiece."

Sam straightened up and placed the blue book over the area of the map that he'd drawn on. Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, he limped after his brother. He swallowed hard as he felt the librarian's suspicious gaze on him., then hightailed it out of the library.

snsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

Dean leaned against the side of the Impala, which was parked in roughly the same spot as it had been merely twenty-four hours ago. Like the day before, the warm sun beat down on the brothers as they prepared to enter the woods. Dean uneasily glanced at his watch. Although they still had plenty of daylight left, Sam's knee would slow them up considerably. They had to get a move on if they were to make it to the cave and back before nightfall...assuming everything would go smoothly. Dean snorted lightly. Yeah, like that would ever happen.

Sam slammed the trunk shut and hoisted a duffle bag onto his shoulder. Dean's own bag lay at his feet. He leaned down to pick it up, a moan billowing from his throat as a sharp pain moved through his middle. Sam's head swiveled over at the noise, his sharp eyes taking in his brother's movements. Dean straightened up and pressed his free hand against his ribs.

"Dean?"

Dean shook his head. "I'm good."

Sam limped over to Dean and gave him a concerned once-over. "You know, Dean, maybe you'd better stay here. You're in pretty rough shape."

Dean settled the duffle bag across his shoulder, biting his cheek to hold back another grunt of pain. He let out the shallow breath he'd been holding.

"You really want to go there?" Dean straightened his shoulders and tried to adopt a casual pose.

"Dean, I'm just saying---"

"Knee." Dean jumped in, pointing down at Sam's injured right knee.

Sam's eyes widened, then abruptly narrowed. "Ribs."

"Head." Dean delcared with a proud note of finality. He smiled triumphantly. He'd won, two injuries to one. He was just about to proclaim victory when Sam surprised him with one final word.

"Ass." Sam said with the slightest hint of a smirk on his handsome features.

Dean blinked. He hadn't injured his…. oh.

"Funny." Dean snapped. He hated to be one-upped, especially by his geeky baby brother.

Sam took a breath and held up his hands, his lips still wearing the slight smile. "I'm sorry, ok? Can we just get going?"

Dean glowered at Sam. Their injuries coupled with the dicey nature of the hunt was wearing his nerves very thin. "You started it." he grumbled under his breath.

"Dean!"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Let's go."

Sam was right. The sooner they killed the bendith and rescued the kids, the sooner he could get his hands around a cold beer. Adjusting his bag one last time, he followed Sam into the woods.

Trekking through the woods was certainly not high on Dean's favorite activities list. Unless, of course, he was on his way to go skinny-dipping with some pretty young co-ed. Dean smiled dreamily as he allowed himself to drift back to that summer in North Carolina. What was her name? Ami? Andi? Ashli? It didn't really matter. All that mattered was how hot she looked in that tiny tank top. And then there was that little tattoo placed so delicately on her…

"Shit!"

Dean broke out of his daydream to see Sam fall heavily onto the ground. They'd only been walking for fifteen minutes, and already Sam had taken a fall. Dean shook his head and resisted the urge to begin the familiar fight to force Sam away from the hunt, knowing where they'd end up. If anything, each stumble would renew Sam's stubborn resolve to continue, as much to prove he could complete the trek as to save the kids.

"Hey. You ok?" Dean knelt down next to Sam.

The younger man had controlled his fall so that he'd landed on his left hip. Easing himself onto his butt, he brushed the dirt off his palms.

"Yeah, just lost my balance for a minute." Sam answered, obviously irritated at his mutinous limbs.

Dean did his best to help his brother up, although Sam was able to get to his feet mostly using his own power. Meekly mumbling his thanks, Sam headed back up the path.

Dean silently observed his limping brother. He'd never admit it out loud, but he was impressed by Sam's selflessness and determination. Yet another fine example of the outstanding job he'd done raising Sam.

Dean picked up the pace and caught up to Sam. Moving slightly off the path, he looked around his brother. He was just able to make out the dark brown roof of the Eagan cabin poking out from a small break in the trees. He pulled ahead of Sam and grinned as the entire cabin came into view, including the broken front steps Sam had fallen down the day before.

Dean's eyes gleamed devilishly as dozens of smartass remarks flew through his brain. He waited until they'd just about reached the clearing, then moved next to Sam.

"Sam. Hold on a minute." Dean held his left arm in front of Sam, bringing both men to a halt.

"What? What is it?" Sam whispered tensely.

Dean turned to let loose a barrage of good-natured mocking. His grin faded as he took in his brother. The younger hunter's stance was rigid as he scanned for whatever had alerted Dean. His gun at the ready, Sam's eyes continued to bounce from the house to the surrounding trees.

Dean felt a shiver go through him as Sam glanced down at him. The intensity of Sam's gaze was overwhelming. Ok, maybe this wasn't exactly the best time to pick on the kid.

"Whoa, easy there, Sammy. It's ok...there's nothing here." Dean reached out and laid his hand on Sam's outstretched arm. Sam blinked confusedly but allowed Dean to gently push down the weapon.

Sam rotated his wrist several times, looking at the gun as if he'd never seen it before. A few more dazed blinks followed by a rough shake of his head, and Sam seemed to shift back from wherever he'd gone. He looked down at a worried Dean.

"Geez, overreact much?" Dean tried to joke to lighten the tension a bit. "I know we're in the middle of a hunt, but we haven't even come close to the caves yet. I mean, it's good to be on alert, but, man, you're jumpier than a virgin at a prison rodeo."

Sam had put his gun away and bending to pick up the branch that he'd dropped when he'd switched from Dr. House to Dirty Harry. Dean expected a cross comeback, or at the least a roll of the eyes, but Sam simply sighed. He rubbed his hands over his face a few times, then ran them through his hair.

"Sorry." Sam's hands traveled to the back of his neck, then fell to his sides, hitting his thighs with a slap. "What?"

It was Dean's turn to be confused. "What 'what'?"

Sam rolled his eyes. A bit late, but it was a sign that Sam was returning to normal. "Why did you stop?" Sam asked, the slightest hint of annoyance mingling with a larger dose of wearniness.

Dean was once again hit with the urge to tease Sam about his unfortunate run-in with the broken stair, but he just couldn't do it. His little brother looked so utterly beaten, both emotionally and physically. Sam had been through so much the last few months; he certainly could've done without the stress and emotional toil this case had brought. It almost made Dean wish he'd never come across that damn article.

Dean pulled himself out of his thoughts, suddenly very aware of Sam's curious gaze. He tried to appear nonchalant. "Just a couple of horny squirrels. Seeing a shaggy-haired giant waving around a gun must've killed the mood, 'cause they scampered off. I guess they'll have to find another quiet place to play with their nuts." Dean grinned at Sam, who clearly didn't find the quip nearly as amusing as Dean had. Dean dropped his grin and cleared his throat. "You ok to keep going?"

Sam regarded him suspiciously, but held back any further questions. He nodded his head and gestured for Dean to go ahead of him. Dean shook his head and mirrored Sam's motion, waving Sam ahead. "After you, Gimpy."

Sam squinted his eyes at Dean and flipped him the bird before haltingly making his way towards the house. Dean dropped his head and moved after him, mumbling under his breath. Here he'd gone and played the good big brother by not taunting Sam, and this is the thanks he gets.

Dean was still feeling sorry for himself when he noticed Sam had stopped at the far edge of the clearing and had turned to face him. He was holding onto a nearby tree for support and was looking at Dean warily.

Dean slowed to a stop and looked his brother up and down. His knee, although painfully swollen, didn't appear any worse than it had a moment ago. Sam continued to stare suspiciously at Dean, who was beginning to get a complex at all of Sam's guarded looks.

Dean looked around, wondering if Sam was trying to get him back for earlier. "All right, what?"

Unable to cross his arms due to the tenuous grips he had on the supporting tree branches, Sam instead used his expressive face to show the full extent of his skepticism. "Well?"

"'Well' what?" Geez, couldn't Sam just come out and say things for once? This cryptic shit was getting old.

Sam pointed his chin back towards the Eagan cabin. "You've been riding me all day about me falling down the broken stairs. Well, here we are...here they are, so go ahead. Let's have it."

Dean had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Sam was more astute than Dean had given him credit for. Still, it gave Dean the opportunity to earn some brownie points; he'd probably need them before the day was out. Dean could only do sincere for short bursts...it was only a matter of time before his inner snark would surface.

"'Let's have it?'" Dean repeated. "Dude, give me a little credit. I can see how badly you're hurting, why would I add to that? And in case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a hunt here. This isn't exactly the time to stop and do a stand-up act."

Sam pursed his lips and had the good taste to look a bit sheepish. "Wow. Um, I guess I'm sorry, then. I should've given you more credit."

Dean continued to act slightly miffed. "Yeah, well, don't worry about it. Just so you know, Sam, I'm not as shallow and callous as you make me out to be."

Dean hid a grin behind his hand as the two brothers set back into the forest. They had traveled nearly fifty yards listening to the soothing sounds of nature when Dean broke the silence.

"You know, I've been thinking."

"And here we go."

Dean ignored the muttered comment and continued. "We should have a catchphrase."

"Excuse me?"

"You know, like in the movies. 'Go ahead, make my day.' 'I'll be back.' Something cool we can say every time we kill a supernatural freak."

Sam opened and closed his mouth a few times, finally uttering a slow, "Okay."

Dean pushed past a low hanging branch, holding it back so Sam could limp forward. "Actually, I've already come up with the perfect expression for you...a Sammy Slogan, if you will."

Sam smiled and shook his head. "All right, Dean. Go ahead."

"I've fallen and I can't get up!"