My apologies once again for the ridiculous delay in posting. Yesterday was the first time in over a week I've even touched my computer. Further apologies for not personally answering the amazing reviews that were sent my way. From here on out I will be answering them, and will be posting the next chapter soon. Well, definitely sooner than this last one. Once again, my deepest apologies, and thank you for sticking by me! And now, on to the beating of the boys!

A Mother's Love

Dean sat back on his haunches and darted the flashlight from one end of the cave to the other. Other than the dead crimbils that surrounded them on both sides of the cavern, no living creatures seemed to be approaching. After quickly reloading his gun, Dean turned the flashlight onto the prone form of his brother.

From his position at Sam's back, Dean was unable to get a good look at the younger man's face. Dean moved into the center of the cavern and knelt in front of Sam.

"Sam? You with me?" Dean asked tentatively, resting the heel of his gunhand on Sam's shoulder.

Sam's ragged breathing was his only answer. Dean leaned forward and repeated the question, a feeling of real fear beginning to grow in the pit of his stomach. Had the incident with the Jenna/crimbil finally broken his brother?

The cave became deathly still as Sam's breathing suddenly stopped. He brought his head up and began to slowly uncurl himself. His hands came out from behind his sprained right knee and formed shaking fists that slammed themselves onto the rocky floor as he exhaled forcibly. In one quick movement he pushed himself up onto his right hip. His dark eyes glittered dangerously in the dim light as they locked on Dean's.

The force of the hunter's gaze was so strong Dean had to resist the urge to back away. He watched silently as Sam retrieved his gun, his eyes never breaking their deadly stare. After blindly reloading the weapon, Sam shifted his focus to the lone body at the unexplored end of the cavern.

The tiny ball of fear began to grow as Dean took in Sam's rigid posture. Sam was pissed. Really pissed. Given the wily and unpredictable nature of the crimbils, a pissed-off, injured, guilt driven Sam was the last thing they needed.

"Now, Sam, hold on a minute." Dean began.

"Help me up." Sam cut in, already struggling to get to his feet.

"Sam--"

"Dean." Sam's tone held no room for argument. But that had never stopped Dean before. Especially when it came to his baby brother's health.

"Alright, Sam. Enough. You can't—"

The air flew from Dean's lungs as a large blurry creature came from nowhere, launching itself into the hunter and throwing him back several feet. He landed hard on his back, the impact wreaking havoc on his battered body. The pain from his ribs short-circuited his senses, hurtling him out of the dark cave and into the even heavier opacity of unconsciousness.

"Dean!" Sam watched in horror as the wiry creature flew at his brother. Nearly as tall as the Winchesters but with only half their build, the bendith straddled over Dean's still form, it's knobby hands reaching towards the unconscious man's throat.

Blinking himself out of his daze, Sam gave out a yell and twisted around, his body following his gun as he aimed it at the beast. Sam yelled his brother's name and pulled the trigger, only to have the bullet sail wide as a screeching crimbil burst out of the shadows and leapt at Sam's outstretched arm. The gun flew from his hand as the force of the crimbil's attack twisted him sideways.

Off balance, Sam fell onto his back, the snarling creature still attached to his arm. Sam lifted his shoulders off the ground and reached over with his left arm just as the crimbil sunk it's razor sharp teeth into Sam's right forearm. Sam dropped back to the ground, an agonizing scream ripped from his throat as the pain shot up his arm. Exhaling furiously, Sam redoubled his efforts and managed to grab hold of the crimbil's scrawny neck, yanking it off his bloody arm and hurling it against the wall. The creature hit the wall with a dull thud and fell to the ground, dazed but still conscious.

His heart pounding, Sam snapped his head around just in time to see Dean land a weak but still potent punch onto the bendith's gaunt cheek. It's hands dropped away from Dean's throat as it was pushed sideways from the force of the blow. But the supernatural being recovered quicker than the panting Winchester, returning the favor by viciously backhanding him across the face.

Sam tore his eyes away from the fight, looking desperately for his gun. He instinctively ducked his head as a loud shot boomed in the narrow passageway. His ears ringing from the close proximity of the gunshot, Sam turned to see two crimbils huddled up against the wall. Sam's flesh eating opponent held the gun awkwardly in it's hands while the other held onto the chomper's shoulder, anxiously keening. The gun toting crimbil, who was obviously a few years older than it's terrified kin, was turning the weapon over and over in it's hands as it tried to figure out the strange tool.

Hampered by the pain in his right limbs, Sam clumsily scampered closer to the two creatures.

"Hey! Drop that, now!" Sam yelled, drawing startled gasps from the crimbils. He stopped short as Chomper pointed the gun, albeit waveringly, at him. It had already set the gun off once. Accidentally or not, the crimbil had obviously figured the weapon out.

Sam fought hard not to scream in frustration as horrible sounds of the fight between Dean and the bendith filled the air. As much as he wanted to leap, well, limp, to his brother's rescue, he had to deal with this first.

Chomper grinned, Sam's blood staining it's jagged teeth. Sam cursed and covered his head with his right hand as the crimbil clumsily pulled the trigger, the force of the blast jerking it's hands just enough to send the bullet up towards the ceiling. Tiny fragments of stone fell onto the trio as the smaller crimbil continued it's terrified whimpering.

The tiny shards were still showering down as Sam made his move. Pushing off on his left leg, he hurled himself at the startled beings, his momentum nearly sending him headfirst into the wall as he landed on the snarling creature. Sam's blood slicked hand delivered a powerful right hook right onto Chomper's jaw, the gun safely back in his left hand even as the stunned crimbil went limp beneath him.

Sam's victory was short lived as Chomper's buddy suddenly went bipolar. The pitiful sniveling turned into a rumbling growl as it jumped onto Sam's back, it's breath hot on Sam's neck as it's tiny hands gripped huge handfuls of Sam's thick dark hair. Sam nearly dropped the gun as his hands flew instinctively towards his head. Using the butt on the gun, he landed a painful blow on the crimbil's back while his other hand struggled to dislodge the being from his back.

"Let go, you…little….bastard!" Sam's repeated attacks only seemed to further incense the creature. The crimbil gave one final yank of Sam's head before wrapping it's bony arms around Sam's neck. Sam gasped as his air supply was abruptly cut off.

The walls seemed to shake as another gunshot rang out, although the perpetrator was anyone's guess. Sam pulled at the deceivingly strong arms, hoping the gunshot was a sign that Dean was doing a hell of a lot better in his battle than Sam was in his. Gasping for air that wouldn't come, Sam pushed himself onto shaky legs. His right leg buckled, sending Sam into the wall. He twisted at the waist as he fell, violently sandwiching the crimbil in between himself and the wall. It gave a low grunt, but didn't release it's grip. Sam's limbs grew heavier, the already dim cave growing darker as Sam began to lose his grip on consciousness. Knowing he only had one more chance left, Sam once again propelled himself against the wall, putting every once of strength he had left into the move.

His head smacked painfully against the wall, the crack of his skull meshing with the sickening sound of the crimbil's bones breaking. Sweet oxygen flew past Sam's lips and he fell forward, barely catching himself before hitting the ground. The body of the dead crimbil limply slid off his back and landed in a heap next to it's still unconscious brother.

Gasping the cold air back into his lungs, Sam was finally able to check on his own brother. Unable to get a clear shot, Sam half ran, half crawled his way towards where Dean and the bendith were locked in a brutal exchange of punches and jabs.

A cry from Dean snapped Sam's attention back to the fight between his brother and the bendith. Dean had fallen to his hands and knees, his left hand bracing against the floor while his right was wrapped tightly around his ribs. Blood dripped from his lips as he clenched his teeth in agony. The bendith hovered above him, it's hideous face wearing the evidence of Dean's own handiwork. Sam watched in horror as the scowling creature moved in for the kill.

"No!"

Bracing himself on his elbows, Sam took aim and fired.

Even in the dim shadows of the cave, Sam was able to see the bendith jerk backwards as the bullet slammed into it's chest. It staggered back a few steps, looking disbelievingly at the dark stain of blood that steadily grew under it's long fingers. Lifting it's hand away from the wound, it looked from Sam down to Dean.

Already a step ahead of the evil being, Sam fired another shot just as the bendith bent to resume it's attack on a still recovering Dean. Sam's second shot was fatal, landing in the center of the bendith's wrinkled forehead. Almost instantly the monster slumped to the ground next to a clearly stunned Dean.

Sam lowered his head onto his arms and gave a sigh of relief. It was over. The bendith was dead. Sam smiled into his arms and laughed in relief. Now all that was left was to find the children and get the hell out of there. But first, he had a brother to tend to.

Sam turned onto his back and scooted backwards towards the cave wall. He used the rough stone to pull himself upright, biting his lip from the searing pain in his knee and the new heat from the wounds in his arm.

Dean, too, had managed to pull himself to his feet, although his six foot frame was slightly hunched over due the obvious pain he was in.

Sam's knee twinged dangerously on his next step. He heeded the warning and stopped, using the delay to try and assess just how badly Dean had been injured in the fight with the bendith. Lighting the older man in the brilliant glow of his flashlight, Sam called out to him.

Sam winced as Dean wearily lifted his head. A nasty looking gash oozed blood down Dean's cheek, as did the tiny cut near his left eye. Dean's stubbly chin was smeared with blood, a fact that deeply worried Sam, especially given the unnatural position Dean held himself in. Had Dean suffered internal injuries? Had one of his cracked ribs punctured a lung?

Dean held up a hand to shield his eyes. Sam took the hint and lowered the flashlight. He was just about to voice his concerns when Dean spoke.

"Don't worry. It ain't as bad as it looks." Dean's voice was strained, but strong.

Sam limped forward a few more steps before he had to stop again. At this rate he'd reach his fortieth birthday before he'd get to his brother's side. Leaning up against the wall, he once again flashed the light at Dean's already bruising face.

"I don't know, Dean. It looks pretty bad." Sam said, giving Dean a good once over.

Dean's eyes widened as they focused on a point over Sam's left shoulder.

Crap! He'd forgotten about Chomper! The little beast was mere feet away from Sam when the youngest Winchester twisted at the waist and fired, striking the crimbil in the heart with the first shot. It took one final step before collapsing to the ground, it's dead eyes reflecting bright green in the glow of Sam's light.

Sam's arm throbbed in time with his racing heartbeat as he stared down at the lifeless crimbil. He pushed back the feeling of relief that threatened as he gazed at his kill. For all he knew there could be dozens more of the vile little bastards between him and the missing children. He couldn't afford to let his guard down. Not even a second. Not until the children were safe and sound in their own beds.

"Nice shootin'." Sam jumped a bit, startled at how close Dean's voice was. He looked over his shoulder to see a ragged looking Dean regarding the crimbil with utter disgust.

Sam moved to face Dean. "Saved your ass." he joked, his quick smile fading as he got a closer look at the multitude of colors Dean's face was already turning. "Aw man, she got you good." Sam hissed sympathetically as he reached out towards his brother.

Dean leaned back and knocked Sam's hand away. "Ok, that was not a 'she', that was one nasty mother fu— " Dean broke off as he saw Sam's bloodsoaked arm. Lightly grabbing his wrist, Dean gently moved it into the light of his own flashlight.

"What happened to you?" Dean asked as he examined cautiously moved the ripped fabric to get a better look at the skin underneath.

Sam winced as he got his first good look at his arm. The toothy little creep had done some real damage. Blood still welled up from the six deep puncture wounds that decorated his arm in a dark red arch. Six long scratches lacerated his arm where the crimbil's teeth had torn through his flesh.

"I'm fine." Sam answered, deflecting the original question and answering the one that was sure to follow. His big brother was nothing if predictable when it came to Sam's wellbeing.

Dean looked up at Sam and nodded. He let go of Sam's arm and stepped back. "Take care of that." he said sternly as he backed away.

"Whoa, what're you doing?" Sam started to follow, knowing full well what Dean was up to.

Dean checked his weapon. "Stay alert. Lord knows how many more of these little creeps are lurking around."

Sam furiously pushed after his brother. "Dean, you're hurt! Dammit, Dean, you can't go in there alone!"

Dean stepped over the body of the bendith, giving it a sharp kick in the side as he passed over it. He turned back to give one final order.

"Stay alert, Sam." Dean repeated sharply before disappearing into the murky darkness.

"Dean!!"