Sword and Shield

by everfaithful

Next in the No such thing as Miracles series. While looking for the sword to slay the demon, Sam and Dean are blackmailed into helping the feds with a little demon problem of their own.

4. Chapter 4

"Come on, Sammy, we're having fun, right?" Dean said through a mouthful of M&Ms. They were in theMickey Mantlemuseum. Right in the house where he grew up. It was a heady moment for Dean.

Sure, the first three curiosity shops were bust. And two more after that, that Ash had told them were open, weren't anymore. Hadn't been for some time. Everything was cleaned out, they'd gone in (uninvited of course) just to make sure.

And sure, they were delayed right now because the Impala needed a brake line. Sam had gotten drunk two nights before and sang kareoke. To make it worse, Dean refused to tell him what he sang, just kept laughing about.

But they were in Mickey Mantle's childhood home, so that made everything all right. Right?

Sam did his best not to rain on Dean's parade. He had never been into sports. But part of him figured that was because Dean and John had been so heavily into baseball, one of the few normal things their father had done with them growing up had been sports, but Sam had felt so alien to his family growing up that it had seemed more like a chore than an outing to him. Some of that was creeping in now, but he beat it down. This wasn't just Dean's childhood hero... this was in a strange way tied to their father as well. "Yeah, we're having fun." He said instead of reverting back to his own childhood and simply glaring.

"Liar." Dean said, good naturedly. And after an hour of wandering around, they headed to the backyard. "You know, this is where his father taught him to switch hit. Ever wonder what our lives would have been like if we'd had a steady backyard?"

"Every day when we were growing up." He said honestly. "I was ashamed of where we lived most of the time. When I got to be too old for you to walk me home, I'd hang around and wait for all the other kids to leave before walking home."

"I didn't think of it most of the time. Knowing as soon as I did, it would be time to move again." Dean said with a sigh as they sat on a bench in front of a statue of the young Mick and his dad. "And you weren't too old, I ended up following you anyways. Keep your ass, and mine, out of trouble."

"Yeah... Dad always seemed to have this strange idea that I was a kid at 18." He laughed a little. "And that you were an adult at 9." He shook his head.

Dean laughed. "Hazard of being the oldest child. You know, I've heard about it from other oldest kids, even the ones with the normal upbringing." He said with a shrug. "It's all right. Now you're the responsible one, and I get to kick back once in a while." This whole sojurn to Commerce wasn't exactly Sam's idea. But they needed a break, however brief.

Sam laughed. "Yeah. I suppose so." He said. "It's strange how we grew up in the same place in the same time, but I swear we had totally different childhoods"

"Nah, you just had more interference than I did." Dean said with an easy grin, meaning all the times he had run interception between Sam and John. "So what's the next stop on our journey?"

"Not sure." He said. "Let's head further south. I have a feeling we need one of those towns that could fit on a postage stamp."

"Which probably means a serious lack of a good dating pool." Dean said with a laugh, using the word 'dating' very very loosely at that. "But sounds good. We should stock up on junk food first, in case this place as a general store that doubles as a feed and tack store."

"I doubt it's gonna be that bad." He said heading back toward the car. "You just want to make sure there's enough peanut M&Ms." Sam couldn't help but smile.

"No, you want to make sure I have enough peanut M&Ms." Dean corrected with a chuckle. "Especially if I'm looking at weird mock ups of god knows what in a dusty curiosity shop. I'm gonna need my M&Ms. Remember how I almost got us kicked out of the last one?" By some shopkeeper who took his job far too seriously, and didn't appreciate the crude, often sexually charged comments he made about different artifacts.

"That had nothing to do with M&M withdrawls." He said as he got in, giving Dean a pointed look. "We can get a couple hundred miles down the road before having to put in for the night if we get going."

"Sounds good to me." Dean said. "We'll have to hit this place on the way back. There must be some corner I didn't poke into or something." He said, because it was normal. It was nice, normal, apple pie American.

Sam just smiled. He was glad they had come here, even if it wasn't something he was interested in. It was good to see Dean relax and just be himself. Not the ever protective big brother, not the hunter, not the hunter of a different sort trolling for a night of release in a stranger's arms.

Dean got in the car and shook his finger at Sam as he turned the engine over. "I see that look." He said. "You're tolerating my obsession for the good of the cause, whatever the cause is. Probably stocking up favors for your own obsessions...but dude, I can't watch porn with my brother. That's just...well, it's just wrong."

"I'm not the one obsessed with me watching porn. " Sam pointed out. "And I always tolerate your obsessions. Some things I tolerate more quietly than others."

"You're a brat." Dean said as he pulled out of Commerce and headed south, per Sam's feeling. After all, they weren't in Kansas due to one of Dean's feelings.

"Jerk." Sam said with a grin and eased back in the seat, letting Dean direct thecourse. He was sure they were supposed to go south but didn't know where south. He figured they would play it by ear.

"Bitch." Dean said, just going by random routes. To what looked right. Whatever route signs said 'south' he turned. No real idea, it nearly felt like a random drive until it was pitch black out and the Impala was due for a refuel. "So, crash tonight or just refuel?"

"Let's put in for the night." Sam said. "I'm exhausted. We can take a look at where we are tomorrow." He sometimes wondered if this weren't some wild goose chase to keep them from the real problems at hand. Then he would have another dream and be more certain than ever that they were on a real mission. Those were the times he wondered if he hadn't gone mad somewhere along the way.

"Good to know I'm not the only one that loses track." Dean said with a chuckle. Sometimes he woke up, and had to think hard about where he was. All the motel rooms blended together after a while. He found a motel and fished out a credit card. "I'll get the room." He said, getting out and going into the office.

The motel clerk looked up as he entered the room. "Single or double" He asked, his tone faintly Australian.

"Double." Dean said as he laid the card down. Deja vu. He could swear he'd seen this guy before. Then again, he'd been in so many hotels, he very well could have. And he met so many people on any given day, it was hard to keep track.

The clerk took the card and looked at the name then looked at Dean, smirking a little as he ran it none the less. "What brings you to these parts? Can't be the scenery."

"Absolutely." Dean said. And he was actually honest. "We just came from Commerce,Mickey Mantlemuseum. Completely worth the drive. This place in particular? Just passing through. It's late and all." He said as he took the card and slipped it back into his wallet.

The clerk grinned a little. "Yeah, spent an afternoon or two over there myself. Unless you have someplace you have to be, head on south when you leave here. There are some interesting sights along the way."

"Interesting is not always good." Dean cracked with a chuckle as he signed the slip with a fake name. But at least it matched the card.

"Sometimes...sometimes that's all the more reason to go." He said handing over the key. "Check out is at 1pm, the ice chest is across from the pool near the soda machines. The restaurant across the street will deliver but... I don't recommend it if you have any love for your stomach."

"Thanks, man." Dean said a she took the key. A small frown burrowing between his brows, but he was just paranoid, right? He went back out to the car and drove the short distance to in front of the room. "The clerk advises against the restaurant across the street." He said with a chuckle as he grabbed their bags.

"Now that's funny." Sam said climbing out of the car and followed his brother to the door. "Guess that means fast food tonight after all. Cause there isn't alot in this town. "

"Better have M&Ms." Dean said with a laugh as he unlocked the door and stared at the room in shock. "Okay. This is the weirdest room we've ever stayed in." It was perfectly clean. Light spreads on the bed. Clean carpeting, not too threadbare.

And a picture of Jesus. And a stature of Mary. And a painting of the Holy Trinity.

"Okay... what does that say about us that clean and lightly colored is weird ?" He asked. "It looks like a ... bedroom more than a hotel room. And I am betting the clerk is Catholic."

"Or at least the decorator of this place." Dean said as he took off his boots. "I'm grabbing the shower first." He said as he grabbed a towel off the small rack in the corner. "Wonder if the shower spouts holy water."

Sam snorted. "Dude, tha'ts bad." He said shaking his head. "So long as theTV guide isn't written in Latin, I think we're safe enough." He settled down at the table and plugged in his lap top.

"No surfing for porn under Jesus' picture." Dean said with a chuckle as he headed into the shower. A decent shower, a steady stream of water instead of a clogged up showerhead that usually let through a light trickle. After the drive, it felt good to wash off the road.

Sam stared long and hard at the computer screen, they hadn't been gone more than a few weeks from Kansas, and things had already started taking new turns. Including McKendrick's shift from the vice presidential candidate to presidential. His running mate having suddenly come down terminally ill. He didn't know why it had given him a shiver, but it had.

Dean came out and looked over Sam's shoulder. "Huh." He said, seeing 'McKendrick for President' across the screen. "Well look at that. Your turn for the shower."

"Yeah." He said thoughtfully as he rose from his seat. He would call Allen later and congratulate him, offer condolences on his friend. Test the waters again.

Dean surfed through the site himself as Sam was showering. Reading press statements, watching a few short video clips. "I hate politicians." He said. "Can't tell when they're telling the truth."

Sam came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "Yeah, I know." He said as he picked up his cell phone and dialed the senator's personal number. "Allen, hey. I just heard the news. Don't know if I should congratulate you or offer my sympathies."

"I'd take condolensces right now. David is a good friend, a good man." Allen said solemnly. "He could have made such a difference." He said with a sigh.

"I can understand that. So there isnt much hope for him then?" Sam asked in a sympathetic tone. This form of Death was something alien to him really. Deans close brush with it, was as close as he had come and even then he had fought it with everything he had, damn the consequences.

"No. It's a particularly aggressive brain tumor. Inoperable, and we didn't find it until his physical. All presidential and vice presidential candidates are required to have a physical." Allen said with a sigh. "And no one would vote for a man with a time bomb in his head."

"You never know when the government would be thrown into chaos that way... I'm sorry about your friend. Who are they sticking you with as a running mate?"

"We'll see after the primary." Allen said with a note of fatigue in his voice. "Hopefully someone I like, or the next four years will be intolerable." There was no doubt he was going to win. Of course, you talk to any politician, and there's never any doubt they'd win, if you asked them.

"Oh I'm sure you can make the best of it. But anyway... I just wanted to check in, make sure you were okay and all." Sam said. He had felt a kinship with the senator. Something pulling there that he didn't feel with the others like them.

"I'm all right. All things considered." Allen said. "How are you two doing? You feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'm doing pretty well, actually. My head is much better. Thank you. I appreciate all the help you gave us. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had turned us in when we first showed up."

"Yeah, well, I'll probably ask for a favor then, come November." Allen said with a chuckle, meaning at the voting polls. "But I'm glad whatever they did to you is resolved now."

"Funny thing... being a fugitive and all. I can't exactly register to vote." Sam said in good humor. "I'll stay in touch though. Who knows? Maybe you can help us out with that little problem later and I can vote for the second term." He teased.

"You have my number if you need anything." Allen said. "Keep your brother out of trouble. Easiest way to keep you out of trouble.""Easier said than done, but I try." Sam said. "I'll talk to you later." He said and hung up. "Inoperable aggressive brain tumor. " He told Dean. "Don't know who his running mate is going to be now. Looks like we might have connections to theWhite Housecome November."

"Dude, maybe he'll have interns." Dean said with a chuckle as he got ready for bed and turned down his bed. "That would be something else, wouldn't it? And you'll always be able to say, 'I puked on the president's shoes'."

Sam laughed. "Nice... great story to tell the kids and grandkids. Yep I puked on President McKendrick's shoes." The laughter faded and he shuddered. "Wow.. just had a chill. Did you feel that?"

"Chill? Like cold spot chill? Or the air conditioner is on and you're fresh from a shower chill?" Dean asked, grabbing his bag and digging through it just in case. The salt lines were down, but maybe some firepower was needed.

"Someone walked over my grave type chill. " He explained. He didn't know if it was an internal or external source, better safe than sorry however.

Dean tossed him a rock salt loaded sawed off shot gun. "Okay, well, let's just hope it's one of those things." Dean said. Nothing else to do, really. All precautions were taken.

Sam set the shot gun beside the bed in easy reach, and a knife under his pillow. "Yeah." He said as he pulled on his boxers and tossed the towel into the bathroom.

Dean turned out the light. But five minutes later he turned it back on, walked over to the dresser where the Blessed Mother statue was, with hands outstretched and a benevolent expression on her ceramic face.

He'd thought it would be plastic, but when he touched the statue, turning it to face the wall, he realized it was ceramic. Heavy ceramic too. Then he returned to his bed.

"Dude, what was that about?" Sam asked from the other side of the room.

"Dude, she was watching me." Dean said as he crawled back into bed. "Can't say I blame her, even virgins get to look, but it was creepy."

"Okay ... first off... that's seriously... you know...sacreligious or something... and it's just a statue. Statues can't look."

"Yeah. Okay. Like that painting was just a seriously creepy painting. Oh, and that tree? It was just a really old tree." Dean pointed out with a chuckle. "Night Sam."

"Good night Dean..." He said shaking his head and turning over. Figures icons would make Dean uncomfortable. Then again, who knew what it really was making them uncomfortable?

Dean felt better knowing the statue wasn't looking at him. And he slept rather well, running out for drive through while Sam was still sleeping. "Come, rise and shine princess. Got breakfast." He said as he set the bags on the table.

Sam sat up and yawned. "Oh... thanks." He said swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. "So... feel like revisiting Texas?" Not that either of them had entirely fond memories of Texas.

"Sure." Dean said easily. "Doubt Dad will crawl out of well this time around, but sounds good. It's south." He said as he turned the statue around again to face forward."Too bad. I miss him." Sam said as he moved to get dressed before eating. Right now especially, when things seemed to not make sense anymore. But his father had moved on. Was with their mother again. He wouldn't wish him out of that for anything.

Dean nodded. "I know. If he were here, hep robably wuold have made sense out of everything, and then gone for a beer." He said with a chuckle. "I don't know, but he's gone. So we get to figure this one out on our own."

"I know. Trouble is, it's not making any sense. None of it." Sam sighed and ate his breakfast sandwich. "Unfortunately it's not necessary for it to make sense. "

"Would be nice if it did." Dean said with a laugh. "All right, let's go check out. Then head south. Any more south we'll be in Mexico...might not be a bad thing. I mean, that would be different, right?"

"That would be different, except for that whole customs check point thing." Sam said "Then again that could be uncomfortably different."

"Okay, good point." Dean said with a laugh. "Fine, we'll turn around at the Rio Grande. Hopefully we'll find this thing before we get that far though. I keep thinking south, but if it's in Guatemala, you're on your own."

"If it's inGuatemala, we wait till Allen gets elected so that we can call the president as our one phone call." Sam teased, picking up his bags and heading toward the door.

Dean laughed, and shivered a bit. "Okay, we're out of here. There's something up with this room, and we don't have time to deal with it." He said as he picked up his own bags and headed out the door.

"I'll put it on the list of things to take care of later." Sam said, feeling it too. Seemed strange since the room was comfortable, even comforting for the most part.

"I think this we can pass onto some other hunter. Leave it with Ellen at the roadhouse." Dean said. He was into delegating, because this was probably minor. Haunted hotel. Nothing violent had happened, just some drafts and cold spots.

"Yeah, probably a newbie job easily enough." Sam wasn't used to delegating. He certainly wasn't used to Dean delegating. His brother was immersed in theirquest. Sam just wished he had more to go on. Unfortunately quests were long and slow processes.

"Dude, we can't keep chasing down every spirit we come across. We've got a lot of ground to cover, and probably not much time to do it in." Dean said with a shrug. "Not saying we're gonna drive right on by everything we come across, but the easy stuff, sure."

Sam nodded looking up at the sky. "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's get going though. Don't like the looks of those clouds." He said as he got into the car.

Dean laughed as he got into the car. "Been a while since I've outrun a tornado in this baby." He said as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. They weren't even past the town limits when the hail started. "Dammit. And I just retouched the paint."

"Are you sure we want to head out in this? We might be able to out run the storm, or we could be running into it."

"And what? Spend another night with the Virgin Mary?" Dean cracked. "Dude, if I'm not into that whole seventy two virgins idea, what makes you think I'm into the one virgin idea? Nah, we'll be fine." But he pressed the gas a little harder.

Sam laughed and settled into his seat, he couldn't really blame Dean. That room had some how given him the creeps too, although he didn't think the statue had been the source of it.

Dean's eyes narrowed as he drove. The roads were rough. Wet, and the hail wasn't letting up. "Okay, you don't see any funnel clouds anywhere, do you?" He asked as he kept driving, his hands white knuckle clenched on the steering wheel as the winds kicked up.

"I don't see much of anything, to be honest." Sam said, peering out the windows through the heavy rain. The windshield wipers weren't quite keeping up with the down pour. His eyes widened as the car was buffeted by the winds.

Dean fell silent as he drove. It was taking all his concentration as he controlled the wheel. He'd never had to fight the car before. The thing was a freaking tank. And the winds were blowing it around like it was some Japanese plastic box. He was even forced to slow down as visibility got even worse. "Okay, we gotta find some place to pull over before the roads flood out."

"Righ.t" Sam said and pulled out the map and looked it over. "Next major road is 5 miles ahead. We're gonna have to take one of the side roads and hope for the best, cause I don't think we'll make it another five miles on this one."

The car was moving at a crawl. Dean could feel the tires losing traction as he carefully steered, still having to fight it. The downside of no power steering he supposed. "Not sure any sideroads would be better than this one." Dean said as he wiped at the window. It was fogging up quicker than the vents would work, he even had the windows cracked.

"Unfortunately those are our options." Sam said, taking over wiping the windows, knowing Dean needed both hands for steering in this weather. "There aren't any rest areas around here and a wide spot in the road is just gonna flood as fast as the road."

Dean sighed and frowned at the road. "Fine." Dean said. "You're reading the car her bedtime story though, when we find a place."

"Thought you were the one that said she was just a car. Personally, now would be a great time for her to actually be possessed. " Sam said and looked out the window, hoping for some sign that it was letting up. Only to be nearly blinded by the bright flash of light and thunder barely a second apart.

Dean chuckled a bit at that comment, but his jaw tightened at the thunder. "Dammit." He said, having to slow down. He was seriously hydroplaning now. "Sam, we might have to pull over and hope she floats."

"This car is not going to float." Sam said. It was real metal, not fiberglass. "There...there's a side road, pull up in there. Maybe there is someplace we can take shelter for a while."

Dean's jaw grew tighter as he carefully navigated a turn Sam indicated, nearly missing it though they were practically crawling. And made it an hour down the road when he swerved to miss a tree that was falling. It landed mere inches away from the car, and the car had swerved into a deep puddle (some might call it a lake in fact) and sputtered out into a stall. "Son of a bitch!" Dean said, slamming the wheel with the heel of his hand as it wouldn't start for him.

The next flash of lightening revealed a building in the distance. It didn't look the most stable in the world, but it was more likely to keep them dry than sitting in the Impala and waiting forthe stormto wash them away."There's a barn up there, I think. Let's go up there and wait for the weather to clear up a little, she's just flooded, she will be fine when the water recedes. "

Dean was already getting out of the car. "Sam, get her in neutral." He called out over the storm, getting behind the Impala and bracing himself on the bumper.

Sam put the car in neutral and slid over to the driver's side, and out the driver's door, pushing as well as steering the car, even though that was more difficult than usual with the water and mud beneath them. It was hard enough to get traction with their feet, much less with the tires of the car.

Dean concentrated on pushing the car, soaked to the bone within minutes, and his back and legs already starting to feel numb. But it was moving, slowly and surely. Very slowly, and not so surely.

It took them nearly an hour to get the Impala into the barn. It wasn't a stable structure by any definition. In fact, Sam figured if the wind got too much worse it would rattle the place to the ground around them. But it was better than sitting in the Impala waiting for the rain to wash them down the road. He pulled their bags out of the car and tossed Dean his. "You're shivering. Get into something dry."

Dean caught the bag. "I'm not shivering." He said, doing his damnest to stop his teeth from chattering. But he did change. His clothes were sopping wet, he could have wrung them out. Instead he threw them over a rail. "Okay, well, at least we're dry." He said as he popped the hood to make sure all that had happened was the engine had gotten flooded by the water.Sam changed clothes as well, keeping an eye on his brother. He supposed he could open the door and make a fire down that end of the barn if they needed one, but at the moment he figured the draft would make the heat from the fire pointless.

Dean was still shivering, so he put on extra layers as he looked over the car. "Spark plugs are soaked." He said, shaking his head. "Okay, well, looks like we're bunking down here for a bit." He said as he sat with his back against the car. "You doing okay?"

"Starting to warm up a bit. What about you?" Sam asked, watching his brother carefully. Dean was still shivering whether he wanted to admit it or not. "Maybe we should start a fire."

"Then two things will happen. We'll set the place on fire. Or the wind will blow it out anyway, so it wouldn't matter anyway." Dean said. "Think I threw my back out. After everything I've freaking done in my life, NOW I throw my back out. Couldn't have been with that waitress in Memphis...no."

"Dude, I have no desire to know about the waitress in Memphis." He said as he went to the trunk to get out the medicine back and the flexeril for Dean's back. They were nothing if not prepared.

"You sure? It's a good story." Dean said with a grin as he took the flexeril dry, then wrapped his arms back around himself. His shoulders were burning, his back was throbbing. And all the rain and cold wasn't helping. "Okay, so spark plugs have to dry. Then hopefully she'll turn over and we can get going."

"Sounds good to me." Sam said, figuring they were there for the night at a minimum. Thankfully the Impala would work for both of them to sleep in, even if Sam would be bent like a pretzel. "You're still cold, aren't you?"

"Dude, I'm fine." Dean said with a scowl as he shifted. As long as his brother believed he was fine, he could hide a multitude of things.

Sam didn't believe a word of it. Not really. He made a point of not believing Dean anytime he said the words 'I'm Fine'. Usually it meant that he wasn't anywhere near fine. "Good thing we stocked up on junk food before leaving town." He said, not pushing it at the moment.

Dean managed to chuckle. "True." He said. "That should hold us over a couple days." He stood up painfully and stiffly, favoring his right leg. "I'm gonna crash out, actually."

"Probably a good idea. Why don't you grab the blanket out of the trunk?" Sam suggested, still worried about Dean's body temperature. He didn't look good as far as he was concerned.

"Yeah, I'll do that." Dean said, making his way to the trunk, holding onto the car more than he would have liked, but less than he needed to, grabbing the blanket and crawling into the front seat. "Night Sam." He said, curling into a ball as much as he was able to.

Sam frowned. He wasn't getting any sleep anytime soon. He had to keep an eye on Dean for a while. "Night." He said as he set about cleaning the weapons to keep himself occupied and awake.

He didn't think it was possible, but Dean woke up hours later feeling worse than he did when he laid down. It wasn't the bench seat. He'd slept on it plenty of times. Sometimes sitting up, and never felt like this. Too hot and too cold all at once. And afraid to move because right now, nothing hurt. There was the threat of achiness that would turn into full blown hurt if he so much as twitched, but no real pain.

Then he started coughing, his chest feeling like it was full of water, and the whole 'don't move a muscle' thing went right out the window."Dean?" Sam was in the car and leaning over the seat looking at his brother. "Damn it." He swore, knowing that Deanwas sick. "I knew I should have lit a fire and warmed you up last night." He rested his hand over Dean's forehead.

Dean brushed off Sam's hand. "Get off me dude." He said, wincing at that movement alone. "Give me a few minutes, some of us aren't easy risers like you." He said, at an attempt at levity.

"You've got a fever." Sam sifted through the first aid kit, pulling out the tylenol and an antibiotic. "Here take these." He said handing them over the seat to his brother.

Dean scowled and took the pills. Debating actually taking them. Right now his stomach and him were on friendly terms (about the only part of him that was), he wasn't sure he wanted to chance that. "Dude, I'm fine."

"Tell it to someone who believes you." Sam said mildly. "Swallow them. I will get something for you to eat to keep the stomach happy."

Dean chuckled. "Come on, that came off sincere, didn't it?" He said, but not in the mood to fight with his brother. He didn't have the energy, as he took the pills and curled back up. "Is it still raining out?" His head was pounding, he couldn't tell if it was the roof or his headache."Yeah, it's been coming down pretty heavy all night." Sam said. "I don't get cell reception in here either." He had tried to contact Ash. There was something about this storm that bothered him.

"Wow. Any bad news, or are you just buttering me up with the good news first?" Dean teased and did a test stretch. And quickly decided against that.

"I figured you would want the good news, just waking up and all." Sam said with a grin. "Saving the bad news for later." Not that there was anything else he could really tell him that wasn't obvious.

"Bitch." Dean said. It was a couple of hours before Dean managed to drag himself out of the car, and even that was against Sam's objections. He popped the hood to check the damage. "Plugs are still wet. This humidity isn't doing them any favors." He said in between harsh coughs.

"It's not doing you any favors either." Sam said as he got to his feet and started looking around the old dilapidated barn. He began to gather anything that looked like it might be flammable.

"I'm fine." Dean said, in between what was sounding more and more like a seal bark than a cough from being in a dusty barn. He was still pale, except for his cheeks, which were flushed, even hiding the freckles that continually lurked on his skin. "Maybe a couple more hours, they'll be dry."

"Especially if I get a fire going." Okay, Dean wanted to lie, so be it. Sam knew better. And a fire was the only way he had to get rid of the dampness that would be doing him more harm than good.

"And you said I liked to play with fire a little too much." Dean said, slumping down by the car to take a break. The cool metal felt good against his hot face.

"I didn't mean it literally." Sam said with a laugh as he got a space cleared and a smallish pile of wood set ready to go. He needed to get the air dried out a little, and the spark plugs dried enough to get Dean out of here and to a nice dry hotel room.

Dean chuckled in between coughs as he took the spark plugs out, hoping they'd dry faster that way. And dug out a bag of junk food, tossing his spare zippo to Sam. "My good one's still drying. But that one should do the trick."

"Thanks." He said and soon the fire was burning lowly. He opened the door partially, and did his best to block them in place, so that the smoke would blow out rather than choking them out. "Yeah, once they are dry we'll get some place dry and you can get some rest."

Dean chuckled. "You act like I haven't slept. I slept last night, more than you did." Dean pointed out. He could see the wear on his brother's face. "But someplace dry is definitely a plan. I like that plan."

Sam grinned "I dont sleep well with my knees under my chin" He said, making light of it. When the fact was he had been keeping an eye on his brother. "I am looking forward to using all the hot water too"

Dean laughed. "You know I'll guilt you out of that one." Dean said. Coughing, but then he recovered. "After all, steam opens up everything, right? So obviously I need the steam because I've got a cold. And steam will just make your hair fluffier. Like when we were in Miami, with all that humidity. Remember that? You almost had a 'fro going."

"I did not have a 'fro going." Sam said giving Dean a look. He wasn't sure steam was a good idea. It might open things up, or it might send him into a coughing fit hard enough to hurt himself. Wouldn't be the first time.

"Dude, you so had a 'fro going." Dean said with a laugh. Which turned into a coughing fit. Which left his face a worrisome shade of purple and wheezing afterwards as he went to the medicine bag. "We've got morphine, we've got demerol, we've got anti-inflammatories...how come we never pack cough medicine?" He asked between wheezes. But he was fine. Really.

"Cause the only one that ever gets sick is you and you won't admit it." Sam pointed out. "So we never stock it cause you don't think we need it. Guess you won't complain next time I want to toss a bottle of nyquil in there." He said with a frown. He was starting to get worried. "Heavy duty cough syrup has codiene in it... do we have any of that in there?"

"We've got instant release morphine. Same class, and I'm not taking it. I need my cough to stop, not to be knocked out and woozy." Dean said with a scowl and he sat back down. "And I wouldn't talk there, buddy boy. Someone so much as pinches YOU hard and you get an infection."

"I do not. Have to actually shove a foreign object into my skin. You got a little wet outside of a shower and you're coughing like you need an iron lung." Sam wondered if it would be worth it to walk into the nearest town to get some guaifenesin. Then the lightening stuck outside, hitting the ground mere feet from the barn flooding it with blinding light.

Dean groaned and covered his eyes. The blinding light did nothing for his headache. "Shaddup." He said with a chuckle. "You're the one who says I'm sick, not me. I'm fine."

"You know, it's funny. You know you have never really been able to lie to me effectively about that. So why do you keep trying?"

"On the off chance one day you'll believe me because I'm older and wiser?" Dean said, finding a bottle of water in the car and drinking it. "It's bound to happen eventually."

"Sure, when you actually manage to be wiser, I might consider it." Sam said. "Or maybe if you say it when you aren't either bleeding or running a fever... or suffering from heart failure."

"Can't use the last one. I fully admitted I was dying, which is really far from fine. I just didn't need you hovering over me and trying to tuck me in and buckle my seat belt for me." He said with a chuckle. "Some amount of manliness has to be retained."

"Give me a break. I was never the caregiver, remember? That was you. I was new at it. Have a lot more experience now."

Dean laughed. "You got a lot to catch up on. I did teething, diapers, potty training...tying shoes..." He said and coughed, drinking water quickly to cover it. "How do the spark plugs look?" He asked, not having the energy to get up and look at them himself.

"Pretty good. Let me go take a look at the roads." Sam said as he got up and pulled his jacket up over his head.

"Uh huh. Good idea." Dean said as he carefully shrugged off his jacket and sweatshirt. He was cold before, now he was hot. And his hooded sweatshirt was drenched in sweat. So he balled it up and laid down. While Sam was checking the roads, he'd get a little shut eye. Just a little. Probably wake up as soon as Sam came back in. That was the plan.

The roads were terrible. When you could see them for the rain. Sam was thinking they could wait a few hours longer to set out again. That is, until he found his brother. "Dean?"He didn't receive an answer. He lay his hand on his brother's forehead and swore. He put the spark plugs back, and set them in place according the marks on the plugs indicating where they had been set previously. He didn't need the car tuned badly. Might wake Dean up, but it might also delay them getting anywhere that he could get medication for him.

Dean didn't respond, he was as responsive as a lead weight in Sam's arms as he was lifted and dragged into the front seat. Sam couldn't risk putting him in the backseat. His attention had to be on the road, but he wanted Dean in the corner of his eye as he got the seatbelt around his brother's unconscious form and eased the Impala back onto the road.

It was a long slow drive into the next town. Between the state of the road and the state of his brother, Sam was so tense he was shaking as he pulled into the feed and seed parking lo.t "I won't be long." He said, even though his brother wasn't awake or responsive in any way. The feed and seed had medications for animals. Including penicillin. A trick they had grown up knowing about. Wouldn't be the first time one of them had been given a shot from a bottle marked for bovine use. Another stop at a drug store produce guaifenesin, and several bottles of nyquil. Each time he left his brother alone in the car he was half afraid he would come back and find him not breathing at all. He almost didn't see the motel for the rain, and it was like running through artillery to get to the door between the hail and the thunder.He got his brother into one of the beds and prepared the injection of penicillin.

Dean didn't move, or wince, or even groan as he was injected. Just wheezed. Sam propped him up on all the pillows he could find, to get him sitting up as much as possible. The way Dean's head lolled to the right would have been comical were it not for the actual circumstances.

Sam was trying to straighten his brother's head when there was a knock at the door, the hotel manager. He handed Sam blankets when Sam opened the door, darkhair wavy from the rain peeking out around the hood of his poncho. "Your brother didn't look quite well." He said.

Sam looked back at Dean. "Yeah, he got caught in the rain last night. It's a nasty flu bug." He said, although he suspected it was worse. "Thanks for the extra blankets. We appreciate it." He didn't want the man tempted to call an ambulance or anything.

The manager looked around Sam to the unconscious man on the bed. "Flu?" He said, with a bit of a chuckle. Walking right in. He had a way about him that basically shouted 'move aside'. And an undercurrent that said that arrogance was NOT unearned. Dark eyes flashed to Sam as he looked Dean over. "I...used to be a medic...in the Army." He said in a lightly accented voice. "Your brother has pneumonia." He said, laying a hand on Dean's chest as he breathed, maybe to count the breaths. "He'll be fine." He said, and just as unexpectedly, walked out.

Sam watched him go, wondering what the hell was going on, but no harm no foul as far as he could tell. "Thanks." He said, closing and locking the door behind him.He went back to his brother and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Dean come on, you have to wake up long enough to take the meds." He said as he tried to rouse his brother.

Dean didn't wake up for another few hours, when his fever momentarily broke, soaking his clothes and the sheets. His brother was in the middle of trying to rouse him again too, by shaking his shoulder.

"Dude, make up your mind." Dean mumbled, eyes still closed. "It's either Dean, you need to sleep or Dean, you need to wake up. You're confusing."

Sam sighed in relief. "Come on. Time to take your med." He said, producing the nyquil and the guaifenesin. "You've been asleep since before we left the barn." Nearly 12 hours now, by his reckoning.

"We left the barn?" Dean mumbled. "Huh." He didn't remember that part. But wherever he was did seem to be a lot drier than the place he had laid down for a quick nap. Twelve hours? He was pretty sure he taught Sam how to tell time.

Sam helped him take the meds, then change into something dry. "It's alright. We can stay here until the storm lifts." He figured Dean would fight staying until he was better, the storm he wouldn't put up too much fuss about.

"You drove in this storm?" Dean said, coming out of his fogginess slowly. But coming out of it at least as he choked down the NyQuil. "I gotta check my poor car..." He said, cracking open an eye to glare at Sam for the unnecessary danger his baby had been put through.

"Your car is fine. Opening up the hood in a hail storm might not be the best course of action though. They have mutant hail stones in this part of the country."

Dean closed his eyes again, just imagining the dents he'd have to pound out. The damage he might have to bondo. "Figures. Okay, so any news on how long this will last? I feel better. Except my leg of all things hurts."

"Yeah... that's where I gave you the penicillin shot." Sam admitted. "Didn't think I could get the pills down your throat without choking you." He was relieved that he had thought to get the penicillin, figuring that was why his brother was getting better this quickly.

"Great." Dean said with a weak chuckle. But at least he was in dry clothes, even if he'd been a limp rag doll and hardly any help while changing. He coughed, but at least it was a dry cough, and not the wet cough he had been doing before. "Mutant hailstones, mutant flu, what else can go wrong?"

"Don't ask, we might find out." He said and settled down on his bed. "Let me know if you need anything. Picked up some broth packets I can make with the coffee pot." He took out his cell phone and tried calling Ash again.

Ash answered, the line was full of static, but at least he got through. "Man, where you been? I've been trying to call you for, like, a whole day." Ash said.

"No cell reception because of the storm. Let me guess, that was what you were trying to call me about." Sam said as he kicked off his wet shoes and removed the socks, wiggling his pruned up toes.

"Storms, minor earthquakes, electrical storms...man, they're right behind you. Like they're trailing you and trying to catch up." Ash said. "So wherever you are, you really gotta get moving. Don't come north, you'll run right into it."

"Dude, too late." Sam said and told him how the last 36 hours had been going. "I was wondering if they were the demon's handy work again. Seemed a little intense for the area."

"So whatever you're chasing down, he doesn't want you to find it." Ash said. "So I'd find it quick, or retreat for now. He might want you alive, but that doesn't mean he wants you whole."

"I don't think he will stop, Ash. Even if we retreat." Sam knew the demon pretty well. He figured Dean might know him better, but from his estimation there was no stopping it now.

"Gets worse." Ash said, clacking computer keys heard in the background over the static. "Can't say for certain which demon is after you. Might not be after you, bro. That other one wanted Dean, remember? And not all the signs I'm seeing are usually associated with your personal demonic stalker. Could have two fallen angels on your tail."

"He had to ask what else could go wrong." Sam grumbled. "Okay. Keep us informed if you come up with something new. So how goes the hunt for a new safe house?"

"Found it. Abandoned community. Middle America." Ash said with a laugh. "It was built on a toxic dump...but we've got some people here for that. They're there now cleaning it up. We expect to move in and set up shop in about a week or so. It's got about, i think seven houses and three buildings. They didn't get far before they discovered the toxic shit, but we're gonna wire in some electricity, see if we can get the sewer pumps working."

"Sounds good. A little privacy when people get settled in." He said. People were not going to look for them in a site abandoned for toxic hazards. "You're sure they can get it cleaned up well enough to be safe?"

"They say they can. Guess we'll find out." Ash said. "So whatever else I find out, I'll pass along."

"Thanks, man." He said. "I'm gonna go and check on Dean. Be careful." Sam admonished. "I'll let you know if we ever find blue skies."

"Hi. You checked on me. Now what did Ash have to say?" Dean said from his bed, five feet away.He'd heard half the conversation, but his head was still foggy, he couldn't quite make out what Ash was saying.

"You want the good news or the bad news?" Sam asked, trying to sort out how to explain it to Dean. Not that it was difficult. He just wasn't sure how to deal with it all himself.

"Might as well start with the bad. I asked for it after all." Dean said with a quick grin. And somehow knowing how this conversation was going to end, whether Sam liked it or not.

"Well, the storm outside is apparently demonic in nature, but Ash says it's not just old yellow eyes. It's possible the other one is back as well." He said.

"Aw man. I thought we kicked their asses already. How many times are we supposed to do it?" Dean said as he sat up, slowly for his spinning head, and grabbed a pair of socks out of his bag and his boots. "Come on, you can tell me the good news on the way to wherever we were headed in the first place."

"We aren't going any where until tomorrow. I haven't slept since we left the last hotel." Sam admitted. "The good news is that they have found a new place to hole up. Of course they have to clear it of toxic waste first." He added with a sarcastic tone.

"No, Sam. We're leaving now. You think the storm's going to get any better? I'll drive." He could do it on will alone. He'd have to. He at least had slept. "Toxic waste, huh? Always wondered if Ash was born and raised below powerlines to tell the truth."

"No it's not going to let up, but neither of us is up to driving and I don't want a repeat of last night." Sam told him. He was exhausted and Dean hadn't even been able to lift his head roughly an hour before.

"Dude, I'm fine." Dean said. And sat back down. "But you poured NyQuil down my throat." He shook his head. "Fine, four hours, then we really gotta get moving." He said, setting the alarm clock.

"Yeah, NyQuil that you couldn't take without my help, I might add. You aren't fine yet. But you are getting better. Let's not push it. The hotel manager thought you had pneumonia."

"Dude, I've got a cold." Dean scoffed. But he would have said the same thing even if he had been hooked up to a respirator. "Fine. Sleep, we'll sleep. And Sam, this time sleep instead of staring at me. I know I'm cute...but you're my brother and it's disturbing." He joked."Jerk." Sam said with a laugh as he stripped down to his boxers, and slid between the covers. "Good night." He turned his back to Dean.

"Yeah, whatever bitch." Dean said with a chuckle as he got underneath his own pile of blankets. He was grateful for the warmth, since his fever had broken, he was back to chilled. He hit the alarm four hours later, Sam was still sleeping. He could sleep for a bit, Dean would check the car. Even if it was still hailing out, it needed to be checked before going out on another long haul.

"Hell of a storm." Mickey said as he walked past Dean to the room next to theirs, with an arm full of towels. "Good to see you're up and around again."

Dean had the hood carefully propped, so as little hail as possible got under it as he checked out everything. He started at the voice. He KNEW that voice. His head, strangely enough, was still just foggy enough to piece it together as he lowered the hood at turned toward the hotel manager.

"You sure get around." He said suspiciously.

The man turned to face him. "I'm used to the storms. If I waited for it to be over, I'd never get anything done." He said with a smile, brown eyes locking on Dean's green ones.

"You were the one who suggested I head south. For interesting things. You know, I got enough problems with a wild goose chase, don't need cryptic messages on top of it." Dean said. He was positive, positive, this was the man from Arby's, and the other hotel.

There was the distinct look of surprise, but a pleasant one, on the man's face "Oh there are no wild geese around here." He said as he opened the door to the room and set the towels on the table there, except for one that he tossed to Dean. "In fact.. I would say that if you kept on this road here... you might find things that... bear absolutely no resemblance to geese at all...if you keep your eyes open, that is."

"Well, I'm really sick of geese." Dean said, wiping off with the towel. He buried a cough in the towel, and when he recovered, the manager was gone. He hadn't been coughing that long either.

Disconcerted, he went back to the room and woke Sam up. "Come on, bro, time to go."

Sam sat up. "How ya feeling?" He asked looking Dean over. "You're wet. Been out in the storm with that cold? Are you nuts?"

"I'm good. And I've been called worse." Dean said with a chuckle. "Just checking on the car. And that hotel manager, he gives me the creeps." He couldn't say that he was stalking Dean, when he'd appeared wherever they were first.

"Seemed nice enough to me last night." Sam said as he pulled his clothes on. "Why, what did he do?"

"Nothing." Dean said. It was hard to explain. It didn't even make sense to him, so how could he explain it to Sam? "He just creeps me out. I swear I've seen him before. Not in the cop way, but I've seen him before."

"Fine, let's get out of town then. Maybe we can out run the storms as we head south, but I have a feeling the rain is going to follow us." Sam said as he pulled on his jacket and hefted one of the bags.

Dean got the other bag and they dashed to the car, still getting pretty soaked. He got behind the wheel before Sam could say anything, and blasted the heat. Sam was boiling, but it dried up all of Dean's passages, his throat, his nose, he didn't need to cough as much, so Sam bore it in silence, and cracked the window a tiny bit. "Okay, south." Dean said. "I think this road goes south, right? Or did I get turned about?" He hadn't driven here after all. He'd been passed out where Sam was now sitting.

Sam looked around a moment to get his bearings. "Yeah it goes south. We're good to go." He wondered if this quest would ever end or if it would wind up like their father's quest to kill the demon. Nothing but an endless need.

"Dude, this is kinda fun." Dean said. "And no I don't havea sky high fever anymore." He said with a chuckle. "Oh the storm isn't. And this cold I have definitely sucks. But compared to all the other searches we've been on, this one is a little lighter. You know? We're not searching for Dad, that was a nightmare." Not knowing if he was dead or alive, or even if he even cared sometimes."There is that." Sam said with a faint laugh. "And it's not like we are running from anythinganymore. well... we sort of are ..." The storm was evidence of that. "But at least it's nothing new and nothing with guns."

"So when we find this sword, your visions tell you what we're supposed to do with it? Hold it up to the sky and scream 'I have the power' or something?" Dean asked as he managed to get a bit ahead of the storm. Visibility was better, which meant he could speed up.

"Did you actually just say that with a straight face?" Sam asked with a laugh. "Dude," he shook his head, "I don't know what to do with it honestly, only that we are supposed to find it."

"Hey, I got a kick out of the image of you holding the sword." Dean said with a laugh. "Gotta get your kicks where you can get them, since the storm has probably closed all the bars down and all."

"Dude... that is so wrong... " Sam grinned as he leaned against the car door. "So still feelingthe pull to go south?" He asked. He hadn't gotten anymore visions while they had been taking this route. That meant either they were so far off course that it wasn't pulling at him any more, or they were on course and it was cheerfully waiting where ever it was waiting.

"So far. That and common sense." Dean said. "The storm is to the north of us. Probably going west and east. So south takes us away from it. Always a good policy. Like I said, as long as we don't end up in Guatemala, I'm cool."

"Away from the storm is always good. Of course who knows what the demon will have been up to in our absence." He remembered the storms just before Dean had arrived to tell him their father was missing. Storms that had heralded Jessica's death.

"One thing at a time, Sammy." Dean said quietly. Wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed his mind once or twice, at least. It had. But he was better going one task at a time.

"Yeah I suppose so, oh hey... look...50 miles to the Barnhardt's Museum of the Unexplained." He said giving his brother a look. It would be their 30th such curiosity shop. He had run out of hope that it would be their last.

"Ooh I like the name of that one. Very auspicious. Which means it'sa hole in the wall in the back of a forgotten strip mall." Dean said with a laugh. "Or someone's barn or back room. Remember that place in Minnesota? You know the one in that old woman's garage?"

"Oh yeah, that had some interesting things in it. I still say the so called angel in that one was actually her long deceased husband with some paper mache wings wired on." Dean said with a laugh. "Yeah... but we didn't get any EMF readings, so he wasn't objecting at least." He said laughing as well. The best part of this whole quest was that they could laugh at a lot of it. It was a break from the horror their world had become.

"Or how about that alien corpse on the shores of Lake Michigan? That one was pretty cool." Dean said with a grin. "That took a lot of work, I respect that, the guy cared enough about his con to put some serious man hours into it."

"You have any idea how wrong that sounds? Just plain wrong." He said with a laugh. "Although I thought he was gonna bolt when you shook his hand and congratulated him on a job well done."

"It was a job well done!" Dean said with a laugh. "Hey, is that the sun or am I still high on cough medicine?" He said, pointing to a small sliver of gold peeking through dark clouds in the direction they were driving.

"I think that's the sun." Sam said. "Hmm... " he said wondering at it. "Oh hey, next right willtake us to Barnhardt's. 2 miles down that road. If the sign is accurate."

"I really hope it is." Dean said with a chuckle as he turned on the road. It was still raining, but not hailing anymore. And his car wasn't being tossed around like a whiffle ball by the wind. "Told you if I drove fast enough eventually I'd out run the storm."

Sam laughed. "Not sure that's how we got past the storm, but it's as good an explanation as any." He had a good feeling about this particular stop. He couldn't explain why but he did.

It was an old ramshackled barn in the back of an equally ramshackled (but surprisingly inhabited) house. Dean passed it twice before he was finally convinced to slow down to get into the narrow, gutted rutted driveway, wincing as the Impala bounced along in the mud, thinking of having to overhaul the suspension (again). "Wow, okay, this might be the creepiest one we've been to."

"Yeah... I think you might be right." Sam said. "But it's a chance to get out and stretch our legs." He said, figuring if nothing else they could get a few laughs before getting back on the road once more.

Dean parked the car and shook his head. The fact that he was scouring freak shows for a mythical sword his brother had seen in a vision never ceased to amaze him. But he got out of the car and stretched. "Hey, I'm in the mood for ribs. You think this place has a rib shack anywhere near it?""Don't know. Anything is possible around here. This has been the weirdest stretch of road we have been down in a long while." Sam said as he led the way to the door of the 'museum'. It appeared to be open but no one was tending the register...there was actually a cash register. "Hmm... must have a gift shop or something inside." He couldnt figure they would make much money off of it otherwise.

"I didn't see a sign charging admission." Dean said as he carefully looked around. There seemed to be a layer of dust over everything, and hanging in the air. So he blamed that for his lingering cough. It was a good excuse. "Hey, dude, I think this is a real mummy." He said, peering close at a figure of a mummified man.

"Yeah well, don't go reading from any golden books then." Sam teased looking over his shoulder with a grin. Then coughed as he kicked up a pile of dust. "You know... as dry as it is in here, even with all the rain... starting to think maybe that was the curator and he laid down for a nap or something."

"Or I gave you my cold. I'm into sharing like that." Dean said as he moved away from the mummy. He poked around a bit more. "And no aliens. What? Aliens don't like this area of the country or something? We haven't seen a good alien in a while."

"Aliens are all over the south west cause of Roswell. Here I think it's an entirely different breed of redneck or something." Sam said as he moved to the back of the barn. There was so much stuff piled there, that he felt like he was looking for the proverbial needle in a hay stack.

Dean poked around the shop, picking up a few weird small exhibits, like the four headed fetus in a jar. He thought it was a pig, maybe a cow, couldn't tell, it was all shriveled in formaldehyde. "Dude, they've got a big ass butterfly in here and calling it a fairy." He said as he looked in a case. Nope, it was definitely a butterfly. Butterfly on steroids, but it wasn't some fairy.

Sam wandered over to his brother. "Yeah, but you gotta admit, that is one cool butterfly. I mean it could carry off a small dog I think." He said with a grin, then the grin faded as he heard something shuffling across the floor and turned to see nothing behind them.

Dean looked around. "Okay this place is creepy. Let's see if they've got the stupid sword or I'm gonna start blasting rock salt everywhere."

"Yeah." Sam said, and started to follow the direction the shuffling had come from. He wanted to know what was in there with them. The sword would be there or it wouldn't.

Dean had his hand in his jacket, where his gun was, just in case as he circled the shop slowly, looking for anything off. Well, any more off than the display of exhibits they had going on here. "So should we go?" He asked. The hairs on the back of his neck were seriously standing up.

"No." Sam said. "Starting think it's just our imagination, since we haven't had a hunt in so long." His hair was just fine. Laying sedately down his neck as though nothing unusual had happened.

"Sure." Dean said, though he still looked warily around. This whole road trip had his hairs standing up, to tell the truth. "Hey, what do you think about Hooters after this? I'm sure we can find one somewhere, right?"

"Dude, you have an unhealthy fixation with Hooters. It's okay to eat hotwings somewhere else. I promise. I even hear Pizza Hut has hot wings now."

"Pizza Hut? Are you nuts?" Dean said making a face as he went through a couple of exhibits, moving them, looking for false bottoms or anything that looked like it might possibly resemble something that could hold a sword.

"No. I practically lived on it the first year of college." He said and whirled at the sound of flapping wings, half expecting to see a bat or a barn owl dive bombing him... a really big bat.

"That explains why you were so out of shape." Dean said with a chuckle and froze at the sound. "Now that I heard. Again. Either it's a really big ass bird or I don't even really want to know what." He pulled his gun, it was the only protection he had really.

"I was not out of shape." Sam said as he followed the sound deeper into the barn, heedless of what it might be, concentrating only on where it was going. He pressed himself between the narrow passage between two stacks of crates.

"You were out of shape." Dean said. "Sam? Sam, where are you going?" He said. Did his brother have no common sense? This complete dismissal of his own personal safety was beginning to piss Dean off. How could he keep the kid safe if he kept pulling shit like this?

Sam came up short at the back wall, staring up at the apparent skeleton of an angel. The wingspan was enormous. He stepped closer to examine the joint connecting the wing to the spine, climbing up on a crate to examine it closer. The skull had no fusion lines, but a touch revealed it was indeed bone and not resin.

Dean squeezed himself through the crates and found his brother. And the skeleton. "Holy f..." He said. "OW!" Something had smacked him upside the head before he could fully swear. He rubbed the back of his head and looked around. "Okay, Sam? Find the sword? If not, let's get out of here. I'm being assaulted."

"What?" Sam asked, distractedly. "Assaulted by what?" He asked as he peered behind the skeleton, and fell silent as he saw it there. A single solid piece of blackened metal, in the shape of a sword.

Dean was looking around himself, looking for some sign of what had hit him. "I got knocked upside the head." He said."Sam? You with me?" He said as Sam leaned behind the skeleton. "Dude, you're not checking out the angel's ass, are you? OW! That's it! Come on, where are you?"

"Dean... the sword is here." Sam said, "And you know you only get hit when you swear." He pointed out. He really was listening. "But I can't get it. I need your help. "

"So you're not concerned that I'm getting hit by something I can't see?" Dean said and shook his head as he came to the other side of the skeleton. "This is the freakiest thing I've seen. This beats the giant butterfly." He said, looking up at the skeleton as he ducked between the main body and the wings.

"Dude, you haven't said you're fine yet, so chances are... you're fine. So quit whining and grab the sword already." He said, anxious to see if their quest were done.

"Fine. Thanks for the compassion there, brother dear." Dean said with a scowl as he stretched his arm out and grabbed the sword, righting himself and stepping away from the carcass. "This is it?" He said, holding it out to his brother.

"That's the one in my visions, yes." Sam said and reached out to take the sword from Dean, but it slid through his grip to the floor. He frowned and knelt to pick it up, but could barely lift the hilt an inch from the floor before it once more slid from his grasp.

"Dude, if you break it, we'll definitely have to buy it." Dean said and waited for his brother to pick it up. "Sam, come on." He said. "This place is seriously giving me the heebie jeebies." He said, bending and picking up the sword, heading for the door. "I say we get out of here before I get hit again."

"Yeah... let's get out of here." Sam said with a frown. He stared at his brother carrying the sword so easily. He wondered if it had rejected him some how. Perhaps the evil was too deeply engrained in him because of what he was.

Dean walked between the crates. He had to be imagining the fact that he hadn't had to squeeze through them before and walked through the shop, stopping at the counter. "Well, since we're all into larceny now, might as well steal a tablecloth while we're at it. Can't exactly lay this on the backseat after all." He said as he started moving things on the table cloth so he could take the cloth.

Sam nodded and watched his brother deal with the sword. Why was it he couldn't seem to keep his grip on the sword? Was it rejecting him? He hadn't been able to grasp it when it was on the wall, hadn't been able to keep hold of it even when Dean handed it to him.

Dean whistled a Metallica song as he wrapped the sword and looked around the store once more. "All right. Looks like we're good to go." Dean said. "Where did Ash say they were holing up?"

"I'll call and get directions." He said as he started to walk out the door and toward the car. "He gave me a generalized location cause I didn't want specifics until we were ready to head there."

"Well, I think we're ready." Dean said as he put the wrapped sword on the floor of the backseat. He hitched up his left pant leg. "Does this look harmless? This is not harmless." He said, pointing at the quickly turning black and blue large spot on his shin, where the last 'ow' had come from.

Sam started laughing. "Dude, you got kicked in the shins for swearing by a ghost?" He shook his head. "That's great. I love it. Missouri will get a kick out of it too."

"Don't even." Dean said. "I didn't see you defending me back there either, for the record." Dean said with a scowl as he lowered his pantleg and got behind the wheel. "It hurts! I'm gonna kick you in the shins, see how you like it."

That just made Sam laugh even harder. "After all you have been through... This is what you go on about? A bruised shin?"

Dean just grumbled as he put the car in gear. "We need gas, keep your eyes peeled for a gas station, you know, while I sit here and deal with my pain in silence since my own brother has no compassion for me."

"You want me to drive so you can break out the lortab?" He asked trying to rein in the laughter a little. "This from the man who thinks he's fine when he's in traction."

"I WAS fine." Dean reiterated for the millionth time. "Traction was a piece of cake." He shook his head. "Fine, mock me. But you know what? Mickey Mantle nearly lost his leg when he was a teenager. Kicked in the shin with a football cleat, developed a nasty bone infection."

"Dean... you're being a girl." Sam said with no small amount of satisfaction. "I mean really... if I were kicked in the shins, you would be rolling right now."

Dean scowled deeper and reached for his bag of junk food. "I'm not a girl you fluffy haired Sasquatch." He said. "Fine. I'll just soldier on and not care and share."

That got Sam laughing again. "You never share." He said. "And you only complain when it's minor like a boot to the shins or a hang over. Dude, I've got your number."

"Dude, you don't have shit." Dean said with a chuckle. Then again, Sam was laughing even if it was at Dean's expense. He'd been so freaking moody lately, it was good to hear again.

"I've only known you my whole life. I know you... you are fine." Sam said again as he shifted in the seat to get his long legs positioned comfortably.

"Thought you were prelaw? Switched to premed when I wasn't looking?" Dean asked with a laugh. He coughed a bit, the vestiges of his pneumonia hanging on. "Fine, I'll live. No thanks to you. You were way too busy checking out the freaky skeleton than to try to deflect some of the abuse I was undergoing."

"All you had to do was stop swearing." Sam pointed out. "AndI was trying to get to the sword. You know... the whole reason we were there."

"Yeah, yeah." Dean said. "But it was swear worthy. Dude, you think that was a real angel hanging there? In Oklahoma? Or are we in Texas? I lost track. Seems a weird place for angels to be, ain't it?""Probably why it was there." He said. "Protecting the sword or something some how. But yeah... I think it was a real angel. Almost want to go back and bury him.. her... it... but I have a feeling its been taken care of."

"Yeah, well, it definitely is free with kicks and swings." Dean said with a glower. "That completely sucked."

"Dude, if that was all it took to get a weapon that will kill that yellow eyed son of a bitch... it's worth it. Even if it isn't my shins that took the damage."

"Of course you'd say that, it wasn't your shins." Dean said then he laughed. "All right, all right. If we finally get to put that bastard down for good, it was worth it. I'll go with that."

"Good cause, dude, you really need to quit whining so much." Sam teased, grinning at his brother. It felt as though a huge weight were lifted from his shoulders. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.

Dean laughed. 'Yeah, okay. Next time you ask me how I am, I'll just say I'm fine." He said. "So we've got the sword. We've got a settlement...wow, this is really coming together."

"Yeah, it is." Sam said laying his head against the window. "So if you aren't in too much pain to drive there Deanna, I'm gonna get a nap in."

"Fine, Samantha. Have your sweet girlie dreams." Dean said with a chuckle as he popped a tape in.Sam drifted off to sleep, and soon saw himself standing between two men, one with yellow eyes, one with green. The yellow eyed demon faded away into so much yellow mist, and the green eyed bastard laughed as he stepped into the shadows. Around him was desolation. Cities in ruins, people crowded into ghettos. He stepped forward, looking for anything to make sense of the dream... which he was convinced was a vision. It had to be. But every step he took just revealed more of the same.

Dean glaned worriedly at his brother as Sam twitched in his sleep. But his body needed rest, dammit. So, clenching his jaw a bit, he drove on to the destination indicated by Sam. A nice little no name place, it didn't even have a state. It was smack at the corner of four states. Finally, when his brother started to make noise, he shook his shoulder.

"Come on dude, wake up." He said.

Sam woke with a gasp and looked around. "Is this the place?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He was still trying to make sense of the dream. None of it made sense. "You know I almost miss the days when visions came with head splitting pain... at least then they made sense."

Dean chuckled at that. "No, we got another few miles. Figured I'd give you time to wake up and wipe the drool off your face." He said. "Another dream? Jessica Alba in this one?"

"Nope, but there were a couple old acquaintances of ours." He said and then described the dream to his brother. "It's just not making any sense to me. "

Dean shook his head. "They never do. So we got the freaking sword and you're still having dreams of an apocalypse? That's what's making no sense to me." He said as they came up on the town. Or rather, the gathering of buildings.

"Well... maybe it's trying to push us into doing something quickly." He said with a sigh. "Or maybe with everything that's happened to my head over the last couple years I'm cracking up."

"So the next time I should let you sleep a little longer in the hopes that a girl eventually shows up?" Dean teased with a chuckle as he parked the Impala next to the Warrior Queen.

"Dude, there is no girl in my future." Sam said. "And if there was it certainly wouldn't be Jessica Alba."

"You're right. I'm much more her type." Dean deadpanned as he got out of the car and stretched. "Should we bring the sword in with us?"

"I don't know if we should leave it out here. Our people are trustworthy but who knows what might follow it to pick it up."

"Good point." Dean said, going into the backseat and retrieved the sword, along with their bags as Bobby came out.

"You look like crap." Bobby said, coming out as they arrived. Dean looked better than he had before, but unlike Sam, Bobby didn't have anything to compare it to. He looked about the same as he had when he had driven off with a barely healed gut wound to tell the truth. At least to Bobby.

"We've both been worse this trip." Sam said as he got out of the car, and stretched. "Please tell me we have comfortable places to sleep set up." He was pretty sure his legs and lower back were twisted like pretzels with no hope of reprieve at this point.

"I can believe it." Bobby said. "Oh, and Joshua York found us. He's one helluva hunter." He'd spring their latest guest on them later, after they rested. Some guy York vouched for, probably found him in a bar. But he was already here, so it was too late to undo any damage. "But let's get you two settled in." He said, reaching for their bags.

"Yeah, Uncle Josh is pretty good." Sam said. "Dad even used to defer to him if that tells you anything.. Of course that could have just been the marine thing. Damn I'm tired. " He said realizing he was rambling.

"Come on, Andy's been working overtime getting this place set up. We got ahold of one of those radiation counters, a geiger unit, this place is nice and clean." Bobby said, leading them into one of the buildings. "We found this place, guess it was going to be an office building or something, we're all sharing four bathrooms, but for the time being that's enough." He said as he led them to offices converted into bedrooms and living quarters.

"Sounds great." Dean said. He wasn't as tired as Sam, or maybe he'd just convinced his body he wasn't. Either way, he'd wander a bit and poke around at what was already done while Sam slept.

"Yeah, works for me at the moment. We can worry about privacy and other things later as we go. Plumbing can't be any harder to do than rebuilding a car thats been totaled by a semi." Sam said with a yawn. He hadn't gotten a good nights sleep since the storms had struck.

"Great. Now I'm on plumbing duty." Dean said with a laugh. "Get some sleep, Sam. I'm gonna have Bobby give me a tour, see what's on the up and up around here. Give Andy some pointers if I need to."

"Okay." Sam said with a smile. "Thanks. Get some rest yourself. You've been pretty sick." He pointed out. Yes Dean had made a quick recovery, but Sam knew how bad he had been.

Dean still didn't feel top notch. And for him to even admit that to himself took something. But he felt like he had things to do, so like normal, he pushed it aside. "Will do." He said. Eventually he would. He actually liked sleeping, so he was looking forward to it. "I'll catch up with you later."

Sam nodded and disappeared into an unclaimed room. "Sick? How sick is pretty sick?" Bobby asked, feeling as though he had stepped into John's shoes in many ways with the boys. Particularly in that being responsible for them department.

"I have a cold." Dean said with a shrug. "Oh hey, we found that mystical magical sword too. In the freakiest shop in America. I was getting kicked and smacked by something unseen, and Sam didn't even care. He cares more about my cold."

Bobby actually laughed at that one. "Cold huh... hmm." He frowned a little. "Might have to find someone to check you out." He said. Sam wasn't the only one that understood Dean speak as far as injuries and illness.

"I'm fine." Dean said in exasperation. "Nyquil, some Tylenol, it was all good. Sam worries over nothing, you know that." He said as they walked. "So where's Josh holing up? Want to know how he tracked us, if its anything that can be duplicated."

"He's down in the kitchen instructing people on how to set up a proper mess hall." Bobby said with a chuckle. He had done his time in the military in his youth. Didn't have any desire to relive any of it. Unlike York and John, it wasn't exactly a pleasant time in his life.

"Wonderful." Dean said with a laugh. "I'm hungry anyway. We didn't see a single good restaurant on the way here." Meaning no Hooters. He'd looked. Even taken some detours. And still no Hooters.

"Really? Andy seemed to like the food around here. Of course he is from this god forsaken neck of the woods. Roughly anyway." Bobby said with a shrug.

"Bobby, in case you haven't noticed...Andy likes to indulge in the cannabis." Dean said with a laugh. "I think he'll eat just about anything because of that. Ash too I think." He said, holding the wrapped sword. Because he didn't know what to do with it. Certainly not let it out of either his or Sam's sight. And right now, Sam was hopefully not seeing much.

"I think those two will eat anything that doesn't threaten to eat them first. But most hunters... if it's cooked and in front of them... will eat it and ask questions later."

"Okay, so you get a point for that one." Dean said with a chuckle as he stretched out his back as they walked. He was tired. But he was good for a bit longer. "So how are they all with their abilities and such?"

"A little better than before. It takes some work to get it under control. Although to be fair most of theones we still have to keep a close eye on... were in that place for months before we got to them. No longer than Sam was there it played hell with the boy. Some of them I don't think will ever be able to leave this place and function in the real world again. But they are coming along nicely."

"We just need them safe in here first." Dean said. "We'll work on everything else later. One step at a time, right?" He said with a tired smile as they made it to the 'mess hall.' a converted storage place really.

Bobby nodded. "Only way to do it." He said.Joshua York stepped away from the frustrated supply clerk and made his way over to Dean and Bobby. "Hey. You two made it back alright I see. Where's Sam? Sleeping?"

"Yeah, he's beat." Dean said. "So, does that poor kid even know he's the new supply sergeant?" Dean teased.

"He spoke up about where things were and how he thought they should be so he got elected." Josh said with a grin. The kid would be in over his head for about a month.

"Dude, that's just wrong." Dean said, full of sympathy for the kid. Dean had been there, he'd been put to work by Josh before. And lived to regret it, and also learned to keep his damn mouth shut! "So did you hear? McKendrick is now his party's nominee for freaking president."

"Yes. I had heard that. It's all over the news." Josh wasn't sure what to think of that. It would be a great boon to this little rag tag group if the president were actually one of them, even if only because he wanted to pull Sam into his political agenda. Of course it could be the end of the world as they knew it if the son of a bitch were on the other side.

Dean shivered a bit. "Ugh. Think my cold is kicking back up again." He said as he went through their ice box for orange juice, finding a can of thawed concentrate. Well, it was better than nothing, right? And supposed to be good for colds he thought. He didn't even bother diluting it, wanting all that Vitamin C as he opened the can carefully. "So how'd you find this place?" He asked. "Thought Ash and Bobby were better than that."

"Had some help actually. A friend I picked up along the way. Mickey. He has visions of his own I guess." Josh said as he leaned against a pillar. "Gave us a distinct advantage in the tracking department."

"Mickey? You picked up a friend named Mickey? And brought him here?" Dean asked. "Did you stop and think that there was a reason this place wasn't supposed to be found?" It was one thing if Joshua had found it on his own accord. But there were too many variables out there that could get everyone in here killed. He ran his hands through his hair, making it stand on end a little higher than usual as he set the wrapped sword down on the counter. "You brought a friend. Great. Where'd you meet this 'friend'?"

"Bout 10 years ago on a hunt." Josh said with chuckle. Dean had his father's habit of assuming no one knew what they were doing everytime he was worried about something.

"This isn't funny!" Dean snapped. "I'm serious. If you think the government in some way or form is not after these kids, you're insane. And senile. Bad enough I picked up a stalker I think we finally lost, while we were looking for this stupid thing. And it wasn't even female to top it off."

"Watch your tone with me, Boy." He said in Who the hell do you think trained the man that trained you?" He pointed out. "Mickey isn't with the government. He isn't possessed. He isn't one of the kids like Sam. "

"Really?" Dean said. "Because he told you so?" He was responsible for every single person in this ramshackled barely formed community. And even Joshua, as much as he respected the man, even he wasn't allowed to endanger that. "Where is he?"

"I've known him for several years." Josh said bluntly. "He's resting. And being watched. You know, if you want I can pack up and go, otherwise you need to start trusting my judgement."

"No offense, really, no offense meant, but I don't know if I can afford to do that." He hadn't stopped since Sam was taken the first time. Every step he took seemed to be uphill, and rocky at that. But he just kept on trudging ahead, because there was no other choice.

"You need to take a step back and breathe." Sgt York said. "I understand you are under a lot of pressure and that Sam's safety is tied up in this makes it even harder. But do you really think for a moment that I would ever endanger Sam? Mickey was having visions and looking for this place before I came across him again. Would you rather I had let him come on his own?"

"What about his safety?" Dean asked. "I've got pyrokinetics, telekinetics, one that can stop a beating heart with a touch, others that absorb radiation...did you stop and think about what they might do if they feel threatened by a stranger?"

"Dean, did you miss that last part? Stop raging and think about what I said for half a minute." He was starting to think Dean was in over his head.

"I didn't miss the last part." Dean said. "He has visions. He's not like Sam. Or the demon. Still doesn't change the fact that I have a dozen women who have been raped by strangers." He sighed and smoothed down his hair. "I'm not raging. So, what? He's like Missouri then?"

"As close as I can figure. The point I was trying to make is he was going to find this place with or without me. Hell, I didn't do anything other than come along for the ride. I figured it might be best to come along, I was thinking. Making the best of the situation I could."

Dean sighed. "Fine." He said. "I just don't like surprises. Because usually they end up with me or Sam needing a hospital." He finished his undiluted concentrated orange juice, one of the grossest things he'd ever drank (and he'd drank a lot of disgusting things), and breathed. Or tried to. Joshua was right, he was stressed out. Sam was more comfortable here, less to watch out for on his end he supposed. In some ways anyway. Dean? Gave him more to watch out for.

"Go get some rest, son. You look as ragged as you did when Sam was recovering. Bobby and Andy have it all covered here. Don't worry so much. When you wake up, I will introduce you to Mickey."

"If he starts singing some Disney song, I'm gonna punch him." Dean said with a chuckle. "Yeah, I'll go sleep." Or try to at least. He picked up his bundle again and went back to the rooms. Checking on Sam, he was sleeping nicely. Finally. He found an unused bed and curled up in it himself, not even bothering to take off his boots.

Joshua made his way back to Mickey's room and rapped at the door, knowing the man within wouldn't be sleeping. He didn't know if he even required sleep really.

"It's open." Mickey called out as he lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, hands clasped behind his head. "Ceilings are interesting. Each little crack has its own story you know."

"Yeah, the scary part of that is that you know those stories." Josh said as he took a seat "Dean isn't going to be an easy sell on this." He said skipping over any preamble.

"Dean isn't going to have a choice." Mickey said, eyes still tracing the light cracks in the plaster above his head. "Well, actually he will, I suppose. He goes along, or everything around him crumbles. Unless I've misjudged him, he won't let that happen to his brother."

"I know he won't." Joshua said. "Just like I knew that he would take care of that faith healer's wife you told me about. He's a good kid. Has a good head on his shoulders when he isn't sleep deprived. There is a lot of his mother in him. But he doesn't have a lot of confidence."

"Funny, how the faith healer's wife wasn't taken care of until after Winchester was healed." Mickey said, sitting up smoothly and swinging his legs over the side of the bed to face Joshua. Mickey had revealed what he knew about that particular faith healer, because he couldn't slay a human, while humans were free to kill each other. Rules were rules after all. Even if over the ages they changed and were tweaked. "Not that I'm complaining. Now anyway."

"Dean didn't see that there was anything off until he was in the process of being healed." Josh pointed out. "I couldn't exactly tell them what was going on. " He grinned a little. "Dean dying would have screwed up your plans pretty majorly, don't you think?"

Mickey laughed. "They're not my plans. You know that. Reverend LeGrange was right about one thing, he was led to choose Dean out of that whole room. So, 'my plans' as you put it, were never in danger. Faith, my friend. Faith."

"Good. Cause right now... if we lose Dean, we lose everything." He said running a hand through his gray hair. "I sincerely hope that one day these boys have some sort of reward awaiting them, because they have already done their time in purgatory."

"And unfortunately they were all just tests." Mickey said. "To forge them for everything they have to do. There will be a reward for them, certainly. There was for their father after all. I dragged that man out of hell myself so he could complete his earthly task."

"For that I am grateful. Gave them some closure as well. Only thing that kept Dean from going off the deep end after his father's first death, I think."

Mickey nodded. "So how do you propose this introduction should go?" He asked. "You know him far better than I. Wingspan and all? He's such a black and white, literal man. Do you think he can understand everything?"

"I would try explaining it all first... and if that doesnt work, bust out the wings. Dont want to over load him." Josh suggested "He is pretty near the breaking point these days. Its been non stop since the feds started after Sam."

"Suppose I should keep this form then." Mickey said as he looked himself over. "Wouldn't want to break his mind after all. Then he's useless. Well, even if we have to drug him, he needs to sleep. Did he drink the orange juice?"

"Yes he did. Didn't even bother to dilute the concentrate." Josh wasn't looking forward to the introduction. Dean was going to automatically assume it's a trap, that Mickey was a demon pulling the wool over their eyes. It wasn't going to be pretty.

"Good." Mickey said. He'd spiked it with a mild sedative. Dean wouldn't wake up with a hang over, but the boy would sleep. He needed rest as much as he denied it. "Then we have a few hours to relax."

"You do. I'm going to go back to talk to Bobby. If they want to keep this place secure and running, they are going to have to give up this illusion of not being paramilitary in nature. "

"Because it's impossible to just be a peaceful settlement?" Mickey asked with an arched eyebrow. "Far be it for me of all people to back away from anything military...but these kids don't seem the type."

"Pacifists get eaten alive." Josh said with a sigh. "The government, the demons, those like them that have chosen the other side. They have so many people and things hunting them that they need to be prepared to defend themselves."

"Sure." Mickey said. "March right in there sergeant, and tell them PT is at 0500. Chow at 0700. Maybe showers at 2100. And if Andy and Ash can fit that in, inbetween drinking and smoking weed, they might even show up." Though he hated the term devil's advocate, that's what he was doing. Making sure Joshua thought out all the counter arguments before proposing the idea.

"I don't expect them to become Marines." He said with a chuckle. About the only one out of the bunch of them that stood a chance of that was Dean. Bobby had been in the army for too long and was ruined as far as the marines were concerned. "Just pick up a little discipline along the way. A few safety regimens."

"Safety?" Mickey said. "So the plan is to teach all the psychic kids with their wonderous powers to shoot a pistol?" He chuckled. "Think outside the box, Joshua. They don't need safety regimens, they can self monitor that. Discipline, most likely. But you're also the new kid on the block.""We'll see." He said. "This all feels exposed. I know they have their own powers and weapons but that they should at least be keeping watch or something. And who is to say the demon doesn't have a means of short circuiting those powers?"

"Or short circuit a gun." Mickey pointed out. "It's conceivable that he can short circuit most anything. Which is why we have the sword, remember?"

"Not saying they need to carry guns." Josh said rolling his eyes. "Must be getting old. Can't even explain my position to you of all people."

"You want to run a campaign like you would were you still in Viet Nam." Mickey said. "This isn't Viet Nam, they aren't the Viet Cong, this can't be fought with mortal warfare, even if they're mortal combatants."

"And that is just the sort of weakness the demons will slip through. We have to cover all bases. Not saying we need perimeter checks or patrols... just a good deal more security."

"Good luck with that." Mickey said. Under the demon's control, they might have become an army. Once free will and all that good stuff was stripped from them. Now? With everything still intact, including a good amount of fear, they weren't in an army or marine mood.

"Yeah I know. But something has to be done by some one to keep up the security level. Besides... some of these people I am pretty sure need to have some sort of schedule enforced. It has been proven to help people with shell shock or ptsd to handle daily life until they get their feet under them. A lot of them haven't managed to find their feet yet much less get them under them."

Mickey laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "I wish you luck, my friend. I only have one purpose here, remember?"

"You are gonna need more luck than I do, old friend. A lot more luck." Josh said and rose to walk toward the door. Dean was going to be a lot harder to get through to than Mickey realized.

"Luck is for humans." Mickey said, the shadow him against the wall showing far more than what the naked human eye could see.

"Well then you might just find yourself in deeper than you thought, because that whole free will thing... Dean has more than his fair share. He is a winchester... they dont come any other way."