FOUR

Sam was just receiving his rather large steak as he noticed Dean walk into the restaurant, wearing his sunglasses. He thanked the waitress and sat back, waiting for his brother to stumble into the opposite seat of his booth.

"There you are. I was starting to think you'd died," Sam smiled deliberately.

"Only a little," Dean grunted, and Sam noticed his eyes flicker toward the steak before he sat back, as if to be further away.

"You want one?" Sam grinned.

"Naw, I'm good," Dean managed, but Sam could tell from his white face that he was anything but.

"Are you ever gonna get over your hangover?" he asked, leaning forward and picking up his cutlery.

"I didn't have that much."

"Dude, there were so many empty shot glasses on that bar top I'm surprised it didn't collapse under the weight," he replied, carving into the steak and smelling the delicious hot aroma waft up toward him. He speared a particularly mouth-watering chunk of meat with his fork.

"Hey, I was just trying to inculcate the guy, it was only a dozen or so shots," Dean said, off-hand.

Sam paused the fork before it reached his mouth. "Do what?" he asked, confused.

"Inculcate. You know the word, right?" he smiled with a sudden slyness Sam found unnerving. He rolled his eyes at his big brother.

"Enlighten me," he sighed.

"Teaching by repeatin' it over and over," Dean grinned. "How 'bout that, that's two big words I know that you don't." He chuckled to himself, and despite the wan pallor to his skin, he seemed much more like himself again.

Sam chewed on the steak thoughtfully, then shook his head.

"Whatever, Dean. Look, why do you do this to yourself? You don't see me drinking the bar dry most nights."

Dean sniffed, leaning right back against the cushioned backrest and folding his arms. "That's a question for another day, Sammy. Now eat your food."

Sam ate, Dean watched everything else but Sam, and did his best to ignore the food on the table. Three different waitresses attempted to give him coffee, but each time he fended them off with dairy, nut or aspartame allergies.

"Big words, shunning food and rejecting coffee? I'm starting think you're possessed," Sam teased.

"What did you find at the hospital?" Dean asked simply, refusing to rise to the bait.

"Interesting stories of repeat thefts from the blood department. We should get back there after hours and lie in wait for this thing."

"Yeah right – what do we do, pretend to be patients?" Dean scoffed.

"With a face like yours they'd believe us," Sam said, noticing that the black shades only served to make Dean's red-rimmed eyes look purple instead.

"Nice," Dean bit out, looking out across the restaurant.

"Anyway, its residential. There's no A&E, so we'll be ok if we get in before it closes its doors for the night."

"Right. Well whatever, man, this gets solved tonight," he said casually, but Sam heard the firmness in his brother's voice.

"Absolutely," he agreed.

-------------------------------------------------

Sam picked the lock silently, letting the chain and padlock hang back slowly. He straightened and held his hand out for the torch. He waited but nothing happened.

He turned eventually and slapped a hand into Dean, who was holding the Maglite but looking round the grounds slowly.

"Dude, the light," he whispered. Dean shrugged into his black jacket a little, as if cold, before turning and handing it to him. "What is it?"

"Just keeping an eye out," Dean breathed, then gestured at the door. "Come on already."

Sam pulled the door open, waiting the extra breath to make sure the alarm didn't sound. It didn't and while he was still congratulating himself on having snipped that too, he walked in and held the door open behind him for his brother.

Dean stole in behind him, pulling the door to and looking around quickly. Sam popped on the Maglite again, waving it around the floor slowly. He found the wall and followed it round, finding they were in a small storeroom.

Dean walked round in front of him, finding the door and edging it open a crack. He stuck his eye to the gap, was content that no-one was around, and pulled it open. Sam followed him out, turning off the Maglite in the lights of the hospital corridor, both lads blinking in the sudden brightness.

Sam looked up and around, checking for cameras first and then for signs. He found none of the former and one of the latter, patting Dean's arm and gesturing to it silently. They found the right floor and room, and as one turned in the direction of the lifts.

They found the lift, the doors opening instantly, and again they looked up for cameras as they got in. There were none, so Sam pressed the button for the basement and plasma store. The lift whisked them down and before they knew it, the doors had opened again.

Dean put a hand to the gun in the back of his jeans slowly before stepping out of the lift. He looked around, the dim light cast only by security lights in the outside corridor. Sam followed, switching on the Maglite again and following his brother out into the hospital's main storeroom for blood and plasma.

"You sure about this?" Sam whispered.

"Well if he ain't here, I don't know where else he would be," Dean whispered back. "He's either snacking or sleeping. Either way, be careful."

Sam's very next move was to walk straight into a trolley filled with bags of blood ready for movement to another store. It jolted and a few bags slipped to the floor.

"Dude!" Dean hissed in disapproval, and Sam sniffed guiltily and walked on. Dean heard a noise to his right and looked over quickly even as he followed Sam. There was a pop and a sudden damp squelching sound and Dean froze.

He looked down at his foot, finding his large biker boot on top of a now very much empty bag of blood. He followed the splatter marks outward, then realised they went all the way up the back of Sam's jeans.

He paused, running his tongue over his lower lip as he thought quickly. Sam turned unexpectedly and looked at him.

"Did you say something?" he whispered.

"Uh-uh, not me," Dean replied casually, making himself look away from the mess of freshly shaken blood up the back of his younger brother's legs. Sam turned away again and Dean felt himself smile. He wiped it off quickly, clearing his throat professionally and pointing a hand at the splattered jeans. "Uh, actually, you've kinda got…"

"What?" Sam asked quickly, turning to look at him. Dean's finger wiggled up and down, but his resolve wilted under Sam's innocent gaze.

"Nothing, dude. Come on," he said, shaking his head and letting his hand drop. Sam hesitated before turning to his right, taking off by himself silently. Dean wandered further toward a set of large white doors which looked incredibly creepy in the dingy light.

He stopped and put his free hand out, opening the large door to find dry supplies in all forms arranged neatly inside. He let his eyes run over them and moved to close the door.

But it slammed into him abruptly. He was shoved off his feet. He landed on his arse, shocked. He had time to look up into the large face of the half-human creature. It appeared to be staring down at him in surprise.

He drew the gun quickly from behind him. The creature, its dark fur rippling in shock, attempted to bound over him. Instinct made Dean's hand let go of the gun. He grabbed instead for the leg or hind quarters of the beast. His fingers connected but simply dragged through heavy fur. Suddenly they closed fast on a limb of some kind.

"Dean!" came Sam's shout.

Dean did not hear. He scrabbled to keep hold of the creature. He could hear a growling, grunting noise near his head and it was not a welcome sound. He tried to push himself up from the floor and yet still hang onto the limb.

He was being shaken now, thrashed from side to side. He knew he was on his knees, his hands now tight around what appeared to be a very wide leg. He realised which way up both he and the beast were. It came to him in a flash that his head would be in a spectacularly convenient place to be bitten off.

There was a change in the noise. The creature whimpered and howled, then there was a crash and the unmistakeable sound of Sam cursing.

Dean shot to his feet, letting go of the leg with one hand. Instead he straightened and looked directly into the face of his opponent.

For a half-second they both simply stared. The taller creature's yellow eyes widened, taking in the relatively bald, half-yellow pink animal thing grabbing onto it with such a fearsome grip. It's long, wolf-like jaw attempted to open as it wondered what to make of the green eyes that burned almost as fiercely as its own.

Dean didn't think. The moment the jaw twitched his right hand shoved up and closed round something that should have been a windpipe in a normal mammal.

But this wasn't a normal mammal. It felt short, hard points jab into its neck and jerked back in pain. It raised its giant paw-like hands to swat the smaller creature. Dean moved but the creature was quicker. It slapped a huge slab of limb into his head, propelling him across the floor with a wet tile squeak.

Surprised at finding itself free, it hesitated for a long moment.

Dean rolled before he'd even stopped sliding. He righted himself and found the beast, all eight feet of it, spreading clawed hands and baying in anger at Sam. He was struggling against a possible concussion, grabbing at the trolley covered in blood bags.

Dean launched himself at the creature's back. There was a brief sensation of flying before his entire body weight slammed into the beast. It sent them both to the floor in a flurry of claws, amulets and fur.

Sam grasped at the trolley desperately, getting to his feet and looking around for his gun quickly. He spotted it and ignored the enraged growls, howls and curses from the wrestling pair. He dodged round them and snatched it up, spinning on the spot to cock it and aim.

Aim at what? He watched helplessly, his older brother tangled up in the fray. There's no way I can get him without maybe hitting Dean. Shit!

The creature spun on the floor, wrenching Dean off smartly. He flew a full four feet up in the air before landing on his back, the wind knocked out of him. This time the creature was ready. It whipped round. It smacked into Sam and sent both him and his Taurus handgun flying. It turned quickly, spotting the large windows of the room.

It moved toward them. It was almost there before Dean appeared right in front of it. The very next moment they smacked into each other. Dean didn't pause. He shoved an elbow into the rough area of a breastbone, grabbing the limb nearest him. He stepped neatly into the arc of the beast's momentum and whirled around.

The creature was thrown round him and headfirst into the wall. Dean let go as the beast bounced against the brickwork. He threw himself into the creature's back, shoulder-first. The beast gave a wheezy roar, sounding very much winded. Yet it pushed back abruptly, shoving Dean back a few feet. As he staggered to keep his balance the animal whipped around. It stepped closer dizzily, staggering to its right and forward at Dean. It drew in a deep breath, raising its hands to strike.

Dean took a deep breath and took a running leap into the beast before it could move. The creature, caught off-guard, simply grabbed him. The resulting momentum sent them flying through the window behind.

Sam jumped up, snatching up his gun again and running out of the door. He stopped in the corridor, raising the gun quickly. He hurried up to the mass of fur on the floor.

It lay prone on its back, eyes closed, long, wolf-like lantern jaw hanging open. It exposed rows and rows of needle-sharp teeth. The brown-black fur flowed and rippled all over it.

Dean was sprawled face-down on top of its chest, his arms and legs thrown out by the impact.

"Dean!" Sam hissed quickly, creeping nearer to check the eyes on the beast. They were still firmly closed. But so were Dean's. Sam swallowed his fear. "Dean!" he tried again, crouching slowly. There was a low moan from the creature and Sam stiffened his grip on the gun. He put an almost shaky hand out to Dean's knee, pushing it urgently. "Dean!"

But still his brother didn't respond. Sam stared down at the waking monster and his brother, trapped in the mass of fur and claws.

And wondered just what the hell he was supposed to do now.