The Hunt
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
A/N: Well, here's a happy little chapter. Because the story has been so light-hearted and happy up to this point… I appreciate the reviews and private messages. I love to know what you guys think of how things are going.
oooOOOooo
Sam didn't say anything to Dean about not sleeping in their room the previous night. Kristine insisted on sitting in the car's back seat saying she would be more comfortable being able to stretch out, but Sam suspected it was something else entirely. Kristine was a trained therapist and very cognizant of the relationship between the brothers. He knew she would never try to come between them and he was sure she would intentionally do anything she could to stay in the background. Sam appreciated her actions, but he didn't feel threatened by her. In fact, he wished Dean would let himself get closer even though he understood why he didn't.
Sam wondered how he would feel if Dean suddenly announced he was leaving the hunt to stay with Kristine. He didn't see his brother actually doing that, but if it happened, he hoped he would be happy for Dean. A part of him knew that wouldn't be the case; at least not entirely. No one deserved happiness like Dean did. He'd given up his entire life for the hunt and for their father's revenge. He'd done everything John ever asked of him and sacrificed his own needs and desires for Sam. Dean was tired of the lifestyle and would have given up hunting a few months ago if Sam hadn't told him he was going to face whatever was coming for him head on. So once again, Dean gave up what he wanted for Sam.
The younger man glanced at his brother. This was the most important person in his life and, of course, Sam wanted him to be happy. Right now, though, Sam needed him more than he ever had. He was terrified of what he might become and suspected that without Dean's influence it would actually happen. Some day he would be able to let Dean go, but not now; not until Sam knew that he wouldn't succumb to evil and become what he had fought his entire life.
Dean looked over at Sam when he saw the younger man shudder and wondered what he'd been thinking about. He sat up straighter in the seat and reached for the radio volume knob to turn it up a little. He didn't think about it, but that was exactly what Dean did when he didn't want to talk. The older brother caught his eye and Kristine saw something pass between them. She was always fascinated by the amount of non-verbal communication between the brothers.
oooOOOooo
The drive back to North Carolina was uneventful, other than Kristine's dips into the Vicodin bottle, and the three of them were nervous when they pulled up to Kristine's cottage. Dean took the keys from her to open the door and immediately tried to keep her from going in, but his insistence only fueled her.
"What the –" the front room of the cottage had been ransacked.
The brothers each held a gun as they searched the house. None of the rooms were left untouched and Kristine got angrier the more she saw. It didn't look like a random break in and each was convinced it was the work of the demon; something else to keep them off balance.
"Tell us again about the hunters that were here." Sam said as Dean parked in front of the main house a few minutes after they left the cottage.
"There were four of them and they'd been in a huge fight with a nasty poltergeist outside Atlanta. They had broken bones and were pretty messed up; they lost a good friend. I hated having to leave them, but I didn't have a choice. I told them about a place in Illinois and gave them time to pack up. Before I headed out I asked Alicia to schedule a cleaning crew to come in and take care of the place."
"Do you have a staff?"
"Sort of. People who come in to do things, but no one who stays here." she stood at the car and looked toward the house. "The demon must have come here and chased the hunters out –"
"Don't think about that." Dean said. "You want to wait out here while we go inside?"
"No." she sounded almost offended and set off toward the front door. The brothers exchanged a look and followed her.
They found nothing out of place in the main house and when Kristine called Alicia, she found out the cleaning crew had been there the day before. Alicia also told her that they hadn't reported anything out of the ordinary other than the kitchen.
"So your house probably was a personal attack." Dean said.
"That makes me feel so much better." Kristine grumbled.
Dean glanced at her. "We have work to do. Kristine, why don't you stay here or maybe go to the inn –"
"The inn?" she repeated with raised eyebrows. "You're kidding me, right?"
"Kristine –"
Sam backed out of the room making a comment about waiting outside that he was pretty sure neither of them heard.
"Don't Kristine me."
Dean looked at her. "Do you have to be so stubborn?"
Kristine wanted to fight, but she saw the fear in his eyes and relented.
"I told you at Bobby's that I was a part of this and wasn't going to back down." she said gently.
"I know, but –" he stopped when Kristine sat down suddenly. "What's wrong?"
She didn't answer, but Kristine was clearly in pain.
"Is it your back?"
She didn't answer, cradling one of her arms.
"Kristine –" Dean sat next to her and gently pulled her arm toward him, pulling the long sleeve out of the way. The wound was clearly infected. "This doesn't look good."
"It doesn't feel all that good either." she said quietly. "And to answer your other question, my back hurts, too."
"You're going to the hospital."
His concern increased when she didn't resist. Sam protested when Dean wanted him to stay and finish their preparations while he took Kristine to the hospital in Asheville, but he relented when it was clear Dean's mind was made up.
oooOOOooo
Two hours later Kristine was admitted to the hospital, being administered intravenous antibiotics and an MRI scheduled for her back. The doctors seemed to accept her explanation that she'd been mugged while on a business trip in Atlanta. Dean didn't want to leave her alone, but after being settled in a room, Kristine insisted. She had wanted to be a part of the battle, but knew it would be impossible for at least several days and she didn't want Patrick to suffer any more than he already had.
Dean was a mile away from the cottage when he decided to call Sam. They hadn't eaten regularly in days and he realized he was hungry.
"Hey." Sam answered the phone quickly.
"Everything okay?" Dean didn't like his tone.
"Yeah; I've just been worried."
"Sorry. Kristine will probably be in the hospital tomorrow for a couple of days; longer if there's a problem with the MRI. I want to take care of this tonight, but right now I'm starving. Are you interested in food?"
"Yeah. I'll start walking toward the diner –"
"No!" Dean said quickly. "I don't want you out there alone. I'll pick you up in a couple of minutes."
oooOOOooo
"You really think this is gonna work?" Sam asked Dean later.
"I hope so, but I don't know." Dean sounded even more skeptical than his words implied.
Before they left Bobby's, he showed them how to summon a specific demon and gave them ideas of how to contain it once it arrived. Bobby had much of the same knowledge as their father and was willing to share it with them. John obviously didn't leave them completely unprepared for how to handle a hunt, but there were a lot of things he left out of their education. Bobby also had a lot of information about their father they didn't, but both left it at innocent reminiscing.
"You worried about Kristine?" Sam asked as he mixed another batch of herbs together.
Dean didn't say anything as he continued his work. Sam glanced at him. "You know, we're almost done here. You could go back to the hospital –"
"Stop it, Sam."
"What?"
"Stop trying to make me and Kristine into a couple. It can't happen."
"That isn't what I'm doing." Sam lied. "You two have a connection and –"
"Yeah, but what good does that do? What does that get us, huh?" Dean sounded more sad than angry.
"You tried to push me at Sarah. What's the difference between that and this?"
"The difference is that was you. You know how to have a relationship. " he hesitated seeing the flash of pain in Sam's eyes. "I just know how to disappoint her by leaving all the time."
"If that was true, she wouldn't keep in touch with you. She wouldn't have left the trail for you to follow when she got into trouble –" Sam stopped talking and looked at his brother. "You love her, man, I know you do."
"What the hell do I know about love?"
"More than you think." Sam said quietly.
Dean glanced at him. "I don't want to have this conversation. We have work to do."
oooOOOooo
"Are we set?" Dean asked later.
"Yeah. You sure you're ready to do this?"
Dean nodded.
They had cleared almost everything out of the den and drawn protection symbols on walls in each of the other rooms. They stood on either side of a symbol that Sam had drawn on the wood floor that would call the demon when other things were put in place.
"So Bobby said this would compel the demon to come here; it wouldn't be able to resist." Sam said.
Dean nodded.
"And then it acts like a Devil's Trap because it won't let it out until we let it out or it's exorcised."
"Let's get on with it." Dean said. Sam looked at him.
"We agree we'll exorcise it and try to save Patrick?"
"Yeah." Dean answered as if he hadn't really heard the question.
Sam raised his eyebrows. "Come on, man. Your head needs to be in the game here."
"I'm in the game."
"I'm not so sure."
Dean looked at him. "Let's do this and get it over with."
"See, that's the problem right there."
"Sam –"
"We can't just do this and get it over with. We're messing with a demon here, Dean."
"I know that!" Dean growled. "A demon that is possessing Patrick and who made him beat the hell out of Kristine. I know what we're up against."
Sam watched as Dean struggled with his feelings. The expression on his face scared Sam a little bit, but sadly, there was nothing unusual about that these days. He sighed quietly as Dean regained control of himself and put the walls back up.
"Ready?" Dean asked, no hint of weakness in his voice.
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
oooOOOooo
After making sure everything was in place, Sam started to read the Latin invocation that Bobby supplied. Dean watched, weapons ready, in case things didn't go as they expected. The last thing he wanted was to cause Patrick more pain, but he tried to keep his mind on the demon and not on the body it possessed.
Before Sam finished reading the words, the lights began to flash and static could be heard coming from a radio in another part of the house. The front door slammed open a few minutes later and Patrick walked in, the demon fighting each movement.
"What the hell are you doing?" it demanded, compelled to stand in the middle of the symbol drawn onto the floor.
Once inside, Dean moved a lit candle so that the circle was complete.
"What is this?" the demon roared.
"This is the end of the line. You're done tormenting Kristine." Dean snarled.
It smiled. "You can't get rid of all of us. Besides, it's not Kristine we intend to torment."
"Keep going, Sam." Dean said, his voice low.
Glancing at his brother, Sam began to read the exorcism passage. The demon laughed.
"It doesn't matter what you do to me." it said, with somewhat less bravado than only a moment before. "We'll just keep coming."
Dean only glared at it.
A moment later, the demon fell to the floor. As Sam continued to read aloud, Patrick's body began to shake and, clearly in pain, the demon yelled obscenities at the brothers. It seemed to take hours, but when Sam finished the passage, the demon sprang from Patrick's body in the tell-tale black smoke that they knew was being pulled back into Hell.
There was no time to relax or regroup. Patrick's broken body lie on the floor, and with him completely back in control, the pain was excruciating. The demon not only forced the body to walk when it couldn't, it was abused in other ways. Without the demon's presence, the cuts and bruises showed.
Dean rushed forward to comfort his friend while Sam made sure the candles were safely extinguished. He called for an ambulance, then quickly set about getting rid of the ritual paraphernalia.
"Patrick –"
He coughed. "It's over?"
"Yeah, man, it's over." Dean whispered.
"Kristine?"
"She's safe. She's okay." Dean looked toward Sam, both of them powerless to help Patrick.
"Tell her – " he struggled to speak. "Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her – I love her."
"Don't talk, okay? There's an ambulance coming."
"Promise me." he whispered, the little strength he had almost spent already.
"I promise." Dean said in a low voice.
"Demon –" Patrick was overtaken by another fit of coughing. An ambulance siren could be heard in the distance, but the brothers knew it would arrive too late.
"What about the demon?" Sam asked gently.
"There are more." he said. "They want you."
"I know." he said sadly.
"Hurt Dean." Patrick said, with difficulty.
Sam glanced at his brother. "What do you mean?"
"Want him – out of the way."
"Yeah." Sam sighed. "That's what we thought."
"Careful."
"Patrick –" Dean leaned closer to him.
Patrick reached for Dean's jacket collar. "Careful."
"Don't worry." he grasped his friend's hand. "I'm sorry, man."
"Burn me."
Dean closed his eyes for a moment. He nodded.
"Promise."
"We promise." Sam said when his brother didn't speak.
The ambulance parked outside of the cottage. Sam squeezed Patrick's shoulder and went to guide the paramedics inside.
"Kristine – alone now." Dean could barely hear him.
"Don't worry about Kristine. She's tough. And she has people looking out for her."
"You?" he sounded hopeful.
Before Dean could answer, Patrick's body suffered a violent spasm. Just as the paramedics rushed in, his hand went limp in Dean's.
"Patrick?" Dean whispered, knowing there would be no answer. He gently put Patrick's hand on his chest, then allowed Sam to move him out of the paramedics' way. Dean shook his head in answer to Sam's questioning look and walked away.
oooOOOooo
After dealing with the paramedics and watching the ambulance drive away, Sam found Dean in Kristine's back yard. He was sitting on the bottom step leading to the deck and staring into the darkness. Sam sat down next to him, but said nothing.
"Everything handled?" Dean asked eventually.
"Yeah. The paramedics were suspicious, but they were okay after Joe got here."
Joe Rawlings was the sheriff and another friend of the Ryan family. He knew more about the supernatural than most of the people in Kristine's life, but made it his business to stay as far away from it as possible.
Dean only nodded. He knew he should have helped Sam deal with the paramedics, but he just couldn't make himself do it. After Patrick died, all he could manage to do was walk outside and stare at nothing. Sam understood and wasn't angry with him. His brother didn't let a lot of people get close, but Patrick was one of the few and Sam knew his death hit would affect Dean.
"They're taking Patrick to the morgue. Joe will deal with the paperwork tomorrow and – the body – will be released to the funeral home."
"We have to burn the body." Dean said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Joe will fix it so that we get the body." Sam glanced at him. "Or we could have the funeral home send it to the crematorium."
"It's our responsibility."
Sam nodded.
Dean leaned forward and rested his head in his hands. "I'm tired, Sam."
Sam knew Dean didn't just mean because they'd gotten very little sleep over the last few days. He was tired of the lifestyle; tired of losing people that meant something to him. Sam wished there was more he could do for his brother than take him to the estate and put him to bed. He stood up and held out a hand. "Come on, man. Let's go find a couple of beds."
Dean looked at him for a moment, his eyes showing the fear and despair he was feeling, before accepting the help up. They walked around the house to the car, their shoulders almost touching. Sam drove to the estate and parked near the back door. They carried their duffle bags inside and chose a room at random. Most of the six bedrooms had two double beds in them and, even though they each could have had a room of their own, they were used to being together. Besides, Dean needed to be close to Sam. He needed to feel his presence and know that there was at least one person in the world he cared about who was still alive.
When Sam came back from the bathroom, Dean was stretched out on top of the covers of the bed closest to the door. Ever since he could remember, Dean had slept near the door of whatever room they were in. If anything was going to attack in the night, it was going to have to go through him to get to his brother. Sam stood just inside the bedroom, watching Dean, not quite sure if he was awake.
He quietly moved forward and slipped Dean's shoes from his feet. If he was awake, he gave no indication. Sam then managed to get Dean out of his jacket and tossed it over a chair in the corner. He pulled the comforter from his bed and covered Dean, then sat down across from him. Eventually he crawled under the sheets of his own bed and fell asleep.
oooOOOooo
"Hey." Sam said as he walked into the kitchen in the morning. He'd only gotten four hours of sleep and it looked like Dean got a lot less. He was sitting at the kitchen table, his hands wrapped around a cup of coffee.
"Hey." Dean didn't look up.
Sam poured a cup of coffee and sat across from him. "You should still be asleep."
"You too."
Sam nodded and smiled.
"I want to get to the hospital; talk to Kristine." Dean said. "Visiting hours don't start for another hour, not that I normally care about the rules, but the MRI is scheduled for this morning. I want to be in her room when they bring her back."
"I'll go with you." Sam said, a little surprised when Dean didn't resist. "I'll take a quick shower."
"Sam?"
He stopped in the doorway.
"Thanks. For yesterday; for last night." Dean looked at him, feeling a little uncomfortable.
There were a lot of things Sam could say, but he kept it simple. "You're welcome."
TBC
