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Chapter 5:

Sam slammed the laptop closed, not even caring if the jarring force broke it. Not a damn thing. Not one damn new thing could he find to help them. It was the same story over and over. Witches, evil, mind games, and fire. And only one way to destroy them. And Sam was pretty sure they weren't going to be able to pull it off without a serious fight. He looked at the clock again, and still only an hour had passed. It felt like forever. Once again he tried to wake his brother, but Dean remained dead to the world. Laying peacefully and breathing even, just as if he were enjoying a good nights sleep.

Sam sighed. What the hell was with their life lately? He could remember back to being kids, traveling and hunting with their Dad. There had always been tight spots, injuries, moments of failure, and plenty of just all around bad times. But it didn't seem like back then, the entire world was out to destroy the Winchesters. Not like now. Weather it was supernatural or human, something was always throwing everything it had at them. Sam wasn't sure how much more they could take. Even if they never got the so called normal life Sam used to want, he sure as hell wished they could go back to the normal they used to have.

As Sam looked on, his brother finally began to stir. Dean took a deep breath, and his brows furrowed together. He began to move. Sam was immediately at his side. "Dean? Come one wake up." Sam said it with a slightly harsh tone, but his brother just didn't respond well to fluffy softness.

Dean's left hand came up and rubbed his forehead. "Man, did you get the number of the truck that hit me?" he asked, then opened his eyes, wincing against the soft light from the lamp.

Sam couldn't help it, he laughed. "Yeah, well, just be happy you're not extra crispy right now."

Dean smirked and pushed himself to an upright position. "That was like walking into a freakin' brick wall. What the hell happened?"

"Why don't you tell me. And wait a minute, did you just mean that you walked into those flames? You weren't pushed?"

Dean pursed his lips. Damn, he slipped again. "Uh...not really...maybe."

Sam's eyes widened and he cocked his head to the side. "And what may I ask possessed you to voluntarily walk into a raging inferno?"

"It wasn't an inferno Sammy. I was trying to get to you."

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Of course. Because that was logical. You were on the side with the door out Dean. You didn't think about maybe leaving the room and finding something to put the fire out with!"

Dean was silent for a minute, his eyes looking down to the worn comforter of the bed. "Huh...that never crossed my mind."

"Whatever." Sam sighed. "You okay now?"

"Just a headache." Dean replied. "How bout you?"

"I've been sitting here for the last hour watching you take a nap and researching. What do you think?" Before Dean could answer he smiled and said, "just a headache."

Dean glanced over at the clock. It was just after three in the morning. "Think they're done for the night?"

"Probably." Sam replied.

Dean nodded. "All right. You get some sleep. We'll get ready tomorrow, and tomorrow night, it's war."

Sam was about to argue with Dean, but the need for sleep was over powering him. "You sure you're okay?"

"Sleep Sam. Now."

"Yeah yeah." Sam mumbled. He thought for sure after Dean turned off the light and settled into his own bed that he would have trouble sleeping. He didn't even remember when his eyes closed.

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The day passed quickly. They always did when something was going down. Dean always hated that. Whenever he had nothing to do or was waiting on something good, it took forever to get there. Whenever he needed the time to prepare for something big or bad it just flew right out the window. And to top it all off, his head was still pounding. He had downed a handful of aspirin, and it wasn't even putting a dent in it. Not to mention Sam's incesscent talking and reminders of how to do the incantation. What was he five? He'd been speaking Latin and doing spells before Sam could wipe his own butt.

Finally, he broke. "Enough Sam! I know what we need to do! You can skip the lesson professor."

Sam sat back and glared at Dean. "I'm making sure we're prepared. These things are going to hit us hard Dean. They aren't going to give us much time to draw the symbols and recite the spell. Not to mention they're probably going to try to play mind games with us. So excuse the hell outta me if I'm making sure all the loose ends are tied!"

"Get your underwear outta of a twist Samantha." Dean snapped and reached up to rub his pounding head.

Immediately Sam felt guilty. "Are you okay?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm hungry. Let's grab a bite. And say we head over in about two hours?"

Sam bit the inside of his cheek, holding back the words he would like to say. Like, damn your stubborn, or maybe we should wait. Instead he said, "Fine."

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They pulled up to the house a little after two pm. With the west coast winter upon them it would be dark a little after five pm. They had a lot to do in the next three hours. Dean was simply happy his head had died down to a dull throb, instead of a sharp pounding. He pulled the keys from the ignition and headed out to the trunk. Sam followed suit.

Silently they loaded themselves to the hilt with weapons. They stashed a gun, knife, holy water, and salt where ever their bodies and clothing would hold it. The sun was high in the sky but the air was chilled, and Sam felt like the cold was going through to his bones. He lifted his head and stared at the house. A cold chill ran through him and he suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of wrong. The little voice in the back of his head was telling him that something was going to go wrong. Something was going to happen to one of them. He didn't know who, but it usually ended up to be Dean, and he couldn't see this time being different.

Dean saw Sam shiver and watched him as his brother gazed at the house. He thought about making a snide comment about Sam and not being able to handle the cold, but the look on his brother's face stopped that quickly. "What's wrong?"

"What? Uh...nothing...I'm not sure." Sam stammered.

"Spidey sense tingling?" Dean half joked. He still wasn't totally comfortable with his brothers powers or his uncanny ability to know when something was wrong. But he didn't doubt it.

"Something just doesn't feel right man. I'm getting the feeling this isn't a good idea."

Dean paused for a minute, letting his gaze settle over the house too. "Look, it's daylight. They don't seem as pissy during the day. Let's just get the symbols drawn and get it over with. We can't leave them here. They'll just hurt more people."

"I know. Just promise me Dean. Promise me you won't do something stupid. Don't try to be a hero tonight." Sam implored, giving Dean his classic baby brother pleading face.

"Ah Sammy. When do I ever do something stupid? Don't answer that." He walked up to Sam and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go do what we do best. The rest will work itself out."

Sam nodded and fell into step next to Dean. And though he knew it would piss his brother off, he couldn't help but ask, for both of their sakes, "You remember what to draw right?"

But Dean didn't rise to the occasion. Instead, he was in a very serious mode and simply answered, "I got it Sam. I promise."

Sam opened the door quickly and they made their way inside. As Sam turned to make his way further into the house he stopped when he saw Dean hadn't moved away from the front door. With his foot, Dean grabbed a chair that was close and put it between the door and the frame, keeping the door from closing completely.

"Doesn't hurt to be prepared. Not like we haven't been locked in places before." He laughed slightly.

"Don't remind me." Sam responded.

"Okay. A symbol in each room right?"

Sam nodded. "But the three most important ones in the upstairs hallway. That's where they're strongest cause that's where they ended up burning."

"Okay, you start down here and I'll head upstairs. Come up when you're done." Dean said.

Sam stopped cold, "What? I really don't think we should split up Dean." he said, his voice low and warning.

"Dude, I know you got a bad vibe. But Sam, we don't have a lot of time here. We need to get this done as fast as possible. We just both be real careful and we'll be together when we do the final step. You know I'm right."

"Let me guess, cause your older? Don't answer that. Fine, let's just be quick huh."

"You know where I'll be" Dean said and headed up the stairs.

Sam quickly dug the chalk out of his pocket and set to work. He didn't want to be split from his brother any longer than necessary. He started in the kitchen. Finding a nice flat surface on the wall he began drawing the symbol he had memorized. As he drew he felt the temperature of the room drop. The hair on his neck stood up and goose bumps formed on his arms. Shit. Couldn't they hold off just a little longer? He started drawing faster. When he was satisfied with the symbol on the kitchen wall he headed to the living room. Quickly he removed a large mirror from the wall and started in. His hand was moving as fast as it could, but he didn't think it was going to be fast enough. He could feel the change in the atmosphere of the room. "Not now." he muttered to himself.

"Sam"

Sam spun around at the call of his name. The room was empty. Without hesitation he turned back to the job, his hand moving even faster now. Damn, it wasn't even dark yet.

"Sam"

This time Sam stopped cold, a shiver coursing through his body. He knew that voice. A soft "no" escaped his lips. He stood statue still, not even breathing. "Please not this." he muttered.

"Sam, I've missed you."

Slowly, with his arms dropping to his sides, Sam turned around. His eyes widened at the sight before his eyes. "No." he whispered.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

Sam shook his head. "You aren't real." But his eyes were already tearing up. He tried to tell himself this wasn't real, but already his mind was forgetting everything else but the beautiful woman in front of him. "Jessica." he whispered her name. He felt a tear slide down his cheek.

Jessica walked slowly towards him, wearing that beautiful white nightgown he loved so much to see her in. "Hello my love. It's been so long." She came to a stop right in front of Sam. In almost slow motion she reached up and caressed his cheek lovingly. "Sam"

"Please." Sam begged, but still found himself leaning into her touch. "You aren't real." he whispered, even as his eyes closed, and he inhaled, smelling the familiar scent of his lover.

"I'm as real as you want me to be Sam. I can be real if you just let me. We could be together again."

Sam's mind was reeling. His emotions were threatening to overwhelm him. As much as he knew this wasn't real, as much as it couldn't be, his heart was aching. He was dying to reach out and grab a hold of Jessica. To feel her body against his again. He forced his eyes open. She smiled at him and started to lean in for a kiss. Before he could react her lips were on his. The world around him melted away. It felt so familiar, so real. The kiss ended too soon.

"Don't you want to be together again Sam?"

"Of course I do, but this isn't real."

"All you have to do is one thing. And we can be together again."

Sam knew he shouldn't, but he asked anyway. "What?"

Jessica smiled. "Just let go Sam. Let go of your brother when they come for him, let go of yourself. Then you'll be with me."

Sam closed his eyes as he listened to her voice. He couldn't fight it. All he could see in his mind were memories. He was falling into her. Then suddenly he caught himself. His eyes shot open and his mind finally registered what she had just said. "What!" He backed up quickly, drawing the salt out of his pocket. "Get away from me. You aren't her!" And even though he knew it wasn't really his Jessica, his heart still broke when he threw the salt. She screamed, giving him a pleading look, before dissipating into nothing.

A choked sob escaped Sam as he fell to his knees. "It wasn't her." he whispered to himself over and over.

"It could have been Sam" a distant voice whispered.

-TBC-