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Hunted

Chapter six

"Dean?" Sam saw his brother stop suddenly and could tell something was wrong.

"I tripped a wire Sam."

Sam slowly got up and stood on one leg as he tried to keep his other foot off the ground. Any pressure on his knee caused him pain.

"Don't move." He called over to his brother.

"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere."

Sam hopped over to Dean then followed the wire till he found what it was attached to.

"How bad is it?" Dean asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Sam asked as he tried to think of some way to disarm the trap.

"Yeah Sam I want to know…Is it bad….or is it really, really bad?"

"I'd say it's just bad."

"Oh good….What is it?"

"A crossbow."

"Oh."

Sam looked around the area then picked up a large piece of bark that was lying on the ground. He then moved over and stood in front of Dean and held the bark in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked.

"Go ahead and trip the wire."

"What?"

"Trip the wire."

"Are you nuts? If it's a crossbow the arrow could go right through that!"

"It's all we got."

"Give it to me….I'll hold it." Dean reached for the piece of bark.

"I got it ….just trip the wire." Sam pulled it away.

"Sam….."

"Go ahead Dean do it."

Dean knew if the bark didn't stop the arrow it would hit Sam and there was no way he was going to let that happen.

"Give me the bark Sam….I'm the one that screwed up…I'll take the hit."

"Damn it Dean just trip the damn wire!" Sam, who was still standing on one foot, was starting to lose his balance and he knew if he fell Dean would be hit by the arrow.

Dean knew he had no choice. Sam was in front of him and if he lost his balance and fell onto the wire the crossbow would go off and the arrow might hit his brother. At least now his brother had the protection of the bark in front of him but would it be enough to stop the arrow?

"Ready?" Dean asked.

"Yeah….hurry…" Sam was starting to get wobbly.

Dean held his breath as he moved his foot tripping the wire. He could hear the whoosh of the arrow as it flew through the leaves and toward them then heard a thud as it hit the bark. He watched in horror as his brother gave a little grunt of pain as he dropped the bark and fell forward.

"Sam? Sammy!"

Dean dropped to his brother's side. If Sam was hurt because of him he'd never forgive himself. Why hadn't he been more careful? He knew there were traps all around, but his one moment of carelessness might have hurt his brother, or even killed him. What if the arrow went completely through the bark and was now embedded in Sam? What if it had pierced his heart? He swallowed hard as he looked at the piece of bark which now was split in two.

"Sammy?" Dean put his hand on Sam's shoulder and gently turned him over.

TBC