Battle Weary.

Chapter Five.

The woman looked over at the man slumped in the passenger seat of her Chevy Bel Air. She'd found him stumbling along the side of the road and, at first, had thought him falling-down drunk …until she'd seen the blood dripping from his fingertips. Normally she wouldn't stop for someone, especially someone she knew would bleed over her beloved car, but when she'd driven slowly past him and seen the look in his eyes, she'd sighed, stopped the car and got out. She'd edged carefully towards him, her hand at the small of her back…just in case. She was no idiot, she knew what these backwater towns were like, she'd been travelling them for too damn long.

He'd looked at her, pain etched clearly in his eyes and said 'My brother…' before falling to his knees. She'd gone to his side and he'd turned his head to her, told her he was in no state to hurt her, but he needed her help, his brother needed his. She'd sighed again, put a hand underneath his arm and lifted him back to his feet, helping him over to her car. She opened the door and sat him down, swung his legs in, shut the door and raced around to the driver's seat. She'd heard the urgency in his voice, she remembered it in her own long ago. He'd muttered an address before collapsing unconscious.

She looked at the cut down his face, it was nasty. She opened the glove-box, pulled out a small towel and put it to his head, the blood held it in place. She opened his jacket, shit, he didn't need his brother he needed a damn doctor. But she understood the need for family. She pushed her foot to the floor, the Chevy leaping forward, roaring towards what could only be another complication on her trip to find her own brother.

Sam paced the porch of the cabin, constantly checking his watch. It didn't matter what Gus said, there was NO way he was leaving his brother. NO. WAY. If Dean didn't come back, he'd go looking for him. He wouldn't stop until he found him and if that meant going against his brother's wishes, he laughed, his orders, then so fucking be it.

He looked at the photo again. Shit. What the fuck had Dean done? Whatever it had been, it had done some damage. He could clearly see the bulk of a bandage around Dean's left shoulder, the stitches down the side of his face. He wondered what else he couldn't see.

He heard the door creak open behind him, he refused to turn around.

"It's time to go, Sam"

Sam shook his head "Five more minutes, Gus."

"I've already given you three 'five more minutes' Sam" he put his hand on the boys shoulder "It's time to go, son. You read what Dean wrote. Get your ass out of here and don't look back"

"I'm not leaving. Not without Dean. He'll be here. I know it. We just have to wait"

"Sam…."

Sam shook his head again "I'd know if he was dead" he finally turned to Gus "I'd know it"

Gus sighed "Five more minutes and then I'm dragging your ass to that car and if you so much as turn it around I will shoot you myself" and he turned and went back into the cabin.

Sam waited.

The woman turned her car onto the property. Shit! If she got so much as one scratch on it, there would be hell to pay. She eased the car over the bumps, wincing every time she heard the undercarriage scrape along the ground. She studied the area around her. Whoever lived here didn't want visitor's and they'd designed this track to ensure visibility was kept to a minimum. Interesting. She slowly manoeuvred her car round the last bend in the tree-line and saw a dilapidated cabin with two men on the porch. One was holding a shotgun the other had a pistol in each hand. Well this was some welcoming party. She stopped the car, put the handbrake on, opened the door slowly and got out, her hands clearly visible.

"THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY! GET THE FUCK OFF!" yelled the older man.

She rested her arms on the door of her car and yelled back "Yeah?! Well I got a delivery for you! About 6ft 4, dirty-blonde hair, green eyes and covered in a shitload of blood! You want?!"

She saw the younger man leap over the porch railing, putting his pistols at the small of his back as he sprinted towards her. She got into the car and drove slowly towards him. She was about twenty-feet from the cabin when he yanked the door open and caught her passenger as he fell.

"DEAN!"

Well he had a name now "Put him back in the car, I'll take him to the steps. He can't exactly walk and I don't think running back with him would do him any good"

The man pushed him back in, sitting down and pulling his brother into his lap "Drive!"

She saluted "Yes, sir"

She pulled up as close as she could to the porch steps and the older man, she assumed it was their father, opened the door and helped the man take 'Dean' from the car and carry him into the cabin. She turned off the engine and looked at the mess that was her front seat. Crap, blood was a bitch to get out of leather. She got out and looked around; she saw a bucket lying off to the side, grabbed it, found a tap, filled the bucket and took it back to her car. She opened the trunk, took out what she needed and went to clean the upholstery, pissed that she'd been delayed even longer.

She heard the door to the cabin slam open and looked up just in time to see the younger man grab her and yank her away from the car.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

She tried to push him off her, but he held tight to her t-shirt. She reached up, landing a short, sharp punch to his chin. "BACK OFF, ARSEHOLE! I DIDN'T DO SHIT TO YOUR BROTHER!"

They stared at each other. She could see him breathing heavily, rage emanating from every pore as his fists opened and closed.

"Calm down and fucking listen! I saw him stumbling down the side of the road. I wasn't gonna stop but…" she shrugged "He told me had to get back to his brother. I'm guessing that's you. So instead of being out here bitching at me, why don't you go back and spend some quality time with him! I'm no expert, but he didn't look too good."

She turned her back on him and returned to her car to finish her cleaning. She knew he was staring at her trying to figure out who the fuck she was. "Go. Let me alone and I'll be out of your hair soon enough"

She heard him leave, slamming the door behind him. Arsehole. She thought to herself.

Dean lay on the bed as Gus tended to his injuries. He'd seen the mark on his top left of his chest and if the boy hadn't been unconscious, he'd have beaten him senseless for it. Fucking idiot! He should have realised Dean would do whatever it took to keep Sam alive. But this? Now more than ever they needed to win.

He'd dressed the wound and was stitching Dean's face when Sam came back in. "So Sam, you endear yourself to her?"

Sam rubbed at his chin "She's a bitch"

Gus laughed "A bitch that probably just saved your brothers life"

"How bad is he?"

"Well he ain't good, Sam. He's lot a lot of blood."

"We have to take him to a hospital…"

Gus sighed "You know we can't" he looked "You and he the same blood type?"

Sam shook his head "No. Dean's AB-, there's not many people out there that have that blood type. Please tell me you do"

"Sorry, Sam"

They heard a car door slam and they both looked towards the window.

The woman turned when she heard the door to the cabin open. She put her hand to the gun at her back as the two men walked towards her.

"Easy now. Sam here's come to apologise"

Sam looked incredulously at Gus and Gus stared hard at him, motioning his head towards her. Sam sighed and turned back to her "Sorry"

"Gee, stop would you. The sincerity of it's embarrassing me" she went to the trunk of her car, threw her stuff into it and slammed it shut. She went to the drivers door "Tell you brother I hope he feels better" she opened the door.

Sam stepped forward "Wait!"

"Sorry. I'm on my way somewhere, already behind schedule. It's been…..interesting"

Sam took another step towards her "Please…"

She looked into his eyes "Aaah, Jesus. What?" She watched as he opened and closed his mouth "Well?"

The older man stepped forward "At least have a beer with us. One beer won't hurt and if you're already behind schedule…. " he smiled at her "Take it as a …peace offering" She studied them, something was up, no doubt about it…. but she did need to use the bathroom.

"One beer" she grabbed her jacket and followed them into the cabin.

She sat at the kitchen table, making sure she had a clear run to the door if she needed. Her brother would seriously kick her arse if he knew that not only had she picked up a stranger, she'd gone into the remote cabin of strangers. She sipped at her beer, watching them as they watched her.

"Sooooo, you have a name?" asked Sam.

"Yep"

He waited "Well are you going to tell us?"

"Are you gonna tell me yours?"

"I'm Gus Jackson, this is Sam Winchester. The one you picked up is Dean Winchester"

So, the older guy wasn't the brothers' father. "Jay"

Gus smiled at her "Jay, where did you find Dean?"

"Walking down the road about twenty miles south of that crappy town"

"He was walking?" asked Gus incredulously.

"If you could call it that" she sipped at her beer.

"You normally pick up strangers?" asked Sam

"Yeah, all the time. I like to live on the edge. I was hoping he'd be some kind of serial killer. Guess I lucked out"

Sam glared at her "Australian?"

Jay glared back "The accent give me away did it?" She looked at Gus "Got yourself a boy genius there"

Gus tried not to smile "How long have you been in the States?"

She shrugged "A while"

"Not many people travel the back roads of small towns with guns" she shrugged and sipped at her beer again "So I'm guessing you're not on some driving holiday, checking out our beautiful country"

Jay finished her beer "If you could point me to the bathroom, I'll be on my way"

Gus pointed to a door off the lounge, she stood and walked warily over to it. She went in and locked it behind her.

Gus reached over and went through her jacket. Nothing. "Check the car" Sam got up quickly and went outside.

When she came out they were sitting at the table and there was another beer in front of where she'd been sitting. She walked over and grabbed her jacket "Sorry, boys. Gotta hit the road. Thanks for the beer" she looked at Sam "I hope Dean's alright. He was worried about you"

Sam looked up from his seat at her "I need your help"

"I'm sorry. I really have to go" she turned away, heading towards the front door.

"My brother needs your help"

She turned back "Your brother needs more than my help. He needs the help of a doctor, you should take him there"

"We can't"

She stared at Sam "Why not?" she paused and held up a hand "Actually, I don't want to know the answer to that. I'm sorry, I can't help your brother" she turned and headed to the door.

"You can. You're the only one here that can"

She put her hand on the door and turned back to them. Sam stood "He needs a blood transfusion"

"Like I said, take him to a doctor"

"He won't make it" Sam walked towards her "You're AB-, just like him"

"How…." She glared at him "You went through my stuff? You BASTARD!"

"I need your help….please…."

"You think I'm gonna help you after you went through my gear? You're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were!"

"Don't do it for me, do it for my brother"

"I don't owe you or your brother shit!"

"Please…." He walked over and opened the door to Dean's room "Look at him"

She knew she shouldn't look into the room but her curiosity always got the better of her. Her brother always said it would be the death of her…of him, but she looked anyway. She saw Dean lying on the bed, scarily pale, his breathing laboured. She looked back at Sam, his eyes pleading with her. Fuck.

"Please….he's my brother"

The brother card, just what she needed. "Oh for fuck's sake, alright! Stop it with the puppy-dog eyes" she looked at Gus "You know how to do this?" he nodded "Then do it quickly, I've got my own shit to deal with"

She sat in a chair near Dean's bed, her feet resting on the side table as she went through the journal she'd grabbed from the car, scribbling notes into it, as her blood ran into Dean. Sam sat on the other side of his brother, his gaze going between Dean and Jay. He looked at her, she was tall for a chick, shoulder length, dark curly hair, green eyes and seriously fit.

"I just want to say…"

"Don't talk to me" she didn't look up from the book.

Gus came in "Should only be about fifteen more minutes Jay" she nodded distractedly "Sam, I need to talk to you"

Sam got up and followed Gus to the kitchen "What is it?" He handed the photo to Sam. Sam finally looked up at him "So what does that mean?"

"I think it means, she has to stay"

Sam shook his head "No way"

"This isn't optional, Sam. It's her car we're leaning against now"

To be continued...