Battle Weary.

Chapter Six.

Jay sat in the chair next to Dean's bed, scribbling in her brother's journal, going over the clues he'd left her. She looked over, Dean was still pale but his breathing was a little better. What the hell had happened to him? Oh no…she chided herself, don't start wondering or you'll end up doing something you shouldn't, which inevitably meant something stupid. She was incredibly self-aware, well she'd had no choice in the matter, her brother had told her every opportunity he had. God, she missed him.

She turned the book to the back and took out the photo of the two of them. They were sitting on his car, smiling, beers in hand and he had a sword across his back. She sighed as she took that trip down memory lane again.

She'd come to the States to visit him for a few weeks and had been on her way home when one of his friends had called saying he'd found Zeke's car...but no Zeke. She remembered seeing the burnt-out shell of his Camaro and knowing he'd never leave it. The police knew nothing of course, and there wasn't a hell of a lot they could do, what with there being no body and all. They'd told her to go home to her family, they'd notify her when they had more information. She'd nodded dutifully and left. She had no other family, just Zeke. It had only ever been the two of them and now he was missing. She knew he wasn't dead. Knew it. She didn't know how, she just did. And when his journal had arrived at his friends place with directives to pass it to her…well, that had sealed it. That had been two years ago.

And now, here she was, a freakin' needle in her arm, giving blood to someone she didn't know when she should be out looking for him. She put the photo away and went back to reading.

She looked up when Sam walked in and went back to her reading. She didn't like him. She felt sorry for him, sure…and she understood his worry. But he'd gone through herthings! Her things. She was a fiercely private person, growing up in an orphanage made you guard everything that belonged to you zealously. There was no privacy there. And this one had taken it upon himself to rifle through her belongings. She settled the anger she felt building, picked up her pen and started to write.

"That your diary?" asked Sam, trying to make some peace with her.

Jay looked at him "Yeah. I'm writing down my inner-most thoughts about you. You wanna read them? Or are you just happy going through my things?"

Sam sighed "Look, I'm sorry okay? I just needed to help my brother. I figured if you were here…." he trailed off.

"If I were here, what? That I'd be happy to have you go through my gear and then say, yeah sure, why the hell not give my blood to a complete stranger who just bled all over my car"

Sam quelled his anger "I'm just trying to say thank you"

"You're welcome" and she went back to writing.

Gus walked in "Alright, Jay. We should be done now"

She closed the journal as Gus came round to her. He removed the needle from her arm, putting a plaster on it before repeating the process with Dean. She took her feet from the side table and stood, grabbing at the arm of the chair as her head swam.

Gus grabbed her arm "Whoa, take it easy. Sam, take her to the kitchen and get her something to eat"

She shook her head, ohhh, not a good move that "No, I'm fine. I have to get going" she shrugged out of Gus' grip and took a step. The journal dropped from her hands and when she bent to pick it up, she fell on her face, out cold.

Gus looked at Sam and laughed softly "Well, that wasn't exactly how I planned it, but it'll do. Pick her up and put her on the bed"

Sam did as he was told then turned to Gus "Do you have any idea how pissed she's gonna be when she wakes?"

Gus smiled "Pissed" he reached into the pocket of her jeans and removed the car keys "But she's not going anywhere"

Gus checked Dean over "He's better" he grinned "but he would be considering the amount of blood she gave him"

"Jesus, you didn't kill her did you?" asked Sam in all seriousness.

Gus laughed out loud "No Sam, just knocked her out for a few hours. Now grab that book and let's find out who the hell she is and how she fits into all of this"

They were sitting at the table an hour later, drinking beer and going over Jay's …or rather her brother's journal. They'd found the photo of the two of them at the back of the journal and the striking similarity between that photo and their photo was a little disconcerting. Hell, it had freaked Sam out.

Sam picked up his beer and sipped "So they're hunters"

Gus shook his head "Not her. Him. She's got nothing in her car that she'd need if she were. She's just looking for her brother"

Gus looked at the 'Missing Person' flyer he'd found. Name: Ezekial 'Zeke' Thomas. Age 27 (at time of disappearance). Vital Stats. Height: 6ft 5. Hair: Short/Black/Curly. Eyes: Green. Identifying marks: Appendectomy scar. Circular scar on top left side of chest. That had peeked Gus' interest.

"So what exactly are we gonna say to her when she wakes? Sorry we sucked a whole lot of blood out of you, but we needed you here because……?" asked Sam

Gus shrugged "We'll just show her the photo and take if from there. That plus the journal…"

Sam grimaced "Yeah, the journal. Great. You do know that if she finds out I read it, she's gonna beat the shit outta me"

Gus laughed.

"Don't laugh, dude. I'm serious. That chick hates me."

Dean's eyes fluttered open slowly. He took in the wooden ceiling, the dark curtains left slightly apart allowing only a small amount of daylight into the room, his and Sam's duffel bags…. and the woman asleep on the other bed. That stopped him. He turned his head painfully to his left, she seemed familiar…he just couldn't place her. He could hear Sam and Gus' voices coming from the other room. He smiled, he'd made it back. Back to his brother. He turned his head quickly back, which hurt like a sonofabitch, the woman from the car. What the hell was she doing here? And why was she asleep on Sam's bed?

He lifted a hand to his face and felt the stitches. Great. A scar. He smiled, chicks loved scars. He put a hand to the wound on his chest, it had been bandaged which meant Sam and Gus had seen it. He was pretty sure Sam wouldn't know what it meant. Gus on the other hand… And what was that woman still doing here? He pushed himself up, his head swam a little and he shook it in attempt to clear it…ohhh, not a good move that. He swung his legs out of bed, grabbed his jeans, slipped them on and slowly walked out of the room to face the music…casting one last glance back at the woman.

Sam and Gus looked up as Dean closed the door quietly behind him. Sam smiled a huge grin at his brother and went to his side.

"You alright, dude?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine." replied Dean.

Gus looked suspiciously at him "You sure?"

Dean nodded and winced with the movement "Yeah. But why is there a woman asleep on Sam's bed? I mean, if she were naked and in my bed, I'd understand it…but this?" he grinned half-heartedly.

Sam looked at Gus "He's fine" he deadpanned.

Dean took a seat opposite Gus and grabbed Sam's beer and sipped, he wasn't going to bring up the mark "So why is she still here? I mean send her on her way…the less people here the better right?"

"It's not that simple, Dean" said Gus.

"Yeah, it is. Thanks for the ride. On your way" he looked at Sam and smiled "Unless…."

"Aaah, yeah. She's a real catch" he shook his head "No, dude" and he pointed to Dean's arm.

Dean looked and finally noticed the plaster on the crook of his arm. He peeled it off and finally looked up at Gus "How bad?"

"Bad" said Sam "What the hell were you doing, Dean?! You go off on your own and then leave some stupid goddamn note saying if you're not back by 8am, then I had to run. Go, and never look back?! What the fuck is that?! I'm your brother! You don't do shit like that!"

"Easy, Sam. I was just setting up the Challenge is all. Wasn't sure if it was going to go according to plan, so I was just covering our bases. And it's organised for tomorrow at six. I thought dusk would give it a certain ambience" he smiled.

"Bullshit! It was more than that and you know it! Gus won't say anything but that mark on your chest freaked him out. What the fuck did you do, huh? Tell me!"

"Sam, keep it down. We don't want Jay to wake just yet" said Gus.

Dean looked at Gus, a confused expression on his face "Aaah, why wouldn't you want her to wake? We don't want her here while this goes down. And again, why is she still here?"

Sam sighed "Because we figured she was meant to be here and we knew she wouldn't stay …so ….we ….I mean, Gus, made her give you enough blood to ….make her pass out"

Dean stared at Gus "You did WHAT?"

"Dude, just listen…" started Sam.

Dean shook his head "No" he was pissed "Do you know how many cars just drove past me? Do you? She was the only one that stopped and then you go and drain her like a couple of freakin' vampires! How's that for a thank you!"

"Dean, you'd lost a heap of blood, we couldn't take you to hospital! You know that! So she …helped"

"Voluntarily?" he saw Sam and Gus glance at each other "Jesus, what did you two do?"

"We…just went through her stuff and found her blood type, it matched yours, which is a more than a co-incidence don't you think?" Dean just stared at Sam "Well she did agree to the blood transfusion"

"Just not to the amount huh?" they shook their heads "This is fucking wonderful!" he stood up and sat back down and grabbed his head "My head…."

"Well let me mess with it a little more, Dean" and Gus pushed the photo of the three of them towards him. Dean picked it up and studied it "What the hell? Whose car is that?"

"Hers" replied Sam.

"Just because her car…"

"Stop it, Dean" said Gus "There's more" he passed Dean the photo of Jay and her brother and the missing person's flyer. Dean looked at the photo then read the flyer "Anything about that identifying scar sound familiar?"

Dean could hear the anger in Gus' voice "Where did you get these?"

"From her…or rather her brother's journal" replied Gus.

Dean's gaze went between Sam and Gus "Soooo, you went through her stuff, drained her to the point of unconsciousness and now you're reading her journal. Niiiice. Yeah, she's really gonna want to hang around after this"

"You're avoiding the question, Dean" said Gus. Dean just stared at him, refusing to answer "Tell your brother what the mark means" Dean just stared "Tell him"

"Yeah, tell me Dean. Cause I'm guessing if Gus here's pissed then I'm gonna be pissed as well"

Dean wouldn't say a word.

"Alright then, I'll tell him" Gus turned to Sam "You're not fighting, Sam. Dean is. Alone."

"WHAT?" yelled Sam.

"You heard me. Seems your brother here made a deal. He fights them alone. If he wins then everything's sweet"

Sam glared at Dean and said through gritted teeth "And if he doesn't?"

"Then instead of them coming after you…Dean goes with them" finished Gus.

Sam stared at Dean, shock and anger fighting for a place on his features "You traded your SOUL?"

Gus nodded "His soul for your life"

Sam jumped from his chair, his mind in turmoil "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?"

"I had to, Sammy" whispered Dean.

"Bullshit!" he laughed hollowly "And what happens if you LOSE, Dean? Huh? How am I supposed to live with that? You ever think about that? Did you?" Dean refused to lift his gaze from the table "DID YOU? ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION!!"

"I think another question that needs to be answered is why does Ezekial have the same mark as Dean" said Gus in an attempt to ease the tension in the room.

'YOU BASTARDS!!"

They turned quickly, Jay was standing in the doorway, the rage coming off her in waves as she saw her journal open on the table in front of them.

"I'm gonna kill each and every one of you!"

To be continued...