It had taken far less time than Sam had expected to enrol for the '15th Annual Dance Extravaganza'. Dean had managed to dredge up the necessary amount of charm to get himself on the list, despite not having a dance partner. The woman they had spoken to – who looked as if she'd volunteer for the job in a heartbeat – had said they had an unexpected opening as one of the male dancers had fallen down some stairs and broken his ankle. Dean was due to meet his new partner and start learning the required routines later that day.

The walk back from the arena had been as stonily silent as the walk there. Sam didn't dare say anything, knowing he was on decidedly shaky ground with Dean in such a foul mood. And however amusing he found the whole situation – and he was only human after all – he did have some sense of self-preservation and wouldn't dream of giving Dean any hint whatsoever of that.

Back in the motel room Dean decided to give the Impala a good going over to work out some of his frustration, and Sam wisely left him to it. Sitting back on one of the beds Sam put on the TV and after some flicking managed to find a half decent wildlife documentary.

When Dean finally came back in, leaving behind a gleaming car, Sam looked up and couldn't help grinning.

"What?" said Dean with a frown, daring Sam to make some comment about the impending embarrassment he was facing.

"Nothing. I was just watching this documentary about lions. Did you know they hunt Impalas? They're small deer." said Sam, looking far too innocent.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Of course I know they're small deer, Sam. I'm not an idiot."

Sam shrugged. "I never said you were. It just got me thinking – if an Impala is a small deer you know what that makes your car right?"

Dean fixed him with a glare. "Sam.." he began, but Sam was in full flow now.

"Bambi. Your car is Bambi, Dean."

Dean raised one eyebrow. "Dude, you call my car Bambi again you're gonna be picking rock salt outta your ass – we clear?"

Sam chuckled. "Whatever man. I'm just saying that's all."

"Yeah, well you can quit saying unless you wanna spend the rest of your life walking everywhere."

Sam just grinned at Dean, who shook his head and stomped into the bathroom muttering about pain in the ass little brothers with no respect for classic American engineering. Sam knew he shouldn't really goad his brother when he was in a bad mood already, but it had been too good an opportunity to miss. And besides, it gave Dean something else to be irritated about and might just take his mind off the competition for five minutes.

When he came out of the bathroom a few moments later, still shooting Sam evil looks, Dean didn't appear to be in a better mood at all. Sam sighed. He had to do something about this before his brother met his new dance partner, otherwise it could possibly be the most short lived partnership in history. Knowing that the 'touchy feely' approach would most likely just leave him picking his teeth up off the floor, Sam decided instead to appeal to Dean's hunter instincts.

"So, you wanna go through what we've got so far on these deaths?" he said. Dean grunted as he dropped back onto the other bed and Sam took that as a 'yes'.

"Ok, so the first one was 5 years ago. No sign of any weird stuff going on before then, even though the competition started 10 years before that. First death was not that unusual – one of the male competitors was crossing the road outside the dance hall and got hit by a car. Next year there was another death, male again, this time the guy hung himself in the men's room just before the final. He didn't leave a note but everyone assumed it was just the pressure getting to him. Apparently he and his partner were the odds on favourites. Year after that it was an electrocution – one of the dancers switched the light on in the men's room and it shorted out. He was standing in a puddle of water at the time, so he didn't stand a chance."

Even as Sam said that part he glanced up at Dean, with a look that was a combination of concern and fear. Dean rolled his eyes. Even after all this time Sam still got twitchy about the thought of electrocution, especially when there was water involved. It wasn't like it didn't give Dean pause for thought too, it hadn't exactly been a happy experience for him, but as far as he was concerned it was over and done with. Raising his eyebrows at Sam, he was rewarded with a slight blush appearing on Sam's cheeks as he cleared his throat a little self consciously and continued.

"So, uh, the final one was last year. Again the guy was expected to win it, but this time he fell down the stairs and broke his neck. His partner, who was with him at the time, swore she saw something push him but the police just put it down to shock. There was only the two of them up there so they couldn't explain it. It certainly seems to fit a pattern though – every guy that was killed was doing really well in the competition and it certainly seems a hell of a coincidence it happened every year without fail. In fact, I read an article in the local paper that said entries were actually a lot fewer now as some people have been put off by the 'bad luck' the competition's been having."

Dean looked thoughtful. "Well, I guess all of those 'accidents' could easily have been caused by a spirit, especially that last one. I don't suppose the last victim's partner has entered again this year has she?"

Sam flicked through the list of competitors they'd downloaded from the website and shook his head.

"No, doesn't look like it. But then can you blame her? Must have been pretty gruesome to watch."

Dean sighed. "Yeah, I guess. And there's still nothing about any weird goings on before the first one? And no other deaths around that time?"

Sam shook his head again. "No, nothing. They just seemed to start out of nowhere. They have been consistent the last 5 years though, so it's definitely no coincidence."

Dean shrugged. "Guess we'll just have to see if I can get any info from the other competitors. I'll try and do a sweep of the place with the EMF too, see if it picks anything up. All the deaths have either been in or in front of the dance hall, so lets hope whatever it is is linked to the building itself. Hey, maybe I'll get lucky and it'll come after me itself." he said with a smirk.

Sam frowned. That thought hadn't occurred to him till now, but Dean was right. It did target the male dancers and although there was probably no danger of Dean ending up favourite to win it was still an uncomfortable thought.

Dean caught Sam's frown and threw a pillow at him.

"Hey!" said Sam indignantly, throwing it back. Dean caught it with ease and pointed at Sam with his other hand.

"Don't even start getting all pouty on me, Sammy. If this thing does go after me it'll be a good thing – makes our job easier for a start."

"Oh yeah, I'll be busy being thrilled at how easy it is as I step over your corpse." said Sam dryly.

Dean sighed. "Don't be melodramatic, Samantha. I have dealt with spirits before you know, I'm hardly incapable."

"I never said you were, I just don't like it when there's a chance what we're hunting might come after you that's all." said Sam and Dean gave a slightly sad smile.

"Welcome to my world." he said softly, and Sam knew instantly he was referring to the Yellow Eyed Demon.

He swallowed, wanting to offer some sort of comfort, but Dean was already moving on as if he hadn't spoken.

"Look, it's probably just some pissed off spirit who thought they should have won the thing in the past. We'll find out who it is, do our thing and be on our way before there's even a hint of someone coming at me with spandex or lycra. I'm serious, Sam – anyone comes near me with a sequin and there will be murder being done."

Sam chuckled despite his lingering concern about the danger to Dean.

"Nice, Dean. I could have done without that mental image, thanks." he said disgustedly and Dean just smirked at him, knowing he'd managed to put off the inevitable 'being careful' speech that was sure to come at some point. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate Sam's concern for his safety, but his brother really did worry far too much.

Glancing at his watch Dean saw it was almost time for him to meet his new dance partner. He felt his stomach flutter with nerves and he wished once again there was another way to do this. He really wasn't looking forward to it.

Conscious of Sam watching him he adopted a nonchalant air and got up, grabbing his jacket from the chair.

"You want me to come with you?" said Sam, feeling bad that Dean was having to do this when he was clearly nervous about it. Well, clearly if you knew him as well as Sam did.

"Yeah sure, cos I wanna arrive looking like I need my hand held. I'm 26 dude, not 6." said Dean and Sam shook his head.

"A simple no would have done, Dean." he said and Dean rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna walk – I don't know how long this thing is gonna take, so if you get food just get some for me too would you?" he said, grabbing the motel key on his way to the door.

"Ok. Be careful alright?" Sam was unable to stop himself saying.

Dean looked at him and saw the genuine concern on Sam's face so instead of the sarcastic answer that was on his lips he just said. "Sure. I'll call you if I need anything."

Sam nodded, not completely satisfied, and Dean left the room. Sam got up and watched him from the window. He always felt uneasy when they split up on a job. It usually lead to disaster. Putting aside the sense of foreboding, Sam pulled out their laptop. Least he could do was try and find out some more information.

Glancing at the window once more, and praying that for once nothing bad would come from their being apart, Sam turned his attention to the computer.

Author's note: So credit for the whole 'Impala as Bambi' sequence has to go to my Dad! He knows how much I love that car and insists on winding me up by referring to her as Bambi, so I figured I may as well use it! Plus he'll be thrilled to see it 'in print' as it were! ;)

Next one will be along soon...