And we're moving forward.

Thanks to all your lovely feedback on the previous chapter! I love playing with the idea that Dean's brotherly instincts are still there even though he doesn't remember Sam. What I get from this is a mixture of awkwardness and protectiveness that's really fun to write. On to our next chapter now.

Chapter 10

Tristan was not having a good night. He had been dozing on the couch when his home had been literally invaded. Dark Spiro was there, with Gemma and Matilda, and he meant business. Tristan was lucky his wife was away on a business trip. He had promised her he had stopped dabbling in occult stuff, stopped "throwing their money on nonsense", as she put it – except it hadn't been nonsense this time, had it? This time, it had worked, and that was much, much worse than all the times he had been swindled or got his hands on something that he did not know how to use.

He had not really known what to do with the wish stone, either. He had made a lousy wish based on paranoia and overprotectiveness. He wanted Matilda safe and happy. Not a lot of people knew Matilda's former home situation – not even Matilda herself. Tristan had always known, though, and he had vowed to keep the girl safe. The wish stone was supposed to make it easier for him to keep that vow. It had never been Tristan's intention to create a monster from one of Matilda's favorite fantasy books.

Deep down, Tristan was not really surprised Dark Spiro was there. He had always sensed there would be a reckoning between his unintentional spawn and him. But he had expected the reckoning to involve only him. Not Gemma and certainly not Matilda.

"You want me to what?" he asked indignantly.

Dark Spiro blinked at him impassively.

"Choose," he repeated.

"Between Gemma and Matilda?" Tristan clarified. "Between my two daughters?"

The situation was absurd. But it was real and that was what terrified him the most.

"Between the child you sired and the child you took in," Dark Spiro said. "You will choose which of them lives and which of them dies."

"Ridiculous!" Tristan exclaimed. "You don't get to do that."

Dark Spiro did not even blink.

"And yet, here I am. Asking you to choose. One of your daughters will die today. It is up to you to determine which."

Tristan's attention turned to his two girls. Gemma had that look on her face, the defiant, heavy glance that had always irritated Tristan. He could not bear to see it now. He knew what Gemma was thinking. She was clearly trying to convey that she would never forgive him if he chose her over Matilda. Gemma would never want Matilda to be sacrificed for her sake. Or for anyone's sake, really.

Matilda, on the other hand, looked terrified and at the same time guilty for being terrified. She was fifteen, Tristan remembered. Fifteen and most definitely afraid to die – and most definitely did not want to die, although she most certainly did not want Gemma sacrificed for her sake, either.

Tristan could not believe it. He had made the wish in order to protect Matilda – from heartache, from the traumas of her past, from all the things children needed protecting in that day and age. And, instead, the manifestation of his wish was only causing his daughter further grief.

"You can't kill Matilda," he told Dark Spiro, feigning confidence. "You were created to protect her."

He saw no flicker of confusion on Dark Spiro's face.

"Death is the ultimate protection," Dark Spiro replied calmly.

Matilda was barely holding back her tears now. Enough of this, Tristan said to himself. He was not going to sit and watch as that monster terrorized his children.

"You want me to choose? Fine, I'll give you my choice."

"Dad, don't you dare," Gemma warned him.

Tristan ignored Gemma. It hurt that she would think he would be capable of sacrificing Matilda just because she was the adopted one, but that was something he could not fix now. Or at all, considering what he was going to do.

"I'm making my choice," he said, as he stood in front of the monster he himself had helped create. "I'll choose who you get to kill. But it will be neither of my daughters. It will be me."

The air seemed to crackle. Dark Spiro was looking at him impassively, but Tristan thought he could detect a glimmer of confusion in the cat-like eyes. This was not something that Dark Spiro had expected. Of course, Tristan mused, he was probably wrong. Maybe it was wishful thinking, and his wishes lately had turned on him.

Still, Dark Spiro was hesitating and his focus was on him, and not the girls. That was all Tristan wanted.

"Gemma, take your sister and get the hell out of here," he said through clenched teeth.

"Dad…"

Gemma's hesitation and worry were all for him, for once. Well, Tristan thought, it was not a bad thing, dying for your children – and knowing your children had cared enough about you not to want you to do it.

"Just get out of here, the both of you," he said through clenched teeth. "For once, don't argue, Gemma."

He turned to face his doom. He hoped Gemma was seeing sense and getting herself and Mattie out of there. Neither of them needed to see this.

xxxXXXxxx

Sam burst through the door of Tristan's house, gun in hand. He had loaded it with iron rounds, knowing from Dean it seemed to give Dark Spiro a hard time. Dark Spiro turned to him and his eyes widened.

"You should not be here."

"Well tough," Sam said, gun steady. "I am. Now why don't you let them go and pick on someone your own size?"

Dark Spiro was actually much taller than Sam, which was saying something. Still, Sam was not going to let a supernatural entity intimidate him. What was the worst thing it would do anyway? he thought with a wry sense of humor he had learned from Dean. Kill him?

Ellen was suddenly behind him, gun also trained on Spiro.

"Nice one trying to do this without me, Sam," she drawled.

Sam had indeed not waited for her signal and burst into the house long before her. But what could he do? He had seen through the window that Tristan was about to sacrifice himself to save his daughters. He knew from experience sacrificing your life for your loved ones was not as noble as people made it out. It caused those left behind no end of trauma and misery.

"Now how about you talk to us?" Sam told Spiro.

Dean and Jo should be coming through the back any minute now. Dark Spiro could not attack all of them at once, and odds were he would go for the ones with the guns trained on him. That was going to leave Dean and Jo time enough to get the girls out – and hopefully their father too.

Dark Spiro was looking at Sam as if he was trying to figure him out. Sam wavered. Perhaps he had misunderstood what Dark Spiro had been trying to say when he had told Sam he should not have been there.

"I see death all over you," Spiro said. "I smell it. You are the one who died."

Sam froze. He felt his hand trembling and took a deep breath to pull himself together.

"You're tainted, you know," Dark Spiro went on. "You've got darkness in your veins."

The demon blood, Sam thought. Dark Spiro knew about the demon blood he had been fed as a baby. If Dean came now and overheard that bit of conversation, there was no knowing what he would do. Especially now that he did not remember Sam. Without the memories, would he see Sam as being any different from Dark Spiro?

A loud crack nearly deafened him. Ellen had shot at Spiro, who staggered backwards.

"That should teach you to mouth off," she said, her eyes smoldering with fury.

If this was protectiveness over him, Sam was both touched and mortified. He was not sure he deserved it.

Contrary to their expectations, Dark Spiro did not disappear this time. His face had paled and there was blood on his chest. But he remained where he was.

"What the…?" Ellen gasped. "It should have worked! It worked before!"

Sam was no longer listening to her. Dean and Jo had arrived and they were both shepherding the dazed family out of the room. Sam shot at Spiro again, more to distract him than out of any hope that this time it would work. Dark Spiro had reached him now. His hand closed around Sam's throat.

"What if I sent you back?" Dark Spiro whispered. "You want to go back, don't you? You want to return to the peacefulness of not knowing – of not feeling."

Sam could not breathe. He could not move. He dropped the gun. But he knew that, if he had any air left, he would be tempted to tell Spiro to go ahead and do it, to give him back what Dean had unknowingly taken. Maybe to even reverse Dean's bad decision that his brother still insisted on clinging to even without his memories of Sam.

It was getting dark. There were cries and shouts all around him. The only thing Sam regretted was that this time, he would not get to feel Dean holding him as he died. See? He would have wanted to say. It was still better the first time around.

Then there was another crash, and Spiro released him with a cry. Sam fell to his knees, coughing. He felt Ellen close to him, heard her worried voice, and he wanted to block her out. In situations like these, there was only one person that he wanted close to him.

Then Dean was there, panicked voice calling to Sam, hands trembling as he checked him over.

"Sam?" he asked. "Sammy, can you hear me?"

It's funny, Sam thought in a distant corner of his mind that still retained a tenuous hold on consciousness. He sounds almost like himself again.

xxxXXXxxx

Dean should have known from the start that the plan would go sideways. He had told Sam, after all, that the plan sucked, and even though Ellen would be there to keep Sam in line and make sure he didn't turn martyr on them, there were still too many risks for Dean's liking. He had accepted the plan though, because Tristan and his daughters were inside, and Dean would never leave civilians in the line of fire. Besides, if Sam and Ellen were quick, they could pump Dark Spiro full of iron rounds before the bastard saw them coming.

What Dean had most certainly not expected was for the iron rounds not to work anymore. He would have to check with Sam about the Dark Spiro in Dietrich's books. Did he somehow have the power to adapt and build up defenses when he discovered something he was vulnerable to? Not that Dean was thinking that far when he finally arrived with Jo through the back door to find Sam and Dark Spiro engaged in a confrontation that Sam was very much losing.

The good thing was that Dark Spiro was not focused on his original targets anymore. The bad news was that now he was hyperfocused on Sam. And Sam, for reasons Dean could not understand, seemed a bit off his game.

"Take care of the family," Dean told Jo through clenched teeth. "Get them out of here. Now!"

He ignored Jo's smirk and her muttered: I knew you wouldn't actually need to remember. Now that Tristan and the girls were safe in Jo's hands, he could finally focus on Dark Spiro. And Sam.

The monster had his hands around Sam's throat and was choking the life out of him. Sam had dropped his gun and was becoming too weakened and out of breath to struggle. A surge of fury the likes of Dean never thought he would know took hold of him. His mind almost went blank with it. The overwhelming rage was frightening, yet at some level Dean knew what it was. This, he thought was how his bond with Sam usually felt.

Dean aimed his own gun and shot at Dark Spiro at the same time Ellen did. The monster shuddered and let go of Sam. He lurched and turned to Dean.

"You," he hissed. "The damned man."

Dean tried not to flinch at the way Dark Spiro addressed him.

"I have your sword, pal," he taunted. "Want it back?"

Sam had crashed to his knees and Ellen was with him. Dean only needed to keep Dark Spiro's attention fixed on him and him alone.

"You don't know what you have taken," Dark Spiro told him. "You don't know what it can do."

Dean smirked.

"Yeah, I've heard you're a bit impotent without it."

He was pushing it, but it was working. Dark Spiro took another step towards him.

"Let's you and me make a deal," Dean said.

Bad idea, Dean, don't be stupid. It was funny how the voice in his head sounded a lot like Sam. Still, this was their end plan, wasn't it? They had to lure Dark Spiro to fight Dean tomorrow night somehow. Why not make it interesting?

"A deal," Dark Spiro repeated.

Dean nodded fervently.

"I'm big on deals. I don't know if you've got the memo in the monster newsletter just yet."

"You damned yourself through a deal. I smell hell after you."

Dean tried not to show how much the words affected him.

"Yeah, well I smell something rotten, too, but I think it's you."

"The deal you were proposing?"

Dean took a deep breath.

"You and I are going to have a little duel tomorrow night. If you win, you get the sword."

"And Matilda," Dark Spiro insisted. "I get the sword and Matilda."

Over my dead body, Dean thought, but still nodded.

"Fine, you get Matilda, too. This gives new meaning to the term helicopter parenting, but whatever."

Dark Spiro bowed his head.

"It is decided then."

Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Hold on a second. What if I win?"

Dark Spiro looked as if he was not even considering that option. Dean snorted. That was doing wonders for his self-esteem, he thought wryly.

"If I win," he said. "Assuming I don't kill you, you get to leave. You never bother Matilda again. And I keep the sword."

"So be it," Dark Spiro replied flatly.

Dean's eyes narrowed. The answer had been too quick.

"Really? Just like that? You won't try to double cross me?"

"A deal is a deal and cannot be broken," Dark Spiro said, looking pointedly at him. "After all, you are the damned man. You would know."

Dark Spiro walked out of the house and Dean was finally allowed to focus on Sam. He all but sprinted towards him.

XXXxxxXXX

By the time Dean got to Sam and Ellen, Sam was almost unconscious.

"Where's Dark Spiro?" Ellen asked.

"Not here," Dean said tersely. "What happened to him?"

Ellen shook her head.

"The iron rounds weren't working. And then…"

She stopped abruptly. Then, Dean figured, something had happened that Dean would have known about if he could remember some of the things Sam was obviously hiding from him.

That did not matter, though. What mattered was that Sam did not look good and the worry gripping Dean's throat was almost a painful sensation. He reached out, not quite daring to touch Sam. What if he hurt him? How did he usually do this anyway? How did he handle his little brother being hurt?

"Sam," he asked. "Sammy, can you hear me?"

Sam's unfocused eyes darted to him, but Dean was sure he could not see much, considering how he looked. Then Sam smiled slightly, which really freaked Dean out.

"Sam?" he said uncertainly. "Dude, this better not be your I'm going into the light smile, you know I'll drag your ass right back."

Sam had his eyes closed, though. Dean reached out to shake him, but had no idea what Dark Spiro had done to him and was afraid that him touching might make things worse.

Dean did not like the heavy concern that was choking him, making thinking difficult. He did not even know Sam, after all. But something in him knew his brother. Something in him responded to the sight of Sam in danger in ways he could not even begin to describe.

"Hang in there, Sammy," he said, determination to get his brother to safety sweeping over him. "We'll get you to safety. We'll…I'll watch out for you."

xxxXXXxxx

Since Dark Spiro had been temporarily taken care of, and since it was clear Dean and the other hunters had saved Tristan and his daughters, Tristan offered to call for an ambulance himself.

"I could say we were having you over," he offered. "That you are family friends here for the festival, and we were mugged…"

He sounded sheepish, probably because he was the one who had caused the mess in the first place, something both Dean and Gemma had reminded him of repeatedly.

"You seem pretty used to this," Ellen commented.

"The lying thing?" Matilda could not help asking.

Tristan flinched.

"I meant the figuring out cover stories," Ellen went on. "For strange events. You weren't a hunter, were you?"

Tristan snorted.

"Of course not."

Ellen's eyes narrowed, but she left it at that.

Dean was only half listening to them. He was ready to accept Tristan's offer for an ambulance, when Sam stirred and groaned. Dean quickly put a hand on his chest to keep him still.

"Hey, don't move, Sammy," he urged his brother. "Just stay still until we figure out what's working and what isn't."

Sam frowned and opened his eyes.

"Dean?" he croaked.

There was something in his voice, as if he was asking for more than his brother's name. Dean found himself suddenly at a loss.

"Uhh…yeah?"

The question must not have been to Sam's satisfaction. His face fell.

"You're still not you," he muttered.

Dean had a sinking suspicion Sam was only admitting this only because he had just woken up and did not know what planet he was on right then.

"I'm still me," he snapped. "I just can't remember who you are."

Sam looked at him as if Dean had just made his point for him.

"How are you feeling, Sam?" Ellen asked. "Do you think you need a hospital?"

At the mention of a hospital, Sam sat up so abruptly, he knocked Dean's hand off his chest.

"What? Of course I don't need a hospital."

"Sam, you were out," Dean reminded him. "That's generally not good."

Sam waved that aside.

"Not the worst that's happened to me, is it?" he snapped.

Again with the dying part, Dean thought. He and Sam really needed to clear the air on that one.

"So what happened?" Sam asked, his eyes roaming over Dean and Ellen and then shifting to Jo who sat with Tristan and his daughters. "What did I miss? Where's Spiro?"

Dean shrugged.

"I got him to leave."

Sam's attention immediately turned back to him.

"Dean, what did you do?"

Sam knew him too well, Dean thought ruefully, which was ironic given the circumstances. And he was going to pissed at Dean when he discovered his brother had made yet another deal.

This chapter was really fun. We're slowly drawing to a close. Maybe about two chapters left. Till next time :)