CHAPTER FIVE: I JUST WANTED TO SAVE YOU

Dean had just stepped out of the shower, his body steaming as the cool air hit his hot flesh. Quickly, he grabbed the towel that he had placed on the back of the toilet, wrapping it around his hips and tying a loose knot to keep it in place. He walked over to the mirror, wiping away the fog that had formed on the surface. Looking at his reflection, he sighed, thinking of what was going to come to him in just a few short months. Could Jaimie really keep Lilith from dragging him to the pit? He didn't know; however, each day that came and went, ticking down to his death, he wished she could.

However, he had to hide his worries, his doubts. His fears. There was no way he was going to let Sam see how scared he actually was. He was the big brother; fearless in his baby brother's eyes. But who wouldn't be afraid to go to Hell? Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to stop thinking about his unfortunate fate. Slowly, taking a deep breath, he opened them.

Suddenly, he saw someone in the mirror standing behind him; a woman. He turned, trying to get a better look at the new arrival, only she was gone. Confused, he shook his head, thinking it was only his imagination playing tricks on him. Yeah right. How often does that happen? Great. Now he had a ghost on his tail. Perfect.

He wrapped his hand around the knot he had tied in the towel and walked out of the bathroom, his body still holding droplets of water from his shower. Looking around the motel, he noticed Sam wasn't in the room. "Where's Sam?" he asked Jaimie.

"He went out to get breakfast. Said he needed to get out of the room for a while," Jaimie explained. She was trying not look at Dean, dripping wet and sexy as usual. Unfortunately, it was harder than she thought it would be. Suddenly, she noticed he wasn't acting like himself. "Dean, is everything okay?"

He stopped rummaging through his duffel for clothes, thrown off by the question. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" he lied.

"I don't know. You just, seem different. Like, you're not acting like yourself."

"I'm really tired, is all." He continued his movements to find clothes, pulling out his boxers. There really was no need for anymore clothes, seeing as how he planned on taking a nap until Sam came home. Smirking, Dean pulled at his towel, releasing the knot and let it drop to the floor.

Jaimie quickly tore her gaze away from Dean, her face reddening. "Thanks for the warning, Dean."

His smile broadened. "I figured you would have looked away when you saw me pulling the knot out. I didn't know you were going to keep staring at me."

"Pfft. I wasn't staring. I was merely looking. Making sure you were okay. That's why I'm here, after all."

"Sure you were." Dean stepped into his boxers, crawling into the bed once they were on. "You can look, now. I'm under the covers." He lay back, his head connecting with the soft, fluffy pillow.

Jaimie looked back at Dean. He still looked...different. Paler than usual. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." He rolled onto his side, pulling the blanket over his head. "Now can I please go to sleep."

"Okay. Sleep tight."

"Yeah. Wake me up when Sammy gets home."

"I will." She smiled at Dean when she heard his steady breathing, signaling that he had fallen asleep. "Wow, that was fast."

Sam sat at the diner, waiting for the waitress to get his order ready. Restlessly, he glanced at his watch, noticing he had been there for over thirty minutes. Unconsciously, he began to shake his leg and tap his fingers on the counter.

"Wow," came a voice behind him, causing him to jump. "someone looks bored."

Sam turned to see Ruby. "Ruby, you scared me."

"Hiya, Sam."

"What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you." Sam waited for her to continue as she took a seat beside him. "It's Lilith, Sam...she wants you."

"What?"

"She's put a price on your head, Sam. You need to be more careful."

"I am being careful."

"Right. So then I guess you already know that the guy over there in the corner booth is one of her minions." Sam allowed his gaze to tick over to the man Ruby was referring to. "Don't look at him! I don't think he's noticed you're here yet. But we need to leave."

Finally, the waitress came over with Sam's order. "Here you go, Sugar. Do you need anything else?"

"Uh, no, thank you," Sam answered, grabbing his bag and darting out of the diner. He looked back at the door, thankful he had gotten out unnoticed.

"Sam, listen to me," Ruby ordered. "I helped your friend Bobby out by fixing the colt. It works on demons, now. Go to his place and get it." Sam shook his head, walking to the Impala. "And Sam, please be careful."

Sam smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Ruby."

Giving Sam one last smile, Ruby turned and walked down the street. In return, Sam walked to the Impala, climbing in and driving off in the direction of the motel. He needed to tell Dean what was happening so they could figure it out together.

Dean moaned in his sleep, seeing Jake thrust the knife into Sam's back. Saw his brother fall to his knees. Dean ran to Sam, trying to save him. In a flash, he was in the arms of the crossroads demon, kissing the hell out of her. Suddenly, Sam was shooting Jake and Azazel's words rang through Dean's mind. 'How certain are you that what you brought back, is 100% pure Sam?'

"Dean!" Jaimie yelled, jerking him from his nightmare.

"What? I'm up," he said sleepily, sitting up.

"You told me to wake you up when Sam got here. Well, he's here."

Dean blinked a few more times to get the sleepy feeling he had out of his head. Finally, he stood, searching for a pair of clean jeans. He found a pair and managed to pull them on before Sam walked in the door.

Sam tossed the bag of food on the table and went straight to Dean. "Dean, we have a problem."

Dean, concerned by Sam's tone and the expression, put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"It's Lilith, Dean. She has a price out on my head. And her minions are out looking for me."

Dean sighed, rolling his eyes. "Dammit!" He walked back over to the bed, grabbing his duffel and started packing. "Come on, Sam. Start packing. We leave here tonight."

Sam didn't move. "No, Dean, listen to me." Dean looked at Sam, his expression hard. "If we stay here, Lilith might show up."

"And? Sam, explain to me how that would be a good thing."

"Dean, if Lilith comes here, we can stop her."

"Stop her? Sam, we can't kill Lilith. She is too strong. You and I both know that."

"Dean's right, Sam," Jaimie intercepted. "Lilith is out of yours and Dean's league. We need to leave."

"Wait!" Sam yelled. "We could at least try."

"Try?!" Dean countered. "Sam, we have no weapons! Nothing that can kill a demon! Now, we're leaving this town. End of discussion."

"No, Dean. We--"

"End of discussion, Sam!" Dean yelled, walking over to Sam. "What would make you think for one second I would go with this plan, Sam? It's suicide!"

Sam dropped his gaze, knowing he had lost the argument. "I don't know, Dean. It's just, Ruby told me that she helped Bobby fix the colt. I just thought we could go get it and use it on Lilith."

Dean took a breath, calming down, knowing he had upset Sam. "Sam, we can get the colt, but why would you want to kill yourself fighting Lilith?"

Sam shook his head. "I just thought that..." he started. He looked up at Dean again. "...that if Lilith was dead it would mean that I could save you."

Dean released his hold on Sam. What was he supposed to say to that? He turned back to his duffel. "Just, get packed, Sam. We're out of here."

Without another word, Sam walked over to the bed that he had slept on and copied Dean's actions. He hung his head, knowing that he should have never suggested staying and fighting. Now, Dean was mad at him, and he knew it.

The ride to the next town was tense and quiet. Jaimie felt odd sitting in the back seat when the boys were in an argument. By the time Dean pulled into the parking lot of the next motel they were staying at, Jaimie all but jumped out of the car while it was still moving. She watched as the boys exchanged glances when they thought the other wasn't looking. It was kind of cute, actually.

Sam broke away from the pack to get a room, while Dean leaned against the side of his car, arms crossed over his chest, looking at the sky. Jaimie walked around the car and leaned against it beside Dean, matching his stance.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"The stars," he replied.

Jaimie nodded. "I see." After a long moment of silence, Jaimie looked back over at Dean. "He's just trying to help, you know?"

"I know."

"You shouldn't be mad at him. Look at this situation from his perspective. For just a minute." Dean finally looked over at her, his eyes telling her to continue. "In a little over two months, you're going to be gone. In Hell. And Sam's going to be all alone. Here. So if he has a chance to kill Lilith and end this all right now, don't you think he'd want to take it?" When Dean didn't answer, Jaimie moved her head so she could look into his eyes. "If it were the other way around, wouldn't you?"

Dean sighed. "Yeah, but...it's different with Sam."

"How?"

"Because Sam's supposed to be the level-headed one. I'm the reckless brother that goes into things half-cocked and crazy. Sam's the one who tries to talk me out of it. But lately, he's been acting more like--"

"You?"

Dean looked at Jaimie again. "Yeah. And that scares me."

Before Jaimie could say anything else, Sam walked over. Hesitantly, he grabbed his duffel, handing Dean the key. They walked into the room, still not speaking. Sam wished he and Dean would patch this up, but he wasn't going to be the one to try and fix it. He had been the one to break it; Dean had to fix it.