Author's Note: Lyrics are from "Going to a Town" by Rufus Wainwright.

Chapter Three

Dean knew he was dreaming. He had had hundreds of dreams like this one since Liz had died.

He was in a bar, and she was there sitting on the stage with a small smile playing on her lips. As he watched, she came alive, standing to sing to music that appeared from nowhere.

"I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm going to a place that has already been disgraced
I'm gonna see some folks who have already been let down…"

Dean was entranced by her as he often was in these dreams. She continued to sing, and he continued to watch. She walked to the edge of the stage and sat down, legs dangling over the edge as she sang to Dean.

"Oh, I may just never see you again or might as well…"

Dean tried to stop the dream in his mind but could not. Liz stopped singing and watched him with an enigmatic smile.

"I miss you, Dean," she told him. It was the first time in a long time that she had spoken to him in one of his dreams, and he reveled in it. "I miss you so much. Don't worry, though. I'll see you again soon."

She stood and turned to walk away.

"NO!" Dean called desperately. "Stay!"

Liz turned back around patiently. "I can't," she answered sadly. She hopped off the stage and walked over to Dean.

He grabbed her into a tight hug, which she returned. She pulled back but did not break the embrace.

"It's been so long since I've gotten to be in America. I can't wait to be home." She kissed him chastely on the cheek. "See you soon. I promise."

With that, she vanished. Dean looked around the room frantically, but she was nowhere to be found.

He sat back down in his chair and willed himself to wake up.

Just like that, he did. He opened his eyes and automatically knew he was in a hospital. A disinfectant smell hung in the air, and the walls were too white. He belatedly became aware of the tubes coming out of his nose. Lastly, he realized that he had some unwelcome visitors.

Jason was in the corner of the room watching him with a very unhappy look on his face while Maggie was by his bed watching him with an expression that, though she was smiling, was not particularly friendly.

Dean struggled to sit up, and Maggie pushed him back down. Dean could not decide if she was able to so easily hold him down because he was weak or because she was surprisingly strong. Whatever the reason, he could not sit up while her arm was on his chest pushing against him.

Maggie sighed impatiently. "If we meant you harm, Dean, we would have already done it," she pointed out. "Now, it took me quite a bit of time and effort to patch you up, so I would appreciate you not undoing all of my hard work by doing too much too soon."

Dean quit struggling but did not look happy about it. He glared over Maggie's shoulder at Jason.

Maggie laughed. "You really needn't worry about him, Dean," she informed him. "He's the reason that you are alive right now."

She reached out and tapped Dean's temple with her middle finger. "Rest now," she commanded.

Dean's eyes closed, and he immediately lost consciousness. Maggie watched him fall asleep and turned to Jason angrily.

"I hope you know what it is that you are doing," she told him. "Tom is not going to be pleased with this turn of events."

Jason gave her a deadly look. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. Why don't you let me worry about Tom?" he snapped.

Maggie was not intimidated in the least. "Such insolence from someone I could snap in half like a twig," she told him scornfully. "I will not take the blame for this," she promised, indicating Dean with a flourish of her arm. "Tom's been trying to kill the boy for the last five years, and when he finally managed to, you swoop in like the big hero and save him. There will be hell to pay for this."

Jason smirked. "We'll see about that," he said cryptically.

Maggie sized him up with a calculating look. "You know, saving Dean won't bring Liz back."

Jason's smirk widened. "We'll see about that, too," he said. He headed for the door before Maggie could question him, motioning for her to follow him.

"Let's go, Maggie. I imagine the rest of the Scooby gang will be here momentarily."

Maggie cocked her head as she tried to figure Jason out. "Sam is down the hall," she told him. "You can go taunt him if you want. I'm sure he's nice and vulnerable right about now."

Jason shrugged. "Maybe I will," he replied. "Wait for me in the car."

XXX

Sam hated hospitals at least as much as Dean did. He hated their smell and the too white walls. He hated the hushed tones everyone used and the horrible lighting. And now he was once again waiting alone in one to find out if his brother was going to live. He had called Bobby and Lauren, but their flights would not be in for a couple of hours. Jo and Ellen were coming with Bobby, and Bobby was supposed to get in touch with Sandy's relatives and friends to let them know what was happening.

Sam was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he never saw Jason come into the waiting room. He sat beside Sam, careful not to touch him.

"You look like you could use a friend," Jason observed in a neutral tone.

It took Sam a minute to reign in his anger. "What are you doing here?" he asked through clenched teeth.

Jason held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "This wasn't my idea, okay, and I would appreciate if you didn't tell anyone that you saw me, especially not Lauren."

"What does Lauren have to do with anything?" Sam demanded.

Jason looked agitated. "Nothing. Just…forget I said anything."

Sam looked deadly. "Stay away from Lauren," he bit out.

Jason gave him a sympathetic look. "You should watch yourself around her. She's bad news."

Sam clenched and unclenched his hands. "You don't know anything about Lauren. Don't say another word about her. Is that why you're here? To gloat that Dean is hurt and try to come between me and Lauren? You can go to hell, Jason. Leave now before I make you leave."

Jason rolled his eyes at the threat. "I'm not here to gloat, Sam. I'm sorry about Dean. I got a call from someone who thought you shouldn't have to be alone during all this, and I came."

"Someone? 'The girl who called me' someone? Who was she?"

"She called you?" Jason asked in surprise. "You didn't recognize her?"

Sam looked confused. "Recognize who? I'm positive that I've never heard that voice before in my life."

Jason nodded thoughtfully. "I see. I thought you might have met her. She works with Bobby."

"How do you know that?"

Jason could not keep the mocking tone out of his voice. "I know lots of things you don't," he replied. He shook his head in wonder. "Bobby is going to be so pissed. I can't believe that after all that effort she did something like this. She is going to catch some hell for this."

Sam was getting annoyed. "Who is this 'she,' and what does she have to do with Bobby?"

Jason was smug as he responded. "I can't tell you. You'll have to figure it out for yourself. It's too bad that you won't."

"I won't, huh? My job is to find things that don't want to be found. I think I can find a girl."

Jason shrugged. "If you say so. A word of advice, though: I'd get crackin' if I were you. She's better at hiding than you are at finding things, and she has a head start."

Sam rolled his eyes. "What is she, some kind of spy?"

Jason laughed. "She's more efficient than a spy," he replied enigmatically.

Sam looked confused. "And she works with Bobby?"

Jason looked chagrined. "And I promised you wouldn't find out anything from me. The problem with that is that over the last few years, I've actually started to kind of like you and your brother, so I'm hoping that you prove me wrong and find her. If you do, tell her I said hi. Oh, and do me a favor: don't ask for anyone but Dean's help on this. Not Bobby's. Especially not Lauren's," he requested. He got up and stretched. "I promised I wouldn't leave you alone, but I think you're okay. I'll stay if you want, though."

Sam scoffed. "I don't need you to hold my hand," he insisted.

Jason laughed. "Take care of yourself, Sam. Try to keep Dean from doing anything else stupid. I'm sure I'll see you again after this, but if not, give Dean my regards. Don't worry; he'll be fine. I have a feeling it'll take more than this to kill him."

Sam grabbed Jason's arm as he started to walk away. "Why can't I tell Lauren about this?" he asked.

Jason looked away guiltily. "I just think you should be careful who you trust with this information," he replied. He knocked Sam's hand off of his arm and headed down the hall.

XXX

"How's he doing?" Jo asked, hurrying up to Sam and pulling him into a hug.

Sam looked haggard. "I'm not sure," he replied, frustration seeping out of him. "The last report I got, there had been some unusual activity and they were trying to figure out what had happened. He came out of surgery several hours ago and has been stabilized. They haven't let me back to see him yet, and I can't get anyone to tell me what's going on."

"What about Sandy?" Bobby asked.

Sam shook his head sadly. "They don't think she's gonna make it," Sam informed him. "I'm so sorry, Bobby. She's in room 143 if you want to go see her. I've been in and out."

"I'll be in there if you need me," Bobby replied and started down the hall.

"Wait!" Sam called after him. He jogged to catch up. "There's something I have to do right now. Can you call me if anything changes?"

Bobby looked concerned. "Don't do anything stupid, Sam. Whatever is in that house is obviously stronger than we thought. We'll take care of it but not right now while you're not thinking straight."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid," Sam promised. "I just need to clear my head."

Bobby looked unconvinced. "Okay, go. I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Thank you," Sam said, grabbing his coat and heading for the door.

"You're leaving?" Jo asked in angry disbelief.

"I'll be back," he told her distractedly, never breaking his stride.

Jo rounded on Bobby. "Where the hell does Sam think he's going?"

"You'd have to ask him that," Bobby answered dispassionately. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a hunter to go say goodbye to."

XXX

"Russia? I don't know anyone in Russia and this girl was definitely American."

"I don't know what to tell you, sir. The call came from Russia."

"Can you give me any other information?" Sam asked. "A name perhaps? That call saved my brother's life."

"I wish I could, sir, but I can't release that information."

"That's okay. Thanks for your help."

Sam hung up with the operator and tried to think if there was anyone he knew in Russia. He started to call Bobby but thought better of it.

He glanced at the time and started when he realized how late it had gotten. It was time to head back to the hospital. Everything else would have to wait.

It was still cold in Detroit, but spring was starting to rear its head. Sam was oblivious to the signs of life budding around him as he drove to the hospital to wait and hope for his brother to once again cheat death.

When he reached the hospital, Sam discovered that Sandy had died while he was gone. He wanted to say something comforting to the large group of family that had invaded the waiting room, but he couldn't think of anything. 'She died fighting a noble death' seemed hollow. If there was one thing that Sam had learned, it was that there was no such thing as a noble death. When the dust settled, you were still dead, and the bad thing wasn't.

"Sam, are you okay?" Bobby asked. He leaned up against the wall next to Sam then took a deep breath and let it out.

Sam blinked back tears. "I'm okay. How's Sandy's family doing?"

Bobby cleared his throat. "Not so hot," he said. "They didn't know that Sandy was a hunter. They thought she was in Detroit working on her master's."

Sam swallowed down his tears. "She should have never been there with us, Bobby," he said. "We knew that she was inexperienced, and we let her come anyway. This is all my fault."

"It's not your fault, Sam. Dean is probably the most experienced hunter I've got, and he was taken down by whatever's in that house. We all thought it was just a simple case of a ghost gone bad. If anyone's gonna take the blame for this, it's gonna be me. I'm the one that assigned this case to Sandy."

"It's neither one of our faults," Sam admitted. "I know that. It's just hard when someone dies so unnecessarily."

"You're right, it is. We've gotta keep going, though."

Sam nodded. "Has there been any change with Dean?"

Bobby shook his head. "He's stable, but he still hasn't woken up. It looks like he's out of the woods, though."

"Are they letting anyone see him?"

"They haven't, but I bet they'd let you."

XXX

The tubes and monitors emphasized how fragile Dean looked lying on the hospital bed. Sam pulled a chair up beside him and sat down.

"You know, Dean, it seems like we've been in this position too many times," he told Dean's unconscious form. He tried to fight the tears that came to his eyes, but they fell anyway. "I'm sorry, Dean. I'm sorry for a lot of things."

"Sam," a voice from the hall said. Sam turned toward it. There was an attractive, slender blonde in the hall watching him.

"Lauren! I'm so glad you're here." He walked to her and pulled her into a hug.

"He'll be okay, Sam," Lauren reassured him. She rubbed his back in comforting circles. "What have the doctors told you?"

Sam pulled back so he could see Lauren's face. "Not a lot. He's stable, and they are basically just waiting for him to wake up."

Lauren looked Dean over. "What'd they do with his wedding ring? I thought you guys wore those for protection."

Sam jerked his head around to look at Dean. "I didn't even notice it was missing. One of the nurses must have taken it before he went in to surgery. I'll have to remember to ask about that."

"You don't think he needs protecting right now?" Lauren wondered. "I could go check on it while you stay with him."

Sam looked relieved. "Would you mind?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I did."

"Thank you so much."

Lauren kissed him then headed down the hall to find someone to ask about Dean's ring. Sam watched her go then turned back to Dean. He jumped in surprise as he realized Dean was watching him.

"Good lord, Dean, you scared the crap out of me."

"So you called Lauren, huh?"

Sam's face closed. "Now's not the time, Dean."

"You're acting like someone died. I'm a little worse for the wear, but I'm not dead."

"Sandy is, though."

Dean sucked in a breath. "That thing got Sandy?"

"Yeah. Her family's here. It's bad. They don't know that she was a hunter, so they think the two of you were randomly attacked. They're really having a rough time of it."

Dean sat for a moment then cleared his throat several times. "I…that's…" He stopped and cleared his throat again. "Where's my wedding ring, Sam?"

"Lauren went to go ask the nurses about it."

Dean shook his head. "It's at the house. It's gotta be. The ghost must have taken it."

"What makes you so sure?"

"The stupid bitch mentioned it. She said that they—not 'she' but 'they'—had been waiting for me to be stupid enough to not wear the amulet that Liz gave me and that my ring couldn't protect me against them. She laughed about it."

Sam shrugged. "Okay. I'll go look for it later."

Dean shook his head. "You're not going in that house alone. A good person died today, and I almost did, too. I don't want you getting hurt. I couldn't live with myself if you went looking for my ring and got yourself killed."

"Then I'll take Bobby."

Dean thought about it. "That's better. Still not good enough, though."

"I'm not leaving your ring in that house as a prize for the thing that did this to you. You can't stop me, so I don't know what you expect to do about it."

"I'm hurt now, but I won't always be. When I get better, I'll kick your ass."

"Go to sleep, Dean. You're making my head hurt."

"I love you, too, Sam."

"Yeah? Well, Jo's dying to come lick your wounds. Want me to send her and Ellen down together?"

"You wouldn't."

"Try me, big bro."

Dean shoulders shook with laughter. He grimaced in pain when the movement aggravated his wounds. Lauren appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, good, you're awake," she said unenthusiastically. "That was the longest I think I've ever heard you be silent. Well, that is except when you are passed out into a drunken stupor."

"Lauren," Sam chided.

Dean's eyes flashed angrily. "How was the flight, Lauren? Was it hard to get through security with that giant stick up your ass?"

"Dean!" Sam scolded.

"Oh, Dean," Lauren began.

"Would you two please stop fighting?" Sam begged. "Someone we know just died, and it was partially our fault, Dean. Could you save the bickering for another time? Please? For me if for nothing else?"

Dean looked thoroughly chastised. "Sorry, Sam. You're right."

"I'm sorry, too, darling," Lauren said.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Would you let everyone else know that I'm awake, Sam?" he wondered.

"Sure."

"Could you go with him?" he asked Lauren.

Lauren scowled at him. "Like I would stay here with you."

Sam sighed and headed down the hall, pulling Lauren with him.

XXX

Sandy was buried on a cold, windy day. Dean disobeyed doctor's orders and checked himself out of the hospital so he could attend. He hung around after the services, staring at the black coffin.

Sam clapped him on the back. "Come on, Dean, let's go home. It's cold, and you need to get some rest."

Dean was in a thoughtful mood, though, and not ready to leave. "What am I doing, Sam? Getting plastered and screwing a bunch of chicks whose names I don't even remember in the morning?"

Sam shrugged. "Well, pretty much, yeah. Throw some hunting in, and that's your life in a nutshell."

Dean laughed bitterly. "Liz would be so proud of me, huh?"

"Dean…"

"I told her it would be okay, Sam. Sandy was scared, and I told her that everything would be okay. I told her that we had her back. Look at what that got her."

"Dean, there was nothing you could have done. If anyone should be beating themselves up, it's me. You would be dead, too, if I hadn't gotten that call."

Dean jerked his head around to stare at Sam. "What call? What are you talking about?"

"I don't know. Someone called and let me know you were hurt. Then Jason showed up at the hospital and told me not to trust anyone but you. I'm really confused right now, Dean."

"So Jason really was at the hospital?"

"You saw him?"

Dean thought about it. "He and Maggie were in my room when I woke up. They did something to me. Something to heal me, I think."

Sam scrunched up his face. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Tell me about it. Did you find my wedding ring? I know you went and looked."

Sam shook his head. "It wasn't there," he said. "I looked all over that dump of a building. I don't know what could have happened to it."

Dean looked around the cemetery. "So my amulet went missing, and now my wedding ring is gone. Feels like something's gunning for me and it's getting close."

"We'll figure something out, Dean. Until then, why don't you wear the ring that Liz gave me?"

Dean shook his head. "I don't want it. If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. A ring isn't going to change that."

"It could help your odds, though."

"You were right before, Sam. I fought for years without that amulet or ring. I can do it again. That ghost is not going to scare me into not hunting. If I'm gonna die, it's going to be fighting something badass, not hiding behind your skirt tails."

Sam looked at Dean and took in the stoic look on his face and the hard set of his shoulders. "It's not your fault that Sandy died, Dean. Hunting is a risky job, and she knew that."

Dean glared at Sam. "She deserved more than this. I feel like it's my fault she didn't get it."