Chapter 8

"Dean?" Sam asked, cupping his brother's chin and raising his head. Dean looked at his little brother, but he was in too much pain to speak.

"They stabbed him in the back." Gibbs stated.

"Gibbs got the vampire." Tony reported.

"I'll…." Sam was going to say 'take him.' He had helped an injured Dean many times after a fight just as Dean had helped him when he was injured. It was nothing new, to either one of them.

Both Tony and Gibbs shook their heads. They just had to get him a few more feet and into the car without causing him any more injuries. And, besides that, Tony didn't want to move his hand. He had it pressed to the wound on Dean's back. He had seen the blood staining the back of the elder Winchester's jacket and shirt. And he was afraid to let up on the pressure. He had Dean's shirt balled up and pressed to the wound. He hoped that that would, at least, slow the bleeding.

Sam had the door open end the engine running by the time Gibbs and Tony got Dean into the car. "I've got him, Tony. He'll be okay."

Tony pulled the back door open.

Sam turned and looked at Tony. "Put him up front here." He had expected Tony to help Dean into the passenger seat and then return to the car with his team. Sam was surprised to see the agent get in beside Dean.

Tony shook his head as he scooted into the backseat beside Dean. "I can't let up on the pressure, Sam. He's bleeding too much."

Sam nodded. His jaw worked as he white knuckled the steering wheel, taking precious seconds to figure out what to do. He knew, ideally, that Dean nodded to be attended to by surgeons. But they could not afford that. They couldn't take the chance of these NCIS agents drawing more agents in. Their best option was to head back to the motel and taking care of him that way. Sam started the car and headed off. The NCIS sedan followed close behind.

"Sam, the hospital's in the other direction." Tony told the younger Winchester. He kept an eye on Dean. The elder Winchester was leaned back against Tony's hand. He kept his eyes closed afraid the motion, combined with the blood lose, would make him dizzy.

Sam looked at the agent in the rearview mirror. "I know. I…we can't take the chance on other agents coming around and recognizing us." He paused. "I can sew him up. I've done it before."

"What about your shoulder, Sam?" Tony asked. He could see the blood oozing through the torn shirt, from the open wound.

"I'll worry about that after I take care of Dean." Sam replied. He had forgotten about his own wounds. He figured he had a couple cracked ribs. He had a busted lip and probably a black eye before it was all said and done, plus the other, usual cuts and bruises.

They all returned to the motel moments later. Ziva went to rent another room as Tony and Sam helped Dean out of the car, then into the room. Dean sat down on the bed. He managed, with Tony's help, to get his jacket off. Sam left the room, but returned moments later with their first aid kit from the Impala and a couple bottles of beer from the cooler. He handed Dean the beer so that he could take a swallow or two. The younger Winchester then helped Dean take off his shirt and lay down.

None of them had walked away unscathed. They all had cuts and bruises and looked like they had fought hard. The team took their turns cleaning up in the bathroom as Sam took care of Dean. Tony and Gibbs tried to help Sam as much as they could. Tim and Ziva then took it upon themselves to go to the local diner and get the group some food. Dean was soon sewed up. He had passed out from the pain and blood loss.

"It's your turn." Gibbs said as Sam finished up with Dean.

Sam shook his head. "I can…." Then he realized that the wound was on a part of his shoulder he couldn't reach. "I can wait for…."

Gibbs shook his head. "John taught you how to do this. I know because the Marines taught me how to sew up wounds. I had to remove a bullet from my own leg once and sew it up." Gibbs said as he prepared what he would need. "I'll take good care of you. You won't even have a scar."

Sam nodded. He really didn't have an option. He unbuttoned his shirt and took it down off the injured shoulder. He turned his back to Agent Gibbs, he held on to the beer bottle, taking long swigs every so often. But it didn't take long. Sam pulled his shirt back on and buttoned it.

Gibbs cleaned up in the bathroom. He immerged just a few moments later. "I sanitized what I could." He said as he handed the Winchesters first aid kit back to Sam.

Sam took the kit and laid it on the bed. "Thank you, for…for doing that, Agent Gibbs. And Tony, you…you really didn't have to…." He said, shaking his head.

"You guys…you could have just left me for the vamps and you didn't." Tony stated. "I owe you. Dean was…we weren't going to just leave him there." He looked at Gibbs and smiled. "It's a Marine thing."

Sam nodded.

Ziva and Tim returned with the food. They ate in silence, each going over the evenings events in his mind. Dean, however, did not eat. He was still asleep, and Sam was going to let him rest as long as he wanted to. He would just save Dean's food for later.

Tim finished eating and threw his trash in the motel trashcan. "So, Sam, this…that is what you do?"

Sam nodded as he put the last bit of food in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed before he answered. "It's not always vamps…but, yeah."

"How do you…what would you even charge for something like that?" Tim asked.

Sam shook his head. "We don't charge people. We couldn't do that. Most of them have just experienced a tragedy. We wouldn't want to take advantage, plus. Like you said…how could we put a price on it?"

Team Gibbs kind of just looked at Sam. They were very confused. They didn't know what he meant by having just experienced a tragedy.

"We get our jobs from the newspapers and the Internet. We only find out about these things, these monsters, after they have taken at least one victim." Sam explained. "Then we just show up and try to make sure nobody else gets hurt."

"Try?" Tony asked.

"Sometimes we're not successful." Sam admitted.

"What does that mean?" Gibbs asked.

Sam sighed. "What is the first thing you want to do if someone tells you not to open that door?" He paused. "What do people usually do?"

"They open the door." The team said, almost in unison.

"Exactly." Sam replied. "We can only help those who believe us, and who want to help themselves."

"…must be endlessly annoying. I can't imagine you're welcome everywhere you've gone." Gibbs stated.

Sam kind of grinned. "Yeah, we've been…escorted to the county line many, many times."

Gibbs grinned at that. "I just can't imagine Dean Winchester rubbing people the wrong way." In the short time he'd spent with Dean he had decided he liked the young man. The elder Winchester reminded him a lot of himself.

Sam didn't respond.

"Hey!" Dean said, surprising everyone. Nobody knew he was awake.

"What?" Sam replied. "They have met you."

Dean sat up slowly. He glared at his brother before he got up. "Bitch!" He said just as he entered the bathroom.

"Jerk!" Sam shot back.

Dean emerged a few moments later. He looked around. "Where is it? I smell food."

Sam went to the fridge and got Dean's food.

"Well, on that note." Tony said standing. "We had better go. We have to get back to D.C."

Gibbs nodded. "Thank you. Thank you both." He extended his hand to both Sam and Dean. "And again, I'm sorry about John."

Both Sam and Dean nodded.

"Your agents have some skills, Agent Gibbs." Sam said, very impressed. Dean agreed.

"Oh, and Tony…" Dean said. "Thank you."

Tony nodded and he and the agents said their goodbyes. They left the room and Sam and Dean watched them leave the parking lot.

"Well, that was…interesting." Sam replied.

Dean looked at his brother. "Yeah." He admitted sitting down on the bed. "They're really good." He said as he looked into the bag. "What, no pie?"

THE END