A/n: Sorry it took me so long to get this out. This is the second to last chapter of "Under the Weather."

Thank you to all those who have and those who continue to read, review, follow, and/or favorite. A special thank you to Val for your recent review and to LilyBolt and miXiZ for yours and your help and faith in me.

CH7

"Don't. Look," Sam breathed.

Dean had been listening to his brother when he had been talking about the basilisk, and it sounded difficult to beat when he rattled it off then, but it wasn't until now that he truly understood how impossible this hunt was. How were they suppose to kill something, that they can't even look at? Thinking in retrospect, they probably should have taken two mirrors.

Both brothers stood completely still as the sound of the monster slithering through the grass continued.

"We can't just stand here," Dean whispered out the side of his mouth.

"Just, aim the mirror at it," Sam murmured.

"How, I can't look-" Before Dean had a chance to finish his sentence, the mirror he had been holding was knocked from his grip by a blur of scales and shattered. The older hunter jumped out of the way and dropped to the ground as shards of glass rained down on him. He quickly ducked and covered his head, shielding it the best he could.

"DEAN!"

Sam moved to check on his brother, but was stopped by a thud that shook the ground near by him, causing him to flail unstable on his feet and drop to his hands and knees. With no mirror, his mind began to race. Adrenaline had kicked in and the strength that had been dwindling only seconds ago, was now back with full force. With his options minimal and their situation reaching fatal, Sam took off running further into the wetlands. As he had hoped, he was pursued by the sound of something large moving swiftly behind him.

"SAM!"

Rain pelted the younger hunter's face as he dashed down the trail, trying to keep to it the best he could. Somewhere close by, a flash of lightening lit up the sky followed by a deep bellow of thunder. All the while he ran, Sam continued to work through the best plan B that he could think of. Dean was safe, for now, which was one problem rectified. Now it was time to solve a much bigger issue at hand. Killing the impossible. Something had to work. Maybe Dean could make it back to the car and figure something out. Or maybe he could somehow acquire another mirror. If he hadn't been running for his life, Sam would have shook his head at even thinking it was a possibility. Dean would never leave him to fight anything alone, especially not something as intense as a basilisk. And as far as the closest available mirror, that would be the Impala's rearview and side mirrors. The likilness of him making it back to the car without another complication arising was far to low. As it was, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep running. Already his legs were starting to shake from forcing them to move.

He kept his eyes in front of him, only chancing a look down to make sure he didn't trip over anything as he hurried along. As he pressed on deeper within the Sanctuary, the trail began to shrink until it ceased altogether. Sam's feet were no longer pounding through the mud, but were sloshing through deep puddles in the grass until finally he was stopped. His shoes had become completely submerged in the thick dark mud that under the pressure of Sam's weight, had him glued to the spot, causing him to lose his balance and plummet to the mud and hitting it with a grunt and a squish. He kept himself low and still, hoping that maybe it hadn't seen him fall and couldn't see him now.

"Hey!" Sam hadn't realized his eyes were closed until he opened them and wheeled his head around towards the shout.

There was a thud and the shadow of something large coming straight at his brother, but Dean hustled out of the way before it made contact. Sam could feel his heart pounding against his chest as it made another lunge at his sibling. Once again, he dodged it. The third time however, it's scal collided with the hunter and he was thrown to the ground.

"DEAN!"

When his brother didn't respond and continued to lay still, Sam turned his attention back to the scales of the creature. With his sibling down for the count, but hopefully not the final count, he could hear the basilisk approaching him.

It was possible that the legends had been wrong and something like a stab to the heart or the brain could bring the beast down, but he had been adamant about not bringing anything on the hunt for their safety, which sounded odd even to him. Think Sam think, this creature is centuries old and this is the 21st century...right, the 21st century! The younger hunter quickly pulled out his phone, activated the camera on it, and flipped it so that he could see himself on the screen. As fast as he could, he spun around onto his side in the mud and stretched his shaking arm up while shielding his eyes with his other one, and aimed his phone towards the basilisk. The creature let out a sound that reassembled a bird screeching more than it did any kind of monster, let alone a reptile. Sam heard a loud thud only inches from where he was laying and felt the ground beneath him shake. The younger man lowered his arm slowly, pulled himself free of the mud trap, and scurried over to his unconscious brother.

"Dean? Dean?" He dropped to his knees, pulled his sibling's face from mud, and checked his pulse. It was slow, but there. "Dean?!" Sam slapped his cheek lightly at first, but when nothing happened, he smacked him harder. Dean groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Dean! Oh thank God!"

"D'd chu k'llt?" The elder brother slurred. It was too dark to see any injuries on him, but he was certain he had some. Sam saw his brother's head turn in the direction where the monster was and he quickly grabbed Dean's face in his mud soaked hands, redirecting his attention him.

"Don't look!" He ordered. The beast hadn't moved since the fall, but the younger hunter wasn't interested in taking any chances. Not to mention he wasn't completely certain if there was a period of time after its death where someone could still drop dead themselves if they looked into it's eyes. He would check once he made sure his brother was alright. "I got'em."

"H'w?"

"Camera on my phone."

"N'ce job S'mmy," he responded with a dazed grin. "B't rekless, b't sm'rt."

"Are you alright?" The younger man fretted. "You're slurring."

"M, ok," Dean mumbled as Sam helped pull him into sitting position. He swayed slightly and the younger brother grabbed a hold of his sibling's shoulder to steady him. "Wh't bu't yu?"

"I'm fine. We gotta go Dean," Sam's voice came out weak and he could feel his energy draining from his body.

"Y'u shwed legnd, h'h?"

"Yeah, guess I did show..." Sam's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he collapsed in the mud next to his brother.

"S'm!" Dean crawled over and shook him. "S'm?! S'mmy!" He placed a hand on the younger man's forehead and his eyes grew wide. "Fck," he cussed. Great. His brother was passed out with what felt like a dangerously high temperature and gaging by his own slurred speech and fuzzy eyes, he himself likely had a concussion. A wave of nausea hit him and he fought the urge to vomit, throwing the back of his wrist to his mouth. Why did they have to be deep in a foliaged area in the middle of a storm and far away from the Impala? Knowing that this time, there would be no way he could carry his brother back to the safety of the Chevy, he began to scoop up mud and smear it on Sam's face. The rain in Florida wasn't cold like it was in the west coast. It was more like a luke warm shower which would later make you feel damp and sticky. Sam needed cold to help with bringing down his fever and Dean knew that neither the water that drummed down on them from the sky, nor the body of water close by, would be anywhere near as cold as he needed it to be. All he could hope for was that the mud mask he had created for his sibling would at least keep him alive until Dean could get him back to the motel and taken care of properly. It wasn't his best method but he was desperate and well, mud worked for pigs when they were hot, it was worth a try.

The need to sleep suddenly nagged at the elder brother and his eyes grew heavy. It wasn't his first concussion, not by a long shot. Dean knew that the worse thing he could do would be to fall asleep, of course that's not to say that he hasn't before. He knew how dangerous it was, he also knew that sometimes it was a losing battle to fight it. It wasn't uncommon, but there was a major difference in his current scenario, Sam was in a serious condition himself. Nine times out of ten, Sam was there to keep him awake and alive, or at least he was both of those things himself. Unable to fight the urge, Dean allowed himself to sink to the mud next to his brother and the last thing he heard was another roll of thunder before he lost consciousness.