Chapter 16

Stella kept talking to Sam on the drive home. It was gentle, innocuous conversation—just enough so she knew he hadn't passed out or gone into shock. Once she turned off the car, she came over and opened the passenger door.

"Okay, Sam, lean on me while you get out…" Sam managed to drag himself out of the car with some help from Stella. He took a few steps and stopped while his head swam. Stella steadied him and waited for Sam to indicate he was okay.

"Can you stand for a second?" she asked. Sam let go of her shoulder and nodded. He was okay for now but he still felt light-headed. He wasn't sure how much blood he'd lost during the rugaru attack but it was enough to make him feel pretty darn weak. Stella pulled the tarp out of the car and spread it on the ground. She bent down and unlaced Sam's boots.

"Can you kick the boots off? Here hold my arms." It took a minute but Sam managed to get them off. Stella kicked hers off as well and they both stepped off the tarp. His ripped and blood-sodden shirt was still hanging open. Stella steadied him as she walked around. Gently pulling the shoulders of the shirt, she peeled it down off of Sam's arms, trying not to scrape against any of his injuries. She dropped the shirt onto the tarp as well.

"Take a couple steps to the stairs?"

She tucked herself under Sam's arm and let him lean on her. They took one step at a time and Sam had to rest when he got to the stairs. He was dizzy. Stella waited until he seemed to catch his breath and then they started the long trek up the deck stairs. Sam could only manage about three steps at a time before he needed to rest. Finally they got inside the house, but even then it was a long, slow journey to the downstairs bathroom. Sam braced himself inside the shower while Stella grabbed the little teak stool that normally stood right outside as a place to put a towel so it wasn't on the floor.

"I need to get the first aid stuff. Can you get the jeans off, or do you need help?"

"Go." Sam waved her away.

By the time Stella came back into the bathroom, Sam, dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts, was sitting on the stool with his back leaning on the wall. There were five very distinct bites on his upper body and the bruises on his face were starting to color. She put down a box of sterile pads and some saline solution. Sam didn't say anything but looked up at her with sad, pain-filled, exhausted eyes. Sam was like a brother to her and she loved him; Stella hated seeing him suffer like this.

"You ready?" Stella held up the bottle of saline and some cotton pads.

"Yea."

"I don't have enough saline for everything, so bottled water will have to do after that. This is going to hurt…" She felt terrible, knowing she was going to inflict more pain on Sam tonight.

"It will hurt less than what the rugaru was doing…" He managed a wan smile.

"Hang on a sec. I'll be right back." Stella got up and disappeared out into the kitchen. She came back a minute later and handed Sam the bottle of tequila that she'd left out earlier. He put the bottle to his lips and took a swig, then another.

"That's disgusting," he said. Tequila had never been a favorite of Sam's.

"Have another," said Stella. "I think you're going to need it." She got into the shower with him and started at the neck wound. She poured some saline solution into it and began to scrub the wound out. Sam groaned; the scrubbing hurt like hell, but it was important that she get any bacteria out so nothing got infected. From the neck, she moved onto a bite directly on Sam's ribs. This one was shallower and easier to clean. But when she got to one of the bites below the ribs, she ran out of saline and had to move to bottled water. It stung more; Sam sucked in his breath and after his vision cleared, he took another drink out of the tequila bottle.

"Stella?" Out in the kitchen, Dean called for her as he came in the door. Stella's shoulders relaxed slightly when she heard his deep voice.

"I'm in the bathroom with Sam," she called back. When Dean came in the bathroom, he just shook his head: his lover was in a shower with his mostly-naked brother. We do lead freakish lives, thought Dean. He came closer and whistled. Sam looked like hell, but he raised the tequila bottle at Dean.

"Stuff's not too bad after the first five swallows…" he said. Stella paused long enough to take the bottle away from Sam. He only needed enough alcohol to numb the pain. She didn't need him passing out in the shower.

"What can I do?" asked Dean.

"I've got this under control for now, but I'll need help getting Sam up to bed. We're going to need to check on him tonight; it will be easier if we're all upstairs," said Stella. "His shirt and our boots are on a tarp in the driveway. We're going to need to burn those just in case the police come around. Your boots, too. You want to start taking care of that?"

Dean nodded. There was an outdoor fire pit behind the house. He filled that with wood, soaked the shoes, shirt and tarp with some lighter fluid and set them ablaze. Dean stood a few feet back and stared into the flames. He remembered one time, when he and Sam had saved their father from some demons, when a demon had gotten the better of Sam. Sam had been flat on his back in the road with the demon punching him over and over in the face. Dean had known that it had been intent on killing Sam. Dean hadn't hesitated; he'd used the Colt and put a bullet through the demon's head to save his brother.

Even though he'd known there was an innocent man trapped in that body along with the demon, Dean hadn't even blinked when he pulled the trigger. It was that day that he'd first really, truly understood how far he would go, what he would do, for Sam and it had scared him a little. He thought about the look on Stella's face when she confronted the rugaru. He'd learned two things tonight: he would go just as far for Stella, and she wouldn't hesitate to do the same for him. When Dean came out of his thoughts, he took the screened dome for the fire pit and put it over the top to keep any sparks contained, and then he headed back inside. Stella had just finished cleaning Sam's wounds. She was rummaging in the first aid kit for ointment when Dean poked his head into the bathroom, and she gave him an appraising once-over.

"I've still got to bandage Sam up. You're going to need stitches in that cut on your head. Why don't you go upstairs and shower. By the time you're done, I'll have Sam wrapped up. You can get him to bed and then I'll stitch your head."

It took Stella another 20 minutes to slather all of Sam's wounds with antibacterial ointment and then cover them all with clean gauze. There was enough in the kit that she'd be able to change all of the dressings at least once, but they were going to need to restock in the morning. Dean, his hair still wet from the shower, came down dressed in a pair of old sweatpants. Russell had kicked him in the ribs at least once and the bruise was starting to come to the surface. Stella could also see the bruises on his face where Dean had been punched. Between the two of them, they got Sam upstairs fairly quickly and helped him into his bed. Sam murmured a thank you and something else they couldn't understand before his eyes shut.

"Your turn," Stella said to Dean. She pointed to the bathroom and Dean sat on the edge of the tub where he could angle his head into the good light. Stella examined the cut. Dean had done a good job cleaning it out in the shower but she gave it a wash with some bottled water anyway and patted it dry. She sterilized the sewing needle in some rubbing alcohol. Dean winced as she started to stitch the wound.

"His dressings will need to get changed every 12 hours," said Stella as she tugged the thread a little tighter.

"He's going to get some good scars out of this one," Dean replied.

She nodded. Bites—animal or human—had a higher chance of infection so it wasn't a good idea to stitch them up like she had with the cut on Dean's head. "And we're going to have to really keep an eye on them for infection. Probably couldn't hurt to get our hands on some general antibiotics."

"I'll call Bobby in the morning. He's probably got some connection who can call in a prescription for us without making anyone too suspicious."

"Okay, that sounds good." She sighed. She knotted the final stitch. "There you go. That should heal nicely."

"Thanks, Stella. I'll go check on the fire pit and lock up," said Dean. "Then I'll check on Sam." Stella nodded and started to turn away until Dean caught her hand. He leaned in and kissed her.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

"Thanks for coming to get us, Stella. I know I wanted you to stay here but if you hadn't come…" Dean didn't want to think of the alternative outcome.

"Anytime." She squeezed his hand and smiled. "Now, since I'm the only one left with rugaru stench on me, I'm going to go shower and get clean." Her fingers dragged slowly away from Dean's as she disappeared into the bathroom. Stella stripped all of her clothes off and put them in a paper bag that was waiting on the counter. She hated to burn them; she liked that shirt. But it was possible that blood or spit or something from Russell's had gotten on her. Those would get burned in the morning. It would take the police at least 24 hours to process what they found at the Roy house. With any luck they'd pay more attention to the corpse with Russell's teeth marks in it than anything else.

When the water was good and hot she stepped in and pulled the curtain shut. Stella stood for a moment, letting the water spray on her face and body. Then she squirted some shampoo into her palm and started to lather her hair. She rinsed and washed it a second time. Then she went for the body wash and the loofa scrubber, and she went over every inch of her body, soaping and scrubbing, making sure she washed every last trace of dirt, blood, and sweat off of her. The air felt chilly when she finally stepped out onto the bath mat and dried herself off.

Dean had checked the fire pit when Stella was in the shower. Sam's boots and shirt were little more than ash. The canvas tarp was mostly incinerated as well. Dean used an iron poker to mix everything up and then shoveled the ashes into a small metal trash can they used when the fire pit got cleaned. Inside, he locked the door behind him and turned off the downstairs lights. As he climbed the stairs to the second floor, Dean could hear the shower still running. He went to Sam's room and turned on the small table light. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he shook his brother.

"Sammy? Sam, wake up for a minute."

"Wha…? Dean? What's wrong?" Sam's voice was groggy and soft. He tried to sit up.

"No, don't sit up," said Dean. "You know the drill. Gotta wake you up every couple hours, make sure you're okay. Go back to sleep."

Sam grunted something intelligible as his head sank down onto the pillow. Dean laughed softly and headed to his own bed. As much as he hated to do it, he set the alarm clock for two hours from now. That would be about 2:00 AM. He managed to bump his stitches as he took his shirt off and cursed. He left the light on for Stella and climbed into bed. The shower stopped and a few minutes later, Stella padded softly into the room. She was wearing a long t-shirt that barely covered her bottom. Any other day, she'd have put on sweat pants or something to walk down the hall, but she knew Sam was down for the count and even if he wasn't, after the night they'd all had, she didn't really care.

"You still awake?" The question was soft, just in case Dean had fallen asleep.

"Yea, the adrenaline hasn't quit yet, but I'm gonna crash hard when it does."

"Sam doing okay?"

Dean nodded. "I woke him up and he wasn't too happy about it. I set the alarm for two hours so I can check him again."

Stella turned out the light and felt her way to the edge of the bed in the dark as her eyes adjusted to the moonlight filtering through the room's skylight. She pulled back the covers and slid into bed, moving over so she was right next to Dean. He wrapped her up in his arms and Stella rested her head on his shoulder. They lay in the dark, in silence and then Stella gently ran her fingers up Dean's arm and rested them on his cheek. She turned slightly and kissed his cheeks, then his lips. Stella pulled her shirt up and over her head, and Dean sighed when he felt her warm skin against him. Pulling her closer, he ran his hands lightly over her body, wanting her more with every moment that passed.

They often made love after a hunt. There was something about the act itself that put some distance between them and the violence, an act of love and desire that cleansed away any evil taint that they'd experienced. Dean moved over Stella and she shifted to welcome him, allowing their bodies to connect more intimately. Running his left hand from her shoulder, along her arm and to her hand, their fingers entwined. Stella reached for him with her other hand and tangled her fingers with his. Dean's breathing grew deeper as he moved, finding a rhythm that matched Stella's. He kept his face close to hers, alternately kissing her and whispering in her ear. For all of the times when their play was loud and boisterous, they both treasured these times when the act was soft and gentle, when the closeness and intimacy spoke volumes in silence and whispers.

Dean kissed her, allowing his lips to linger on Stella's and the way she looked at him when he gazed down at her left him breathless. He couldn't imagine anything he wanted more, loved more, than Stella Bodine. Dean's desires grew more urgent, more ardent as his body tightened.

"Stella…" It was a heated, whispered breath in her ear.

She gripped his hands harder. "I'm right with you, baby. I'm not going anywhere…"

Dean wanted to shout out but he kept his voice quiet. "Stella…" His breath caught.

"I've got you," she whispered in his ear. "You can let go, I've got you." As she spoke, Dean's whole body moved forward and Stella arched beneath him, sharing the sensation, loving how it felt to be so close to him. She closed her eyes and gasped while Dean buried his face between her shoulder and neck as he pressed forward again and again. They lay tangled together, continuing to kiss, long after they were spent.

When the alarm finally went off, Stella left Dean to sleep and went to check on Sam herself.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It ended up going in a different direction from what I had been thinking, but sometimes you just can't argue when you get the spark of an idea. Thanks to all of my regular readers and reviewers, and welcome to the readers who have just recently joined us. I appreciate that all of you have taken the time to read "Starlight Starbright." I've got a busy week coming up and a weekend trip away, so I may not have the chance to do a new chapter until next week! But there is still more to come, I promise!