Title: Death from Within

Author: Disasteriffic Kaz

Info: The Monster of the Week turns out to be more than the boys bargained for within an abandoned hotel in the Nevada desert. post 1x09 "Home" hurt/comfort/awesome!Sam/Dean

Author's Note: ok ok ONE more chapter. Lol

Beta'd by the Always Awesome JaniceC678 - Friend and Muse's co-conspirator

**Follow me on Facebook as "Disasteriffic Kaz" for frequent fic updates or just to chat!
~Reviews are Love~

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Sam swallowed and stood straighter in spite of the pain. "I think I hate snakes now."

Dean snorted as they stepped into the hall. "Join the club, Indiana." He would never forget having to pull a live and fighting snake from his brother's body. That little gem was going to give him sleepless nights, he was sure.

Ellie smiled while the brother's talk. It was heart-warming listening to them banter back and forth despite the gravity of the situation and it helped calm her. She shifted her grip on his arm when they reached the stairs and saw something move from the corner of her eye. Ellie stopped and gasped softly. "Guys," she said in a harsh whisper. She turned her head to the left and slowly brought her flashlight with her and it was like being stuck in a horror film; when you know the monster is about to jump out. Her light shone along the stairs, then the wall and she felt her blood turn to ice in her veins as the beam from the flashlight glistened along the skinless body of the creature so very close to them and her breath stuttered to a halt in her chest; they were going to die.

Chapter 7

Dean saw Ellie's entire body tense with her whispered word even as the unnatural fever began to burn through him in earnest. He shoved Sam into Ellie and the wall, spun and fired along the beam of her light into the nukelavee. "MOVE!"

Sam jerked into motion with Dean's bellow. He grabbed hold of Ellie and spun her to the stairs. "Go! Down!"

"No!" Ellie shouted and pulled Sam instead, dragging him onto the flight up. "Go up to the pool! It won't cross the water!"

Sam stared in surprise and started moving as Dean fired again. He'd lost his gun in the fall and wished he'd thought to find it before they left the room. He lagged behind Ellie, ready to grab his brother and force Dean to follow if necessary, but he was already there at the bottom of the stairs. So was the nukelavee. It screamed in anger when Dean shot it again, and the caricature of a man's head flew backward with the impact of the bullet. At the same moment, Dean faltered and swayed backward.

"Dean!" Sam darted down and wrapped one arm around his brother's waist to hold him up, his own injuries forgotten in a rush of adrenaline and his fear for Dean. He pulled the gun from Dean's weakening grip and began dragging him up the stairs. "Ellie!"

"Here." Ellie slid under Dean's arm and took as much of his weight as she could, but he was just so much bigger than her. She grunted with the effort of pulling the ailing man up the steps. "Dean, help."

Dean nodded in his now-fevered delirium and tried to turn and make his legs cooperate. The wounds on his back burned with a new pain that seemed to spread through him and sap his strength, all while stealing the much-needed air from his lungs and he gasped. "Sam," he panted between heavy breaths and nodded, relieved when Sam began to back up the stairs with them with the gun trained on the screaming creature that, for the moment, seemed unwilling to follow.

Sam felt one of Dean's hands fumble for the neck of his jacket and then grasp it. Despite the burning pain now coursing through Dean's body and the haze of fever, there was still one thought so bedrock solid that it seemed to be embedded in his soul rather than his mind and that was to make sure that Sammy got out of there too, and his grip on his brother's jacket was like a steel cable between them. Sam used the unwavering touch at his back as a guide while he walked backward up the steps, never taking the gun off the creature in the shaking light that Ellie was trying to keep on it for him. "Hurry." He could feel a frightening heat from Dean's fingers where they wrapped over his collar and against the back of his neck and knew they had only minutes before his brother was no longer able to walk.

Dean struggled through the dizziness that was overtaking him and moved faster up the stairs, only able to keep his feet because of Ellie's solid presence under his arm. She seemed determined to keep him upright and moving. He blinked in surprise when he suddenly felt Sam under his other arm, prying his fingers loose from his collar to pull his arm over his shoulder, and realized they'd reached the top and Sam was there, damn near lifting him up to carry him at a fast walk around the destroyed floor to the open door.

"Ellie, grab that bag!" Sam said hurriedly and took all of Dean's weight while she darted away. He turned back to the stairs and heard the nukelavee starting up after them. He dragged Dean through the door, and his eyes widened at seeing the pool when Ellie's flashlight shone in beside him. He remembered then a part of the nukelavee lore he'd read and set aside, not thinking there'd be any use for it in a hotel in the middle of the desert. They couldn't cross running water. Now Sam thought that lore should be amended to any water, since a pool certainly didn't qualify as 'running'.

"Over here. Quick!" Ellie moved back under Dean's other arm, hefting the bag along with her and pulled them to the left side of the room and the shallow end. "There's stairs down on this side. We'll have to climb out on the other."

Sam pulled Dean to the edge of the pool and grunted in pain and worry when Dean suddenly went limp in his grasp. "Dean!" He heard the sound of cracking wood from outside the door and shook his head. They were out of time. He wrapped both arms around his brother's chest and jumped down into the shallow water with him. It was lukewarm and murky from years of disuse but cushioned their fall. "Keep the bag out of the water, Ellie," Sam told her quickly as he got his legs under him. He pulled Dean through the water to the other side of the pool as the creature entered the room. Its roar filled the empty space and rang in Sam's ears.

Ellie splashed into the water behind them and crossed. She tossed the heavy bag up to the other side of the pool and then took hold of Dean while Sam climbed out, keeping his head above the water. "Sam?"

"He'll be alright," Sam said a little breathlessly and bent to reach under Dean's arms. He pulled his brother up with a growl of effort and did his best to ignore the now persistent ache in his stomach. He got Dean's upper body out of the pool, and then Ellie was there, helping to drag him the rest of the way. "Get…get his jacket and shirts off." Sam pulled the bag over and dug out another flashlight and then got back to his feet with the gun. He aimed both across the pool and wasn't surprised the find the nukelavee pacing its length from wall to wall and staring over at them.

"It'll just stay there getting all pissed off for a while and then it wanders off or something, like it gets bored," Ellie said softly and wrestled Dean's jacket from his arms.

Looking around a bit more, Sam realized how lucky they were with the way the room was laid out. The pool literally ran the length from wall to wall, unlike the usual layout with the pool in the center of the room with access from all sides. The side they were on was more of a very wide ledge along a solid wall, probably more decorative than anything, judging by the empty planters scattered about that had probably once held potted palm trees or something. There were no doors or any other openings behind them for which Sam gave a silent prayer of thanks.

The hideous creature continued to pace back and forth, becoming more and more agitated; growling low and making garbled snuffling noises. Sam resisted the urge to shoot at it again just on principle. It couldn't get them for now and he needed to save the ammunition. "Ok." He turned away from the nukelavee with difficulty and dropped to his knees beside Dean. "Help me sit him up. Dean?" Sam pulled on his arms and got his brother sitting up. He watched Dean's eyes flutter but not open. "Quick." They both pulled and tugged and got the bloody shirts off over his head. "Hold the light." Sam carefully rolled his brother over onto his stomach and laid him down while Dean moaned softly with one of his shirts folded under his head. "It's ok, Dean. You'll be ok."

"What do you need?" Ellie held the light up and put a hand over her mouth when she saw the four long gashes across Dean's back, running crosswise from shoulder to hip. "Oh, my God." She couldn't imagine how he'd managed to be up and moving at all like he had.

Sam pulled the bag over and went through it until he found the holy water. "This is…it's gonna hurt him. Bad. Don't freak out."

"What is that?" Ellie asked while Sam unscrewed the cap from a metal canteen.

"Holy water," Sam said softly and moved to kneel next to Dean's back. "But it's going to feel like acid to him until the wounds are cleansed."

Ellie nodded fearfully and then reached down to hold one of Dean's hands as Sam turned the bottle and started to pour. She yelped when Dean suddenly crushed her hand in his grip and cried out, but she didn't try to free herself. He'd been hurt coming to save her, and giving him something to hold onto was the least she could do in thanks. "It's alright, Dean," she said softly,

Sam planted one hand between Dean's shoulder blades above the wounds to hold him still. "Easy, Dean," Sam said over top of another choked scream from his brother. The holy water hissed and bubbled across his back while Sam poured, and he kept the stream going, moving back and forth over the wounds. Dean bucked under his hand and writhed, but Sam pressed his upper body to the floor to keep him from rolling away. "Almost done."

Ellie held the flashlight steady so Sam could see while tears rolled down her cheeks for the agony Dean was in, and she squeezed his hand back. "I'm sorry."

Dean was dragged screaming back into consciousness by the liquid fire being poured over his back and Sam and Ellie's voices trying to anchor him through it. He shouted and knew he was crushing whoever's hand he was holding. "Sam!"

"Right here, Dean," Sam said and fought to keep his voice calm. It hurt him to cause his brother this much pain even to help him. He wanted to stop and give Dean time to catch his breath, but he knew he couldn't. He had to finish cleansing the wounds or they would kill him. "Almost, Dean. Just breathe…keep breathing." Sam remembered how it had felt, like a weight had been sitting on his chest while Dean cleansed his wounds in the car.

"How much longer?" Ellie asked and propped the light between her chin and shoulder so she could grasp Dean's trembling hand in both of her own. "Sam?"

"Close." Sam had nearly emptied the container of holy water by the time it stopped bubbling. Dean heaved a great, ragged breath and settled to the floor, so disturbingly still that Sam feared the trauma had killed him. "Dean?" He set the canteen down and lunged to get a hand to his brother's sweat-covered throat. "Oh, thank God." Sam breathed and sagged forward in relief when he felt Dean's racing pulse under his fingers.

Ellie rubbed her fingers over the back of Dean's now limp hand and brushed the tears off her face with her other hand. "He's alright now?"

"He will be, yeah." Sam pushed back up with a soft groan of pain and held an arm over his stomach for a moment. "Crap."

"Sam?" Ellie took her light and shined it on him curiously. "Dean said something about you being in the hospital. Are you alright?"

Sam nodded wearily though he wasn't sure about that anymore and pulled the bag closer. "I'll be fine." He took out the first aid kit and pulled out the bandages and gauze. "I'm more worried about him right now." He blinked, surprised at himself for not thinking and reached back into the bag. He pulled his hand out and handed a bottle of water to Ellie with a smile. "You probably want this right about now."

"Oh, good God, yes," Ellie said and if she'd any moisture left in her mouth, it would have watered. She set the flashlight down while Sam opened the bottle and took it in a shaking hand.

Sam nodded while she drank hungrily. "Go slow. Don't throw it back up because you drank too fast. Trust me."

Ellie nodded and slowed from gulps to sips but the water felt like heaven in her parched mouth and throat. She had been dizzy and nearly desperate enough to start drinking the dirty pool water when they had shown up. She'd emptied her own bottle of water the day before and been too terrified to venture away from the pool on her own. "Don't suppose you've got a steak in there?"

Sam chuckled softly and shook his head. "Sorry." But then a thought occurred to him and he unzipped one of the outside pockets of the bag. Ruefully he held up an open, half eaten protein bar he'd stashed in there when he'd gotten distracted on a hunt a week or two earlier and forgotten about. "It's probably stale, but –" He got no further before Ellie snatched it from his hand, peeled back the open wrapper and took a bite with a little moan of pleasure.

She flashed him a grateful smile and mumbled "Desperate times," around a mouthful of probably rock-hard granola and dried fruit.

He smiled and nodded in understanding, picked his flashlight back up and aimed it across the pool again. He had to search and finally found the nukelavee in the door. It was easing silently around it and out of sight. He frowned. He liked it better when he knew where it was. He turned back to his brother and put his attention on dressing the wounds and ignoring his own pain. Dean stirred just as Sam was finishing up and he watched his brother's head turn to the side and glazed, green eyes blink open in the dim light.

"S'mmy?" Dean slurred softly as he woke.

"Right here, Dean." Sam put a hand to the back of his head for a second to let him know where he was. "How do you feel?"

Dean moaned softly and then startled when he realized his hand was still being held. He managed to raise his head enough to see and smiled weakly at Ellie. "Like hell but…pretty girl's holdin' my hand, so…been worse."

Ellie laughed softly and smiled down at him. "You always flirt when you wake up?"

Sam chuckled. "He pretty much flirts when he breathes."

"Shuddup, Sam," Dean pulled off a weak glare and then groaned. "Floor's cold. Help me up."

"Hang on." Sam taped the last bandage in place and then took the arm Ellie didn't have hold of. "Ok, here we go. Slowly, dude."

Dean nodded wordlessly and let them roll him carefully over while Sam pulled until finally he was sitting on the cold, marble floor. A wave of vertigo washed over him, and his head tipped forward to thump into his brother's shoulder. "Shit."

"It's alright." Sam held on to him while Dean's ragged breathing slowly evened out. He pulled Dean's discarded jacket over and carefully draped it across his brother's back before the chill in the room could get to him. "Take your time."

"Good," Dean raised his head slowly while his face reddened for looking so weak in front of Ellie. "I'm good."

"You're really not," Sam said and pulled Dean's jacket around his shoulders so he could work his arms into the sleeves. "I should know."

Dean rolled his eyes and nodded. "Where'd ugly go?"

"Don't know," Sam rested back on his heels with a hand over his ribs. "It was in here for a while and then it just left."

"I tried to get out once," Ellie said softly and looked down at the floor. "It almost caught me at the top of the stairs. "It was waiting for me."

Dean put a hand on her knee when he saw her shiver and smiled. "You're gonna be fine now. We're gonna gank that thing and get you outta here. I promise."

"Don't," Ellie said suddenly and shook her head sadly. "You can't promise that."

"Yeah, I can." Dean gave her a lop-sided smile. "A Winchester always keeps his promise."

Sam smiled softly and sat back further. Dean was using the same tone he used to use with Sam when they were kids and Sam was frightened of something or on their first few hunts when he had all but cowered behind his big brother. Dean had always promised he would get him out safe because a 'Winchester always keeps his promise,' and if Dean said it, he had to do it. Sam remembered how comforting that had been when he was young, how easily he had believed it because his big brother told him so, and he missed that innocence. Now he was seriously wondering how the hell they were going to get out of this mess with both of them hurting and weakened and facing a creature they had never dealt with before.

"Hey." Dean frowned and grabbed Sam's shoulder worriedly while his brother seemed to be staring off at nothing with a hand braced low on his ribs.

Sam jerked his head up in surprise. He didn't realize how far off into his own thoughts he'd gone. "Huh? Sorry."

"Alright. That's it for break time," Dean said and got his legs under him. "Nope, stay there a minute longer." He kept a hand on Sam's good shoulder and used it to get himself standing and keep Sam on the floor. Dean swayed a little and then found his balance. He pulled his jacket around his chest and zipped it up. "Where's my gun?"

Ellie grabbed it from where Sam had left it on the floor and handed it to him. "Here. What can I do?"

"Keep chuckles there sitting down 'til I say otherwise." Dean smiled at her. "He's stubborn. You might have to sit on him."

Sam glared and as he moved to stand up, Ellie was suddenly there tugging him back down. "Dammit. You are NOT fighting this thing alone, Dean!"

"I know, alright?" Dean looked down at him seriously. "But I am gonna figure out a way to gank this thing that doesn't involve you getting injured again. If you think I can't see you're worse after that fall, you're stupid as well as stubborn."

"Dean, I'm…"

"If you say you're fine, I WILL knock your ass out while I do this," Dean growled angrily. He winced when his back pulled painfully and sighed. "You might be bleeding internally right now, Sam. That was a hell of a fall."

Sam opened his mouth to argue and then closed it. Dean was right, and if the shoe were on the other foot, he'd be just as scared as Dean was right then. "Fine. But if I even think you're going to go after that thing alone, I'll be the one knocking YOU out."

Dean grinned. "Deal." He straightened his jacket and bent next to the weapons bag. "But only because you couldn't beat me right now if you tried, genius."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Ellie laughed softly at them and kept her hold on Sam's arm, just in case. "So, what do we do now?"

Dean dug through the bag and found his spare clip. He pushed it into his pocket and picked up Ellie's flashlight. "I'm gonna go see where Silent Hill wandered off to first while you stay here." He raised a hand before Sam could open his mouth. "Promise, dude. Just gonna stick my head out the door."

"And then?" Ellie asked, no more happy than Sam was with the division of labor.

"Once I know where he is, we lure him out and Sam fills him full of lead while I sneak in and take its head." Dean smiled. "Easy."

"Right," Sam said as Dean stood, swayed and then groaned. "Easy."

"Yep," Dean rolled his head and went to the edge of the pool. His jeans were already wet and he sighed before dropping into the water with a soft splash. He grimaced at the color of it, scummed as it was with rust, algae and sand, and crossed to the stairs thinking, even if they got out of this without further injury, they'd probably both still end up with infections from wading around in the murky water with open wounds. He shone his light at the broken door while he climbed out and listened intently for any sound from the other side; there was nothing. "Too damn quiet," Dean whispered and put his back to the unbroken door. He went carefully to the edge and leaned to look out. He played the flashlight around the room and then toward the stairs. He was just about to move back when he saw it; the set of double doors to the left of the pool. They were open just a crack, and he was sure they had been closed the first time they'd come up to the pool level. Dean backed away from the door and down the steps into the pool with his nerves tingling.

"Dean?" Sam asked quietly as his brother waded back to their side of the pool. He moved and gave Ellie a look until she rolled her eyes with a smile and let him. "Thanks." He got to his feet with Ellie next to him and watched Dean stiffly try to pull himself back out and then give up with a snarl of frustration.

"It's hiding out in the room to the left of us," Dean said breathlessly and rested his arms on the edge to give his aching back a rest. "Grab the spare gun from the bag, Sam, and get out here. We're gonna bag us a knuck-a-whatsit right the hell now." He looked up at Ellie. "Your job is to stay behind him. He's more hurt than he's fessin' up to."

"Dean."

"Sam."

"Just…" Sam blew out an aggrieved breath and smirked. "Fine. Let's do this." There was no point in arguing with Dean when he was like this. All Sam could do was work around the big-brother-protective-streak that ran deeper than even Sam realized. He turned to the bag, but Ellie was already pulling the gun out and handed it up to him.

"Here." Ellie shoved the mess of the first aid kit back inside it and then picked up the heavy bag, slinging it over her shoulders. "Let's do this."

Sam gave Ellie a look of quiet awe and put his free hand on her shoulder with a smile. "You're pretty amazing, Ellie." He meant it. After everything she had seen and been through, she was shouldering the horror and fighting rather than collapsing into terror like her friend in the van had done.

Dean snorted and grinned up at her. "Does Matt know he's dating Xena, warrior princess?"

Ellie chuckled and followed Sam to the edge of the pool. "The day I met him he said girls couldn't throw a proper punch."

"I know I'm gonna love this," Dean said while she sat on the edge of the pool and grinned at him. "And?"

"He declared his undying love for me once he woke up," Ellie said and shrugged happily.

Sam laughed and eased himself down to the side of the pool. "I'll give you Dean's number. If you ever leave Matt, he'll take you on. He likes a challenge." He slid into the water while Ellie laughed and rolled his eyes when he felt his brother's fingers try to sneak across the back of his neck in a fever check.

Dean smiled, letting the light conversation lessen some of the tension before he climbed back up the stairs out of the pool. He stopped them a few feet from the door. "I'm going to ease out along the wall," he whispered. "Gimme a thirty count and then make some noise. Get ugly's attention. And, Sam…do NOT fall through the floor again." Dean gave him a quick grin.

Sam rolled his eyes, but then watched fearfully as Dean turned his flashlight off and slipped out of the door. He didn't realize just how much he'd tensed up until Ellie's hand landed on his elbow. "Thirty seconds," he whispered to her and took a step nearer the door to be ready.

Dean blinked furiously in the gloomy darkness and kept his left hand just behind him so he knew where the wall was. He took careful, measured steps and ignored the still burning pain in his back with each one. He nodded to himself when he reached the corner and soundlessly changed direction. In his head, he was counting and hit thirty at the same moment that the beam of a flashlight shone out of the pool door again and he heard his brother's voice. Dean kept his eyes away from the light and to his left where he knew the door was. He heard Sam's heavy step purposefully making noise as he stepped out into the open and cursed his little brother's stubbornness at putting himself in danger as he heard something move in the nearby door. Dean heard the sound of a heavy breath. He smelled the faint odor of sulfur, and readied himself when the nukelavee emerged with its eyes fixed across the room on Sam.

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To Be Continued…