Chapter 3

"What do you mean it pushed you?" Jody asked as she caught Sam's eyes. "Are you sure you didn't just back into the widow while you were fighting with it?"

Sam shook his head. "No, it had me pinned to the wall then it moved me over and pushed me through that window." He explained, struggling to find a reason why the creature wouldn't have wanted to feed off him instead. When Castiel walked into the room, their eyes met for only a moment and Sam knew the news was bad. "Did you find him?" He asked, watching as the angel's gaze drifted to the woman sitting on the edge of his bed.

"No." The angel replied simply. "I found his flashlight in one of the small office rooms upstairs, and his blade on the floor but no other trace of him... him or the Djin that attacked you."

"The last I saw of him, the Djin had him pinned to the floor." Sam recalled, swearing under his breath as he once again tried to sit up. "I don't even know if he got up off the floor or not, I was too busy trying to get that damn Djin's hand away from my throat." Castiel took a quick glance at the open door behind him before reaching down to press a hand to Sam's forehead. Almost instantly Sam could feel his wounds heal, from his shoulder and back to the headache, scrapes, scratches and bruises. He knew the angel's power had faded since he'd gotten his stolen Grace back but there were some things he could still do and this was one he would do without hesitation, especially for him or his brother.

"How do feel now?" Castiel asked as he pulled away.

"Much better, thanks Cas." He whispered as he finally sat up, relieved the pain caused in the fall was now gone so he could focus on finding his brother. "We need to go over your victim reports again." He said as he turned to Jody. "See if there's a pattern or a connection between them that we missed." Castiel watched as the woman got to her feet and handed Sam a duffle bag she had pulled from the back seat of the Impala. "There has to be a reason why it pushed me through a window instead of making me its next meal."

"You get dressed and I'll go sign you out." Jody replied as she headed for the door.

"What exactly are you going to tell them?" Sam asked. "I doubt they were going to be releasing me this early..."

"I'll figure something out, just come meet me at the nursing station."

Castiel pulled the curtain separation closed as he waited for Sam to dress. He'd searched every inch of that old factory and had found no trace of Dean, or the Djin that had taken him. Though the situation was cause for concern, it wasn't the Djin that had Castiel worried; it was the mark of Cain. Dean was doing what he could to hide it but the angel could tell that its need for bloodshed was getting stronger, no matter how hard Dean tried to fight it. "How has he been lately?" He asked quietly, watching as nurses passed back and forth out in the hall. "Was hunting this thing his idea or yours?"

"His." Sam was quick to reply. "Jody had been tracking it and sent us the info she had so far. Dean's the one that jumped on it, he took the case because he needed a break from the research." When Sam pulled the curtain aside, the angel turned to face him. "He seems alright, but he's been having nightmares... it worries me, Cas." Sam admitted as he passed a hand through his hair. "It's like one moment he's in control and the next he isn't. I can tell that he's fighting it but I don't know how long he'll be able to keep this up."

"We'll find a way to rid him of the mark." Castiel assured, watching as Sam grabbed his duffle bag from the bed. "But first we need to deal with this Djin." He continued as they made their way down the hall to the main desk. "One thing at a time." Though he offered the other man what he could of a reassuring smile, his thoughts were racing with the worst case scenario of what would become of Dean if he died. With the mark of Cain's darkness holding fast, Castiel couldn't help but wonder if they would be able to cure the demon Dean would once again become, should they be too late to save his life.

*****************************

Dean's eyes were still glued to the police report long after Bill's footsteps had disappeared up the stairs. "This isn't good." He muttered under his breath, letting the piece of paper fall to the bed beside him. He knew what was real and what wasn't, knew what the other hunter had told him about his family was all an elaborate story the Djin had spun to keep his mind busy while his body withered away inside that old factory somewhere. Eyeing the bandage wrapped around his right forearm for a moment, he tore the tape away and unwrapped the gauze to have a look at whatever wound it was covering. Seeing the large gash where the mark of Cain use to be only further confirmed what he already knew.

Unlike his first encounter with a Djin, this one hadn't given him a life he would have wanted, this one had tossed him into the mess his life would have become had he not been a hunter with his father. Pushing it all aside, he swallowed hard as he once again tried to figure out when the Djin would have had time to do him in. Attacked in the small office room, he was pinned to the floor before shots rang out and the creature got off of him. It had been a no more than a few seconds, but the more the scene played out in his head, the more Dean started to realize those few seconds might have been the moment he'd fallen prey to the Djin he'd been hunting. He'd hunted Djin before but there was something different about this one that had him wondering if he and his brother had missed something when Jody handed them the case. The more he thought about it the more he picked apart every single detail he could recall from the moment he'd hit the floor.

It had happened in the blink of an eye but there was one thing that did jump out at him, the markings were different. Unlike anything he'd ever seen before on a Djin. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took a deep breath and swore to himself as he felt his chest tighten once again. "Not sure if you can hear me out there Cas, but it's worth a shot." He started, his eyes closing as he prayed to the angel who'd once risked everything for him. "I know this damn Djin's probably got me strung up somewhere, comatose, but in the life or reality or whatever he's dropped my mind in, another hunter picked me up. This guy tells me that he needs me alive to put this Djin he's hunting down so he's got me locked up... I don't know if it's even possible but I think we're hunting the same thing and I don't think it's a Djin like the ones we've put down before."

******************************

Castiel paused in his steps as the trio made their way across the Hospital parking lot. He took a quick glance around and his eyes caught Sam's as the other man turned, noticing he'd stopped walking.

"Cas what's wro..." Sam trailed off as the angel put a hand up to hush him.

"It's Dean." He said, listening intently as the hunter's words started trickling in.

"What? You can hear him?" Jody asked, watching as the angel once again took a glance around the parking lot.

"Yes." Castiel replied simply. "He says that he's ok but that another hunter picked him up... He also tells me that he's not so sure it's a Djin you were hunting. He said the markings were different."

"How can you hear him when we don't even know where he is?" Jody asked as they continued to make their way across the lot.

"He prayed to me." Castiel started quietly, wondering what condition the young hunter was really in for him to have made such a call.

"Does he pray to you often?" Jody asked the tone of her voice pulling a slight smile from Sam's lips.

"No." The angel replied simply. "He hasn't prayed to me since Purgatory."

"Well, when he can't just pick up the phone and call, at least he knows one way to reach you." Sam replied, happy to have had some news about what had happened to his brother. "If he's reaching out to you, at least we know he's still alive even if it's all in his subconscious." He continued as they reached Jody's truck. "I say we head back to the bunker and see what we can dig up on any Djin-like creatures... I'm starting to think it wasn't a Djin either."

***************************************

Dean glanced up as the door at the top of the stairs unlatched and opened. Though this hunter seemed to know what he was talking about, he couldn't ignore his own instinct or the feeling in his gut. He had to go back to that old factory, he had to go find his little brother and get himself out of this mess. He watched as Bill made his way over with a tray of food in his hands.

"Hope you're hungry." He announced as he placed the tray down on his cluttered desk and headed towards the small cell.

Dean didn't move from his spot on the edge of the bed as he watched Bill pull a set of keys from his pocket. He was too busy studying everything he could about the older man to offer a reply. The set of keys in his left front pocket, the handle of the gun sticking out of his belt, everything from the way he moved down to which hand he used to unlock the cell door. They were small details, but details that would help him gauge the other hunter's next move once he made his own.

"You want to use the bathroom?" Bill asked as he made his way towards the small bed.

"Yeah actually I do." Dean replied, sucking in a breath as he felt his heart start to race. When Bill reached over to unlock the handcuff from around the headboard of the bed, Dean was ready. The moment it unlatched, he sprang from his seat and grabbed the other man's hand to force it down. He threw a punch that caught Bill in the jaw then reached for the other man's gun. Though every movement was painful, Dean forced himself to keep going through it. As he gripped the weapon's handle, the other man kneed him in the ribs. It was a blow he hadn't seen coming and one that sent him to the floor in an instant. He was on his knees, hunched over with his arms wrapped around his ribs, gasping desperately to catch his breath when he heard the gun load.

"Pretty gutsy move for a man that can barely stand on his own two feet." Bill growled, passing a hand over his bloodied lip as he watched Dean struggle to catch his breath. "You're locked up for your own good." He continued. "The sooner you realize that the easier all of this is going to be on you!"

Dean swore to himself as he started coughing up blood, the heaving motion sending a whole new level of pain coursing through his battered body. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand then leaned against the small bed behind him, his lungs burning with every breath. "I need to go find my brother." He hissed through clenched teeth, his words barely coming together.

"Your brother's dead." Bill was quick to reply, the bluntness in his voice another blow to the young man on the floor in front of him. "And you would be too if I hadn't of picked you up at that old factory. "

There was a moment of silence as those words cut Dean down to the core. Though he knew it wasn't true, at least not the truth he knew, he still wasn't sure what had happened to Sam once he'd been pushed off the platform. The smile that crept up to the corner of his lip as he sat up made the other man's eyes narrow. "You're not going to kill me." He started, staring down the barrel of the gun in Bill's hands. "You said you needed me alive to take this Djin down." He continued, repeating what the other hunter had already told him as he pulled himself back up to his feet.

"Actually, all I really need is your blood." Bill growled, his patience wearing thin. "The only reason you're still alive after that stunt you just pulled, is because I've got a bar full of patrons upstairs who'd hear the gunshot."

Dean sucked in a breath as he straightened out and steadied himself for another try. "Good to know." He replied as he threw another punch and grabbed the muzzle of the gun with his other hand.