The site went down earlier after I had typed a few thousand words. Cue internal screaming. I retyped it but it just isn't the same. Hopefully, it still flows well. Thanks for the reviews and messages. You all give me life.

###RK###

"What did he say?" Kate asked.

Dean shook his head.

Kate got close to Caleb's face. "How do you feel?"

Caleb winced. "Violated."

Kate tilted her head.

"He's giving me a hard time for having my hand on his chest when he woke up." Dean said.

John took the water from Taylor. He dipped a clean cloth in the water and touched it to Caleb's mouth. "You shouldn't drink anything. We don't know how much got damaged."

Dean looked at Caleb's stomach and got woozy again. "Told you it was just a scratch."

Caleb groaned. "Something for pain would be real nice."

John looked through a box of medicine. "I can give you this but it is going to knock you out."

Caleb tilted his head. "Fine by me, just make sure Dean keeps his hands to himself."

Dean patted Caleb's shoulder. He rolled his chair back to make more room for John.

John drew up the appropriate dose and added it to the IV that was already in Caleb's arm.

Kate got a pillow for Caleb's head and slid it under him gently. She ran a cool cloth across his forehead and neck. "Rest."

John put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "What got you? Do we need to worry about either of you turning?"

Dean blinked. "I sure hope not."

"I know it is fresh but what happened?" John coaxed.

Dean blinked away moisture in his eyes. "We went to the house. EMF was going nuts and we went into the basement. That is when we saw this.. this... creature."

"So it wasn't a ghost." John said.

Dean hung his head. "I don't know. There were ghosts and these... things." He shuddered at the memory. "At least two ghosts. The basement was dark and the lights got knocked out except for a little sunlight through a window. The things didn't like the light."

John could see the turmoil in Dean's body. "Kate, do you mind keeping an eye on Caleb?"

Kate nodded.

John walked with Dean to his room and sat down in a chair. "Go on."

"We couldn't get back up the stairs because the ghosts had us locked in. I broke the window." Dean trailed off.

John tossed him the trashcan before he threw up in the floor. He turned his back to give Dean the privacy he needed.

"It is my fault." Dean said.

John grabbed a washcloth and ran it under warm water from the room's sink.

"We were boxed in and I went through the window to get some better weapons. It got him then. I dove in the window and I guess that is when I got scraped up. He was fine. I thought he was fine. We had the ghosts and the creatures coming at us. I cut its head off and got us up the stairs. I didn't know about his stomach until we were outside. I knew he was hurt but..."

John turned his back again to let Dean do what he needed to do. When he heard silence he turned back around. "This isn't your fault. You didn't have a choice and did the right thing by going for more weapons."

"You weren't there." Dean said.

John nodded. "You are right. I wasn't."

Dean rubbed his face. "I think there were more than one of those things. I don't know if they regrow their head or what."

John sighed. "What were they?"

Dean stared at the wall. "I've never seen one before. I don't know. I didn't get a good look at it."

"I'd say the building is burned to the ground by now." John said.

Dean flinched.

John frowned. "I'm not chastising you. Burning the place was a good call."

"We won't know anything about the place. We won't know what they were or why they were teamed up with ghosts." Dean scolded himself.

"You boys barely got out of their alive. Who cares what they were?" John said.

Dean looked at him. "What if they don't burn and are out now? What if they leave the rubble at night and go into town?"

John held his hand up. "We will have somebody go check it out."

Dean stood quickly. "No, they could end up like Caleb."

"I can go." Castiel said.

Dean relaxed. "Please."

Kate sat beside Caleb and drummed her fingers on the table. She felt tired and a little dizzy. She smelled copper and dabbed at her nose. She got up to grab a tissue and everything went black.

Castiel observed the burning building as firefighters soaked the flames. He remained in his celestial form and searched for signs of creatures. There were no signs of ghosts so it was likely that torching the place got rid of the sports. He found a charred humanoid body but it crumbled under his touch. There were other remains that seemed to belong to normal humans. He saw something cowering in a corner and approached it. He pulled it from the house and deposited it into a cage in a dark room before returning to Dean's side.

Dean blinked. "What did you see?"

"The spirits are gone. There was one charred body. There seemed to have been remains of potential victims and I captured one of the creatures." Castiel said.

"Where is it?" John asked.

"Locked away in a dark place." Castiel said.

Dean paled.

"I'd like to look at it. I may have an idea what it is." John said.

Dean nodded slowly.

Castiel took John to the building that was holding the strange creature.

John could hear the howls and it was bone-chilling.

"It does not handle any form of light." Castiel said.

John sighed. "Great." He shrugged. "Turn it on anyway."

Castiel snapped his fingers and light flooded the room.

John jumped back as the creature lunged at him. He quickly videoed the creature and instructed Castiel to turn the light off. He stepped out of the dark room, into a hallway, to view the video. He furrowed his brows. The creature was human like but hunched like a chimp. It was hairless and had razor sharp claws on each hand. The creature moved quickly so he couldn't see the fine details. It had jagged teeth and red eyes. "I don't know what that is." He called Bobby for possible ideas.

Bobby was shocked to hear about the whole ordeal. "They are okay now?"

"Caleb is getting there. Dean is shaken. I'm trying to figure out what this thing is in case it has a werewolf effect."

Bobby sighed. "How long are the claws?"

John watched the video. "I'd say a good 6 inches."

Bobby hissed. "No wonder Caleb got flayed."

"It's a wonder he didn't end up worse." John said. "The thing loses it when it is touched by light so getting a look at it is a problem."

Bobby wrote down the details John gave him. "Okay, I'll do some digging. You make sure those boys mend."

John nodded. "On it."

Taylor brought Kate some hot chocolate and noted that she was out of the room. He heard the sink running on his way down the hallway and figured she must be washing off. He sat the coco down and walked out of the room. He ran into Aphrim as she exited the bathroom. "Hey, is Kate in there?"

Aphrim shook her head.

Taylor walked back to the infirmary and say Kate's feet. "Kate!"

Dean heard Taylor yell and took off. "What is it?"

Taylor lifted Kate to a sitting position.

Dean grabbed a tissue to staunch the nosebleed. "Dammit."

Taylor placed his palm on Kate's head. "I think she will be okay. She is mending."

Dean took Kate from Taylor. "She pushed herself too much."

Taylor nodded. "I think so."

Dean carried Kate to his bed and sat down with her in his arms. "I've got her."

Aphrim felt human emotions and they were suffocating.

Taylor nudged Aphrim. "Can you watch Caleb?"

She nodded and left.

Taylor swapped tissues with Dean. "I wonder what all that looked like from Heaven."

Dean rested his chin on Kate's head. "Probably like a neon arrow pointing to this place."

"I'll deflect what I can." Taylor said.

Dean gave him a sad smile. "If they saw it already, that won't do us much good."

Taylor grinned sheepishly. "She pulled John here."

Dean nodded. "I know."

"In baby." He added.

Dean blinked. "If I have to repair the car, that is okay. Would you mind checking on it?"

Taylor felt a little better having a job. He checked the car and was surprised that only a tire had been flattened at first glance. That move alone was monumental for Kate. He sat on the ground and tried to pinpoint where the tire had been punctured. If he could fix it, that was one less thing for Dean to do. He let his eyes follow the lines of the car and realized that there was blood down the side of the car, likely from Caleb. His heart sank. He opened the front door and the seat, steering wheel, driver's door, and dashboard looked like a crime scene. He sighed and got some supplies to clean the mess. Once he finished with the front seat, he opened both front doors and set up a fan to blow air across the seat to dry the water. He gave the rest of the car a quick wipe down as well and went back to Dean. "Is she still asleep?"

Dean nodded. "She has been out for a while."

Taylor touched Kate's face. "I think she is just sleeping."

Dean shifted Kate to the bed and propped her head on his leg. "I didn't realize how much she was taking out of herself."

"Please don't scold her for it. She kept saying that Caleb was your best friend and she couldn't let him die." Taylor said.

Dean ran his fingers down the side of Kate's face. "I won't. I know how bad it was." He leaned his head back against the wall and took a deep breath.

"I'll make you some coffee."

"Thanks, kid." Dean said.

John went back for another look at the beast. "Can you get a good look at it? Surely angels can see in the dark."

Castiel nodded. He studied the creature from a closer angle. "I will do some research of my own. We should return to the bunker."

John nodded. He stumbled slightly when his feet touched the floor of the library. He walked into the hallway, toward the infirmary to check on Caleb but was stopped by Taylor.

"Kate passed out. Dean has her. She seems to just be worn out. Caleb's vitals are decent and he is stable. Would you mind taking this with you?" Taylor said and handed John two mugs of coffee.

"She just passed out?" John asked.

"Her nose was bleeding too." Taylor said. He balanced a small plate on Dean's mug of coffee and stepped back.

John walked down the hallway and handed Dean his plate and mug. "How is she?"

Dean looked down at Kate. "She seems okay. Are these pizza rolls?"

John shrugged and walked out of the room.

Dean popped one of the rolls in his mouth and chewed slowly. He whistled for Taylor. "What are these?"

"Kinda like pie but with cream cheese and apples."

Dean ate another one. "Your grandmother is an angel."

Taylor smiled brightly.

Dean sipped his coffee. "Hey, when Caleb is better and can eat, do you think you could make some cookies?"

Taylor tilted his head. "Yeah."

"The first two ghosts I dealt with were simple. They weren't trying to hurt us. Caleb joked about the third one being a grandmotherly type that baked cookies." He felt a pang in his heart. "We didn't get that lucky."

"I'm sorry." Taylor said.

"Ah, it is what it is." Dean said.

"How are the cuts on your arm and side?" Taylor asked.

Dean rolled up his sleeve. "Getting better."

"Let me know if you need anything. I may not be as much of a medic but I'm happy to help."

"Thank you."

Taylor left Dean and joined John. "How is he looking?"

John winced. "Still rough. The thing that got him had knives for claws." He held out his hands to show the approximate length of the claws. "He is healing but I don't know what got sliced or where. That is the issue with abdominal wounds."

"I can try healing him a little more." Taylor said.

John shook his head. "I don't want the surface wound closing up and covering internal wounds. I'd feel better if he was in a hospital but we can't move him and paramedics can't come in here."

"So he isn't out of the woods?"

"No. Not yet. I think Kate's blood is keeping him alive. It is healing him too but had Dean not given him that boost, he wouldn't be here. Hell, he shouldn't be here. Even with this amount of damage. Castiel couldn't even heal him." John placed his hand on Caleb's neck just to feel his pulse again.

"Any idea what did it?" Taylor asked.

John sat down on a stool and looked toward the ceiling. "I haven't encountered anything quite like it. It was boney and hairless. I don't know if it was once human or what it is. Bobby is looking into it." John added more medication to Caleb's IV. "If he remains stable, the next thing we worry about is infection. Even if he heals, that wound is nasty."

"Don't hospitals have those sucker things?" Taylor asked.

John sighed. "Yeah, to clear the blood but we don't have one. I am not that kind of surgeon. I can do basic stuff. I can't put a man's intestines back together."

"I'll do some reading on abdominal wounds. Even if I can't help, I'd like to know what we are looking at." Taylor said. He looked around. "Maybe I can wipe stuff down too. I'd imagine we want this place as sterile as could be."

John nodded. "Yeah, we do."

Dean's shock was wearing off and he felt his heart rate increasing. He felt stupid for getting into that position in the first place but there was no way for them to have known what was in that basement beforehand. He ran his fingers down the cut on his arm. It was nothing. It was a splinter compared to what Caleb ended up with. A chill went up his spine at the memory of the creature. What really chilled him was seeing Caleb fade away. He had seen people die but not like that. He had seen wounds but not like that. No, those were things in horror stories. He thought of the dominos Kate was so worried about. Had Brian not left her with them, she wouldn't be in the bunker with them. If she hadn't thought to give him the syringe, there was no way Caleb would have survived. Had Taylor not came up with the idea for the bracelet, any of the ghosts could have easily overpowered them. The kids changed the timeline enough that Castiel appeared in their lives years before he would have otherwise. His existence felt frail. One wrong move and he could be gone. He shook the thoughts from his head. He couldn't get wrapped up in that mess.

Kate opened her eyes and looked up at Dean. She remembered being with Caleb and then things faded. "Dean?"

Dean startled. "Oh god, hey kiddo."

"Did I pass out?"

"Yeah, pushed yourself too hard." Dean said with a raised eyebrow.

Kate rubbed her face. "Are you seriously going to get on to me?"

Dean smiled. "No."

Kate smiled. "Good. How is Caleb?"

"We can check on him if you feel up to it. No more blood though." Dean said.

Kate rolled her eyes and sat up. "Fine."

Dean helped Kate stand up and made sure she was steady.

Kate put her hands on her hips. "Wait a minute."

Dean furrowed his brows. "What?"

Kate sidestepped and kicked him in the seat.

Dean stumbled forward. "What was that?"

"I told you if you use the blood I got to kick your butt."

Dean laughed. "Oh, you were being literal."

Kate shrugged. "You're too big for me to try anything else."

Dean ruffled her hair. "I didn't use it on me."

"I didn't say you had to." Kate said.

"Thank you for sending that. I never thought I'd need it." Dean said.

Kate hugged him. "I had one of those feelings."

John smiled a little when he saw Kate. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. Just needed some rest. How is Caleb?"

John put his hand on Caleb's forehead. "He seems okay for now."

Dean stared at the bandages on Caleb's stomach. He slowly blinked and swallowed. "Is that healing?"

John nodded. "He isn't going through as many bandages as he was."

Dean felt queasy. "Is everything back where it is supposed to be?"

John rubbed his face. "I don't know how much damage was done. I don't know if his bowel was perforated. If it was, he runs a high risk of infection. I don't know if any of his other organs are compromised."

Dean sat beside Caleb's bed. "We could move him to an actual bed."

John shook his head. "Moving him again could cause more damage."

"I can give him more blood." Kate said.

"No." Dean and John said at the same time.

"Me passing out is nothing. He needs it."

"We will wait. He isn't getting worse. He could pull through without additional blood. If he needs more, Dean can donate." John said.

Kate frowned. "Dean's blood doesn't heal."

"No, but it could prevent someone from dying if they are losing blood." John said.

Dean sat up straight. "We should probably go ahead and do that."

"No, you lost blood too. I don't want you doing that until you absolutely have to. What is Caleb's blood type? I may be able to help." John said.

"What about Taylor?" Dean asked.

"We don't know if his blood would have the same effect. I am surprised Kate's did." John said.

"When I jabbed him, I was not sure if it would help or hurt." Dean said.

John looked at Caleb again. "I don't think it could have hurt him any worse than this."

### ###

Sam put his arm around Jess and pulled her closer to him as they walked. They had been walking on a side of campus that didn't have good cell signal. As they rounded a building, Sam's cell started to buzz. He pulled it from his pocket and stopped walking. He had several messages from Taylor. "Hey, Jess. Hold on. I'm going to listen to this voicemail."

"Sam, a hunt went south. Dean is injured. Caleb critical. Call, please."

Sam quickly dialed Taylor's number and paced. "Taylor?"

Taylor let out a long breath. "Sam!"

"I didn't have a signal. What happened?" Sam asked, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

"Ghost hunt turned out to be more than that. Dean is okay. He is shaken up but his injuries are healing. Caleb isn't so well off. He is stable right now but it is touch and go. Sam, it's a gut wound." Taylor said.

Sam sat down on a bench. "How bad?"

"Kate gave him three rounds of blood and he's medicated to stay asleep. He still has a massive wound and you can see... things." Taylor said.

Sam bit his fist. "What... what happened?"

"They got trapped in a basement. Something was down there. John said the claws are like knives. I called when things were real bad. Dean just has scratches left. I think we are worried about infection for Caleb and keeping bleeding under control."

"Thank you for letting me know. I can head that way." Sam said.

"No. There isn't anything you can do. You may want to give Dean a call tonight. He was in shock when he got here and he's going to break down at some point. Whatever happened down there is going to leave some psychological damage." Taylor said.

Sam rubbed the back of his head. "Okay, please keep me updated. Is everyone else okay?"

"Yeah. Everyone is tense waiting on a change with Caleb but we are holding up."

"Okay, I'll make sure I'm in cell range. Thank you."

Jess sat down beside Sam once he got off the phone. "What's wrong?"

Sam slowly shook his head and looked away from her.

Jess rubbed his back. "Sensitive guys are all the rage, so you can drop the tough guy act."

Sam swallowed hard. "I can't."

Jess moved her hand up his back and into his hair. "Sam."

"There was an accident. My brother and a friend that is like a brother..."

Jess tilted his face toward her. "I'm going to get us something to drink. You stay here."

Sam gave her a small smile. "Thanks." He didn't know how he managed to get a girl like Jess to like him but he wasn't going to question it. He sent Dean a message so he didn't call at a bad time.

Dean called Sam. "Hey."

"Hey, Taylor told me. I didn't get the messages when they first sent. Are you okay?"

Dean sighed. "Yeah."

"Dean, come on." Sam said.

"I don't want to think about it." Dean said.

Sam managed to get a few details from him and get him to voice some of his fears. He felt guilty for not being there to have their back.

"Sammy, don't worry about it. There wasn't room in the spotlight for three anyway." Dean said.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Taylor said Caleb was stable."

"Right now. He woke up for a minute but the pain was too much." Dean said. He scoffed. "His first words were to tell me to get my hands off his tits."

Sam grinned. "That sounds like Caleb."

They were both quiet for a moment as they remembered all the things that they had been through with him.

Jess returned with drinks and sat down.

"Hold on Dean." Sam said.

Jess handed Sam a drink. "Sam, I was thinking. You should come back to my place."

"I don't think that's appropriate." Sam said. "I'm okay, really."

Dean cleared his throat loudly.

Sam put the phone to his ear again.

"Go to her place, Sam." Dean said.

Sam rubbed his temple. "Shut up."

"If a girl tells you to go to her place, you go. Have I taught you nothing? Are you even my brother? Follow the chick to her house." Dean said.

Jess smiled. "Hi, Dean."

"Drag him." Dean said.

Sam leaned back on the bench. "I am trying to make sure your sorry ass is okay."

"It is, so make me proud." Dean said.

Jess giggled.

"Updates, when you get them." Sam said.

"Uh huh. Now, go, run."

Sam hung up the phone. "He is a caveman."

"So, like I was saying. I want you to come back to my place." Jess said.

Sam swallowed. "Why?"

"I don't know what happened but it is weighing on you." Jess said.

"I'm okay." Sam said. He didn't want to be a burden.

"Sam, now is the time to presume." Jess said.

Sam's eyes got wide. He took her hand when she offered it to him and followed her toward her building.

### ###

John looked at the clock on the wall and checked Caleb again. "Kate, you need to get ready for bed."

"No, I want to stay here." Kate said.

John eyed her. "I didn't ask."

Kate frowned. "What if he needs help?"

"I'll be here. I'll wake you if he needs something from you." John said.

Kate slumped. "I'm not sleepy."

"You are about to fall out of your chair. Now, go get ready for bed." John said.

Kate groaned and slid out of the chair. "Fine."

"Kate." John said.

Kate turned to him. "I'm going."

Dean walked into the room as Kate was leaving. "She looks cheerful."

John rubbed his face.

"I talked to Sam. He knows what is going on." Dean said.

John nodded. "Where was he?"

"Out of cell range." Dean said. He smirked a little.

"What is that?" John said, motioning to Dean's face.

"Jess has insisted he go to her place." Dean said.

John furrowed his eyebrows.

"He said he was okay. Can you believe that? It is like the last 18 years of my teaching has done nothing." Dean said.

John smirked and shook his head. "Sam has a different view on women."

"Yeah, a stupid one. They are official, thanks to Kate. Now, they are ...official... thanks to me."

"He's going to kill you." John said.

Dean shrugged. "I'm only looking out for his best interests."

John sipped his coffee. "You should probably head to bed too."

"You can't send me off to bed. That only works on Kate and Taylor." Dean said.

John raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

Dean held up his hands. "I do want to keep an eye on Caleb."

John nodded. "I'll take the first shift. Maybe throw Kate's mattress in your floor."

"To make sure she stays in bed?" Dean asked.

John knew Dean would start to struggle with the shock wearing off. "Yeah." Once all of the other inhabitants of the bunker were asleep he let his shoulders drop. He looked up when he heard Aphrim. "They know?"

Aphrim nodded. "Castiel has heard chatter on angel radio. Saving Caleb took a lot of power."

"I'm guessing you have a plan." John said.

Aphrim looked down at Caleb's face. "Yes."

John slowed the drip of Caleb's IV. "When?"

"Soon." Aphrim said. "I can make it look like the power surges were from me. If I tried to take on the type of grace that they did... I can take a few down with me."

John let out a slow breath. "You can't go behind their backs. I think Kate and Taylor need to know."

Aphrim handed John a file. "There isn't time. It is all here."

John knew the kids would have a severe reaction to not saying goodbye. "This is how it has to go?"

"Yes." Aphrim said.

John looked at the sealed file. "I'll walk you out." He opened the garage door for Aphrim and cursed himself for not telling the kids. "Thank you."

Aphrim gave him a forced smile. "It's my job." She heard the doors begin to shut behind her and the tunnel grew dark. She turned once more and looked at John. "Keep them safe."

John swallowed the lump in his throat. "It's my job." He slowly shut the doors and locked them behind him. The file felt oddly heavy in his hands. His heart felt heavy. The worry felt heavy. Everything just felt heavy. He sat back down beside Caleb and watched his chest rise and fall. There was nothing to do but watch him and wait. He sent Dean on that hunt. Would Caleb have gone if Dean hadn't? If another hunter went, would they have survived? He listened to the heart monitor beep. Would Caleb survive?