So not a chick-flick moment {Sam}

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

It had been a few hours since Dean had easily drifted off to sleep. After driving all day and not so much sleep the night before, his body was all too eager to switch off when it hit the lumpy mattress.

Sharing the bed with Annali again, with her laying nearest the wall and Dean on the side closest to the bed Sam was occupying, he'd ended up laying face down in the pillow with his right foot hanging just over the edge of the bed, slipped out from under the covers, and his right arm tucked under the pillow for easy access to the oh so sharp knife that he'd stashed under there earlier.

In some ways, keeping a weapon at hand like that was a security blanket but Sam had always told him he was being overly pananoid and that one day he was going to cut an ear off in the middle of the night. Dean had come back with a comment that even if that happened, he'd still be the good looking one.

In the stillness on the darkened room Dean began to toss and turn, his mind trapped in yet another nightmare of Hell. His legs twitched restlessly under the sheets, the grip he held on the hidden knife getting tighter, his face pinched in imagined pain. The deeper he got into subconscious terror, the heavier and more paniced his breathing became. It wasn't long before he was whispering quiet, but desperate, pleas for some unknown thing to stop what it was they were doing.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam had drifted off to sleep fairly easily considering everything that had gone on. The addition of Annali changing their well oiled machine of habits when they were on a case. Bathrooms schedules were probably the biggest change to deal with. Well, not to mention Dean and Annali had to follow each other around like little puppy dogs.

Sprawled out on the motel bed that was never big enough for Sam's long frame. Sam was used to Dean and his nightmares. Not to mention that he and Dean spent so much time together that they were just attuned to each other anyway. But, these nightmares were always something that worried Sam. When Dean started to become restless in his sleep Sam started to drift up and slowly out of his sleep.

Sam lay there for a few minutes just listening. He could hear the sounds of the sheets shifting and of Dean flipping himself over from one side to the other and back again. Then the familiar mumbling started to come from his brother. That's when Sam got up and moved over to the other bed. He knelt down next to Dean and gently shook his shoulder and quietly spoke to him.

"Hey, Dean... Wake up. Wake up Dude."

Sam kept his hand on his brothers shoulder. Waiting for him to wake up. Hoping to wake him up before it became a full on night terror. Wanting to spare Annali the anguish of going through all that.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

In Dean's mind, he was back in Hell being systematically flogged with a large, razor sharp meat hook, the tip of which kept catching on his flesh, gouging deep and bloody tears in the skin. Then in the blink of an eye he was the one weilding the torture device, usuing it to rip flesh from the bones of a whimpering soul on the rack, all the while blocking out the screams he was causing. If he stopped and listened, it was his own voice that was howling in agony, but he didn't stop. Just kept on whiping the cruel hook at the body, over and over. Muscles bunching under the effort, sweat dripping from his skin and fire licking at his body until something gripped his shoulder and shook him to stop.

"Hey, Dean... Wake up. Wake up Dude."

Reacting as though startled by the enemy, Dean abruptly woke up, eyes wide and feral as he turned to face Sam with his knife very tightly gripped in a white knuckled hand and at Sam's throat in a heartbeat. The blade stopped only a fraction of an inch from his neck but the expression on Dean's face showed that he had been intent on doing damage with the weapon. Still might because he appeared to not recognise Sam at all. His jaw was clenched tight, quivering with strain as harsh and heavy breaths were pushed in and out of flaring nostrils. He hadn't quite managed to shake the hold Hell had on him in his sleep yet.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam kept gently shaking Dean, trying to get him to wake up without disturbing Annali laying next to him. Without warning Dean moved like a flash. He was awake but he wasn't quite coherent yet. Sam could tell by the look in his eyes that he was still wrapped up in his nightmare. Not to mention the fact that Sam now had a knife being held to his throat by his own brother.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself Sam looked at Dean in the eyes. Staying very still he didn't want to provoke Dean. Letting Dean realize where he was and everything would be fine. Very quietly and in a calm voice Sam spoke, never letting his eyes leave Deans.

"Dean, dude it's me. It's Sam. Everything is cool dude. It as just another nightmare. Come on, you with me here?"

Sam sat still waiting for Dean to come around. They had been through this before. Though usually there wasn't an innocent woman sleeping in the bed next to Dean that would probably freak out if she woke up in the middle of all this.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

The claws of his nightmare finally unhooked themselves from Dean's mind and the real world started to filter back in. He felt his heart beating too fast, his muscles clenched too tightly and his breathing was hard enough to make his lungs hurt, but what really woke him up was seeing Sam's face at arms length away with Dean's own knife pressed just under his chin. It wasn't until Sam actually spoke that Dean snapped out of his trance. Then it dawned on him that he'd been dreaming and what it was he'd been dreaming about and that went some way to explaining the situation, but didn't excuse the fact he was holding a razor sharp knife to his own brother's jugular.

Gradually, grounded by the eye contact Sam was giving him, he lowered the blade as his muscles relaxed and his brain stopped trying to defend itself against attack. The mere thought of the possibilty he could have just slit Sammy's throat over a nightmare making his stomach roll and his heart sink. He wanted to throw the knife away, to go purge himself of these feeling by throwing up but he really didn't want to show anymore weakness in front of Sam. The night before was bad enough.

So Dean did what Dean typically did when he was faced with a major problem like this. He simply rolled over onto his back and pretened like it hadn't happened. Pretended like Sam hadn't just seen him scared half to death.

"Jeez Sammy." He whispered, remembering that Annali was still sharing his bed.

"Sneak up on a guy while he's sleeping why don't you." The arm that was still clinging tightly to the knife got laid limply on his stomach, his other hand moving up to rub his eyes, giving him a brief moment to pull himself together again.

"What time is it?" He asked groggily, not sure he dared to look at his brother again just yet, in case the fear still remained in his eyes.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

After a few moments of tension waiting for Dean to stand down Sam let out a soft sigh. He watched as Dean rolled over onto his back and then played it off like it was no big deal. Sam shook his head and moved to perch himself on the edge of his bed looking over at Dean. He looked down at his watch before responding.

"It's 2:30am man. You know, you're not gonna be able to hide this forever. Well, even for very much longer. Annali's gonna find out. I mean, I'm sure you've talked but what have you told her? What are we supposed to tell her about ANY of this?"

Sam rubbed his eyes for a minute then ran his hands through his hair. Scratching at his temple for a moment as he thought about the situation they were in. Then Sam chuckled and smirked at Dean.

"I'll be you never thought this would happen before. You have a gorgeous woman in your bed with you and as far as I can tell, you haven't even made a move on her yet. You don't know how STRANGE that seems to me."

Sam just sat there looking across at his brother. He could see Annali laying on the other side of him. Things in the world had seemed to be off their axis. Sam was feeling a little lost these days. Especially after Ruby had left without saying a word. Just after he thought they had gotten closer. It had been weeks since he'd seen her. He had finally decided that he just had to move on. Obviously it had been a major mistake to think that they could have something more than a physical relationship and that's not what Sam had wanted. Not what he needed.

He shook his head again to clear it. Having had drifted off into his own thoughts. They had a lot of things to deal with and he needed to be on his game. They needed to deal with this curse, but more importantly for Sam... If they could find the colt... He'd just feel better if he knew they had that on their side.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

"It's 2:30am man. You know, you're not gonna be able to hide this forever. Well, even for very much longer. Annali's gonna find out. I mean, I'm sure you've talked but what have you told her? What are we supposed to tell her about ANY of this?"

"Hide what Sam?" Dean asked, sounding a little grumpy that Sam couldn't just play along with his 'let's just brush this under the rug and ignore it' way of thinking. He let his free arm flop back to hang off the edge of the mattress and glanced over at the other bed. From the expectant look on Sam's face, it appeared as though he wasn't falling for Dean's usual line of denial. Maybe he never did, but this time he was calling him on it.

"Li's not gonna find anything out, 'cause there's nothing to find out. You just startled me, that's all. Wasn't expecting six foot of sasquatch in my face when I opened my eyes."

There. A reasonable explanation for what just happened. He should know better than to get too close when I sleep with a knife under my pillow. Speaking of which...

Suddenly realising that he was still brandishing the blade, Dean glanced down at it, then turned on his side to find a place to put it down, deciding that having it to hand under his pillow was not such a good idea when he was sharing a bed with another. God knows what he would have done if Sam had been just a little bit closer when he'd woken him up. Would he have been able to stop himself in time? What if it had been Annali that had woken him up? Would he now be lying next to a headless corpse?

The train of thought he was riding clenched on his insides again, making him feel sick to his stomach with fear. He sat up then, tossing back the covers as he swung his legs out and planted his bare feet on the floor, doing his best to not look like he was desperately in need of the bottle he'd hidden under the bed. Reaching down and leaving the knife there, out of reach so he didn't do any harm in the middle of the night yet close enough should he actually need it, Dean picked up the small bottle of whiskey he'd bought at the last gas station and unscrewed the cap. It was pressed against his lips before he even bothered to wonder if Sam would say anything, but then Sam was too busy chuckling to himself right now anyway.

"I'll be you never thought this would happen before. You have a gorgeous woman in your bed with you and as far as I can tell, you haven't even made a move on her yet. You don't know how STRANGE that seems to me."

Dean raised an eyebrow as he swallowed the mouthful of amber liquid, wincing a little as it burned down his throat. He cast a glance over his shoulder at Annali, lying peacefully in the rumpled sheets behind him.

It wasn't as though he didn't want to make a move on her, she was incredibly beautiful, funny and smart. Everything Dean liked in a woman, but something was holding him back. Whether it was not wanting to get rejected when he couldn't walk away or because he really didn't think he was good enough for her, he didn't know. Perhaps he just didn't trust his feelings given that he was in part being influenced by a curse.

"Yeah well, it's not like she's got much of a choice getting stuck with me. 'Course, it could be worse." He turned back to Sam and smirked. "She could be stuck with you, then she'd really be in trouble."

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam just glared at Dean as his older brother tried to pass it off as nothing. This reaction was not new, Sam was used to it. It didn't mean he liked it, but he was used to it.

"Dude, nothing to find out? Ok... Maybe next time I'll just let you wake up in a full blown terror and we'll see how you explain that away to her. What you think I haven't noticed it? Just because I haven't said anything doesn't mean I don't KNOW."

Rolling his head around to stretch out the muscle in his neck Sam watched as Dean finally put the knife away out of his immediate reach. Then shook his head sadly as Dean took a drink from the bottle he had stashed. Sam didn't say anything but clenched his jaw tight at the sight of his brother as he drank and then commented on the Annali situation.

"Yeah well, it's not like she's got much of a choice getting stuck with me. 'Course, it could be worse." "She could be stuck with you, then she'd really be in trouble."

That brought a bit of a frown to Sam's face. He wanted to say something. Some kind of witty retort like he usually would. But right now, unfortunately he had to agree with Dean on this point. Being magically bond to Dean instead of himself seemed to be the lesser of two evils these days.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

"What you think I haven't noticed it? Just because I haven't said anything doesn't mean I don't KNOW."

Good old Sammy. Never misses a trick, except in this case I really wish that he would. He's like a friggin dog with a bone about this stuff, just won't let go...

Dean stayed quiet for a minute, looking down at the bottle in his hands, pursing his lips into a thin line and hating the sad look that Sam got when he saw Dean turning to alcohol to cope with what was going on inside him. Hating the way he pitied him, his broken older brother who couldn't even keep it together for one night without freaking out in his sleep.

Some role model you turned out to be these days...

Reluctantly he capped the bottle and stuffed it under his pillow, replacing the empty spot the knife had taken up as a subconscious comforter in the night. At least he couldn't slash anyone's throat with whiskey.

He'd half expected a snarky comeback from Sam about the whole being cursed situation; a huff, an eye roll or something, but when Dean glanced back over at him he just seemed to be accepting the fact that Annali being stuck with Sam would be the rougher end of the stick. Something about his expression made Dean more alert, picking up on little brother anxiety and instantly wnting to fix it.

"What?" He asked, voice still a little rough with sleep. When Sam didn't immediately tell him everything that was going on in his giant head, Dean pushed a little more. Ordinarily he would avoid the whole caring, sharing talks, quite happy to ignore the problems until they got so big that there was no other option than to end up having a spectauclar arguement, or a fight but with Annali close by all the time now, he really didn't want to do that. He had to face the issues when they arose, before they got too big.

Whatever it was that had changed between Dean and Sam, it was private. A Winchester thing. And as much as he liked Annali, she wasn't part of his relationship with his brother. There was no need to drag her into the complexities of that as well. So now seemed like a good time to talk, with her asleep and the first real alone time they'd gotten since the curse started.

"C'mon, I know there's something going on in there. You're dying to say something so out with it before I change my mind." A small wave of Dean's hand gestured to Sam feel free to talk, but the weary tone of Dean's voice suggested that he wasn't really looking forward to whatever it was Sam had to say.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam continued to stare at his brother across the short space between the two beds. So much had happened, but they hadn't really dealt with it. Sure they had 'talked' but Sam knew Dean had kept the worst of it to himself. Sam couldn't blame him really, he'd done the same.

The thing that bothered Sam most was that he didn't know what to do. How to fix it. He honestly didn't think having another brotherly chat was going to do the trick. No matter how honest they were with each other. It would just complicate matters more. Sam blinked and sighed when Dean's tone got a little gruff.

"What?"

"C'mon, I know there's something going on in there. You're dying to say something so out with it before I change my mind."

Sam smirked and shook his head. Giving a little glance past Dean to Annali laying there asleep on the bed. He pushed his fingers through his hair. Tucking his head down and closing his eyes as he rubbed the top of his scalp for a minute. Lifting his head back up he opened his eyes and looked his brother in the face.

"Nothing, dude. Really... It's nothing. Uh... I've just been thinking about the colt ya know. If we could find it..."

His voice trailed off a little. Trying to think of something more to say. He was pretty sure that Dean wasn't going to believe that was what he was thinking about. Sam wasn't a very good liar when it came to talking to his brother. They both knew each other too well. But, that also worked to his advantage. Knowing that Dean didn't really want to talk about the truth anyway. He was pretty sure he'd accept the topic at hand.

"That gun could solve a lot of problems I suppose. But, it's been bothering me why Cas brought it up. How could he know it was in Toledo but nothing more. OK, never mind that part. We both know he just wasn't giving us the whole story. Still, there has to be something more to this than just finding that gun."

Sam took a deep breath and let it out. There was too much going on in his head. At one time he thought the gun might be their salvation. Not anymore and that's what scared him. More and more he had begun to believe that Ruby was right all along. Sam was going to be in the middle of whatever happened and Dean was going to do everything in his power to stop it. This is what was really going on in his head. What he didn't want to tell Dean.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

You were thinking about the Colt? Yeah...sure you were Sammy...

Dean narrowed his own sleepy eyes briefly, recognising the white lie easily the moment it tumbled out of Sam's mouth. At least he hadn't lost all his brotherly intuition in the pit, but just because he knew Sam wasn't telling him the truth, didn't mean he wanted to point it out and go back to talking about his nightmare's or his feelings. Ignorance might just be bliss on this occasion.

"Y'know, I get the feeling that Cas knows exactly where the Colt is and who has it." He said, kneading the back of his neck with his fingers to loosen up a taut muscle there.

"Second only to Uriel, he's the friggin' grand master at 'need to know' bullshit. Like with the whole Samhain crap. That was totally a set up to see what I'd do under so called 'battlefield conditions'. All that talk about us having to leave town before they nuke the place?" Dean pulled a disgruntled face and finally let both hands fall loosely in his lap, bone deep weariness radiating from his entire body.

"I tell you man, I'm not looking forward to whatever it is we're gonna run into in Ohio, that's for damn sure."

Annali sighed softly in her sleep behind him, catching his attention for a moment as he turned to see if she was listening or not. Satisfied she was still peacefully asleep, he faced Sam again and sighed.

"I just hope we can break this damn curse before we drag her into all this too. Last thing I want is to ruin her life more than I already have."

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam nodded his head in agreement when Dean spoke about Cas knowing where the gun was. How could he not. He was an angel. Didn't they have like a birds-eye view of everything going on down here on earth? Wasn't that like their JOB to know what was going on with the human race?

Sam pushed himself back on the bed so he could lean against the headboard and stretch out his legs. Turning to the side so he could still see and talk easily with Dean in the other bed.

"Yeah, me either."

He replied in agreement to Dean not looking forward to what lay ahead for them in Ohio. Whatever it was, it had to be powerful and they sure didn't need to still have Li shackled to Dean when they came face to face with whatever it was.

"I think it has to be a witch man or at least someone or something that is getting help from a witch. That's gotta be some serious hoodoo they are using to keep something that high profile under wraps."

Sam interlocked his hands behind his head and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes for a minute. Sam's mind drifted again to the curse and Dean's predicament. A slight smiled crossed his face.

"I hope this Gary or Grey or whoever we're meeting is going to have something useful about this curse. I think we do need to try and figure this out before we go hunting down the colt. I don't want to go dragging her into a dangerous situation. But... what you said about you ruining her life. I'm thinking she doesn't see it that way. She's sweet Dean. And for some God forsaken reason it seems she actually likes you. Curse or not I think there is something going on there with you two. Oh, who the hell knows. Maybe it is just the curse. "

Shrugging his shoulder he quit talking for a minute. This was not the road he wanted to go down right now. It wasn't his place to butt into his brother's business. Not that Dean wouldn't do it to Sam in a heartbeat. The bottom line was they needed to break the curse, get the colt and then worry about Dean's feelings. Sam chuckled at that thought. Something he wouldn't verbalize ever.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

"God-forsaken reason?" Dean made a face as though he was actually offended.

"Dude, if she likes me it's because I'm adorable. It's the handsome, charismatic gene that skipped you." He grinned, pushing his pillow closer to the headboard so he could sit back against it the same way Sam had on his bed. It didn't look like they were getting much sleep anytime soon so he might as well get comfortable.

Letting his arm rest casually beside him, his fingertips brushed against Annali's soft hair and he glanced down to watch himself twist the ends of a few strands around his finger, taking care to keep the action hidden from Sam by bending his knee and drawing his leg back a little. Having Sam catch him in the middle of a moment like that would earn him teasing for a month.

"This curse is weird man." He finally said, shifting his attention back to Sam again, but keeping his fingers occupied as he idly smoothed them over Li's tresses.

"I get it, we're supposed to be inseperable or else it's exploding heart time, but it's like..." He licked his lips and thought for a moment, putting the words in order in his head before he said them out loud.

"But it's like I'm being drawn to her all the time. Like there's this...magnetic force pulling us together." He shrugged dismissively and stared straight ahead instead, unsure if Sam would see that he was talking about more than just the curse.

"Like I say, it's weird."

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

Sam

Sam rolled his eyes when Dean talked about being adorable and the gene had skipped Sam. Not sure if Dean was even actually able to see it from the positions they had both taken up reclined back on the beds it was just a natural reaction to Dean's remarks. Nodding his head in agreement when Dean mentioned that the Curse was weird. A smirk creasing his face.

"Yeah, weird is an understatement I think dude."

Though Dean was trying to hide it, Sam could see from the corner of his eye that Dean was stroking Annali's hair while he spoke. Sam just smiled to himself and decided not to say anything. Listening as his brother continued on.

Sam tilted his head back and let his mind drift a little as he listened. The tone of his brother's voice was something different than he was used to. For lack of a better word he actually sounded a little emotional.

"Well, I would look at it this way... Curse or no curse. She's a nice girl right? Obviously you'd be attracted to her anyway. OK... So we're not really sure how all the curse is affecting you exactly but if you feel something for her why write it off? I don't know. I guess we really need to figure this thing out. But, from what I have read so far. The curse is for two people who were already in love, it was just supposed to keep them together forever. Not actually make them attracted to each other."

Sam shrugged, again not sure if Dean could even see the movement. His mind now on the curse and wondering what exactly was happening to them. It's kind of like the chicken or the egg puzzle. Which came first? Were they attracted to each other mutually just because of nature or were they becoming attracted to each other because they were being forced to spend so much time together. I guess it was one way to get to know someone. Being stuck together kind of pushed you in the right direction it seemed.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Two people who were already in love?

That certainly got Dean thinking. He knew his brother when it came down to research. There was no one better at it, except maybe Bobby, and it was rare that Sam ever got his facts wrong, but did that mean Dean was already in love with Annali before the curse?

Wait...am I in love with her now?

Dean had been with many, many women over the years. Some were just flings, one night stands that he couldn't remember the name of the next day. Other's were a little more meaningful. They lasted as long as he was in town on whatever hunt had brought him to their door in the first place, but he always moved on and left them behind. Some, like Lisa Braeden and Cassie Robinson, came back into his lives stirring feelings he'd forgotten he'd had. Up until now, that was the closest thing to love he'd ever known, but had he actually, consciously thought he was in love?

The feelings he had for Annali were very strong, under other circumstances he might have said it was love, maybe not out loud, but he would know it in his heart. But could he trust his own heart when it was cursed?

"Did you love Jess?" Dean asked softly, unsure where the question had come from. He turned his head to see what reaction it would bring to Sammy's face, hoping that it wouldn't bring up too many bad memories.