All usual disclaimers apply.

So fingers got bored and honestly this wasn't meant to be a follow on from 'Becoming Invisible' as all I wanted to do was let off some pent up Limp-Sam-itude but this was the end result! It takes place after 'No Exit' in the SN timeline. Please be warned despite the slow build up I do intend to batter the boys good and proper here! Oh and yes the language can be pretty fruity at times too. Rozzy

Becoming too Visible

Chapter 1: Responsibility

As they pulled up outside the dingy bar in the middle of a backwater road in Arkansas Sam couldn't help but grimace. Over the past year he had been in too many bars like this not to feel the tang of worry in his mouth. Especially with his acerbic big brother Dean in tow seemingly now days more ready to use his fists than talk his way out of trouble.

Dean for his part grinned wide at the sight of the decidedly shabby frontage. It was a welcome bolthole and the fact that his old buddy Ben Anderson waited inside with a sweet new job for them both to sink their teeth in was an added bonus. Hell it might even be a chance for his little brother to lose the doom and gloom expression on his face that he had been sporting all day long.

Dean voiced out his irritation at seeing the familiar frown on his brother's face, "Jesus could you look any more prissy? Come on dude loosen up why don't you. It's not every day we get to tackle a multiple infestation especially in a bad ass creepy haunted house. Just no holding hands if you get to scared Sammy boy!"

Pursing his lips in annoyance Sam deliberately bit back a sarcastic response, "Thought you said it was a building site? Some old postal sorting office going through a refurb into condos…"

"Still 'haunted' dude and with more than one pissed of dead postal worker to deal with according to Ben. Should be a blast."

When Sam dared to lock eyes with him in open question of disbelief he shook his head. "Look I owe Anderson big time. He needs help on this job so I'm not gonna say no."

"It still doesn't mean that we shouldn't check this out further ourselves, especially with more than one spirit involved."

Dean growled putting more anger in his voice than intended, "If you're not up to doing this one then you can park your butt back at the motel and I'll be back in a day or three. Makes no difference either way…like I said I owe the man."

Sam swallowed back his frustration at the threat of being sidelined again keeping his face blank, "Whatever Dean. I just wish we weren't going into this one so blind."

"As I said before Benny will have scoped it all out and with the three of us we should be able to manage getting rid of few bad tempered ghouls. Right?"

Sam reluctantly nodded his agreement and Dean turned to face him to reinforce a warning, "Look when you meet with Ben just try and keep your mouth shut. About everything."

"You afraid I'll let the dark family secret out again at what a freak you have to drag around with you," fired back Sam with more than a hint of frustration in his voice.

Ever since he had confessed all to Ellen at the roadhouse his brother had been royally pissed at him and the topic of his connection to the demon had been totally off the agenda.

Dean assessed his brother and knew were his thoughts were at and felt a pinch of guilt that he was still shutting him out. "All I'm saying is that the man has a sharp tongue, especially after a few beers so just stay under his firing line and don't give him a reason to get his teeth into you. The guy can be a fucking rotweiller at times. Got it?"

Sam shrugged his indifference fingering the edge of his cast as he kept his thoughts hidden thinking it was wise just to agree. Dean was still worryingly mercurial and after Jo's revelations about how her father died it was all he could do to keep things on an even keel without things imploding further.

As they walking into the bar Dean threw his brother a smirk as he drank in the smoky and decidedly testosterone charged atmosphere. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation as he clocked eyes with a particular attractive girl at the bar, "This should be a good night."

As the brothers approached the older hunter Anderson's head snapped upwards eyes dancing over the brothers before settling on the younger one with an amused expression. The kid towered over his friend and he couldn't hold back a smirk at Dean, "So this is Sam? Not quite what I was expecting that's for sure."

"Yeah I know, defies all the known laws of nature doesn't it? Little brothers should remain little," snapped back Dean with a small begrudging shrug of his shoulders.

When Anderson laughed just a little too loudly Dean's eyes danced over the array of empty beer bottles on the table and a half full bottle of Tequila and knew that his friend had a good head start on him.

Dean nudged his brother's shoulder, "Sam this is Ben Anderson, bad ass hunter of all the fugly things out there and with an unequalled appetite for loose women and gut rot tequila to match!"

"Thanks for the charming intro," hacked back Anderson still looking over at Sam with a judgmental expression as he muttered under his breath, "Pretty little thing ain't he…"

Sam glowered but sucked back a response pointedly ignoring the man waiting instead to see how his brother interacted with him to gauge him further. With Dean's warning to keep his mouth shut about 'everything' he sat silently down and watched with a curious eye as his brother swapped a broad smile of greeting with the older man.

The short stocky forty something man looked normal enough, dressed much like his brother and his pepper grey hair cut military style but Sam wasn't going to be taken in by first impressions. He'd been stung too many times recently to play all warm and friendly with strangers, especially other hunters.

Dean recalling how he had left him in the E.R. with a busted knee and blood loss on their last get together leant in and asked, "So how's the knee old man? Up to running through a disused Sorting office and all those stairs?"

Anderson chortled, "Feels pretty good right about now. Can honestly say I can't feel a damn thing."

"Yeah I bet," remarked Dean noting the alcohol induced flush to his friend's face and wished that his brother was seeing him on better terms as the man was in full blown 'lets get hammered' mode.

"Looks a lot like your old man," Anderson remarked bitingly swilling an almost empty bottle of beer in Sam's direction as he scrutinised the youngest Winchester with a critical eye.

Dean seeing his brother flinch at the comparison quickly pushed some cash into Sam's hand, "Get a round in. And don't forget the peanuts."

With a resigned shrug Sam knew that he was being sidelined to allow the two of them to catch up and he shuffled off to the bar. In fact he was glad of the break as already he could feel the tension rising between him and the older man. Anderson was all that Dean had described, macho excess at its worse, and he had as much in common with the man as he did with Walker.

As he left the older hunter's eyes tracked Sam with a frown before turning back to his brother, "Surprised you're still hauling him round with you. Last time we spoke you cussed so much about how much of a millstone he was around your neck I just thought you might have offloaded him by now."

Dean swallowed hard. It had been a difficult time when last he'd met up with Ben with things spinning out of control, namely himself, and his little brother had suffered the brunt of it all. Hell the cast on his arm still bore testament to the damage done.

Sighing he looked at Anderson and admitted, "Well I might have over exaggerated things a little bit back then so pay no attention to what I said. Its all good now…"

Anderson didn't take the hint and continued, "Yeah well I've heard you bitch enough times about the fact that the boy hated hunting to be more than a little puzzled is all. Wasn't that the reason your dad kicked him out and he stayed gone for all those years?"

Dean's eyes darkened at the reminder, "A lots happened since then and it's my responsibility now to keep him safe. He's still my idiot little brother at the end of the day."

"Responsibility huh?" remarked Ben sourly as he added tellingly, "Or burden perhaps, call it what you like it's dragging you down man. Anyone lately tell you that you look like shit man."

"Pot calling kettle black," snapped back Dean taking in the decidedly weatherworn appearance of the man, "Look you asked for my help, that's why I came. Just leave Sam out of the bitch fest you seem to be on right now."

Anderson sighed worry creasing his brow, "That's what's got me a little rattled here dude. When I asked you to help out on this gig I didn't think you'd be bringing baby brother along. What I don't need is some wet behind the ears pup screwing things up."

Dean kept his face neutral not wanting to recall the words he had used on his brother before coming into the bar, "I know I owe you man but understand this where I go so does my brother. Leaving Sammy behind is not up for negotiation."

Again Anderson laughed easily, "Okay man, don't get your panties in a bunch. Just make sure the kid knows the rules and does as he's told. I'm not picking up some rookies guts off the ground when things go hinkey."

"Yeah well don't you worry him falling on his butt, I trained the kid up remember?" growled back Dean as his eyes flickered over the bar to check on Sam wondering what was taking him so long to get the drinks.

They narrowed on seeing his brother in conversation with some man-mountain in leathers, long greasy hair and steroid induced muscled arms full of tattoos. Not the sort of company he expected Sam to be with mixing with. Ever.

Alarm bells ringing Dean instinctively went to intervene before trouble started but the huge biker suddenly let out a loud snort of laughter, clapped a meaty hand on Sam's shoulder and they both turned back to the bar as if long lost friends.

Letting out a small exhale of relief Dean fell back into his chair daring to let his heart beat easier again, not noticing the scrutiny he had been under from his old friend.

Anderson had watched with a sour expression as his friend had searched out his absent brother. Lifting a brow of surprise he saw the fear flicker momentarily across Dean's normally unreadable face, saw his knuckles clench and his teeth bare till he realised that his brother wasn't under threat and he could pretend all was right with the world again.

This was a different Dean Winchester he saw now, the cocksure over confident hunter he had worked with before submerged beneath an overwhelming concern to look after the youngest Winchester. It left him guarded, more restrained and he wasn't sure if he liked this new persona. Sullenly he frowned, wanting his friend to focus on the job tomorrow and not on protecting little brother's greenhorn behind.

Taking a long swig out of the tequila bottle he shoved it over to Dean and snarled, "Stop worrying about Sammy and get with the programme here dude. What we're dealing with is a real doozy of a haunting with numerous reported sightings and attacks, with the last one leaving the architect in the hospital for five days with a cracked skull. Whatever is in that building doesn't like the idea of it being turned into a prime development for yuppies that's for sure."

Swinging his attention back to his friend Dean slowly nodded his understanding. "So not a slam-dunk in the park. Have to watch our backs on this one."

Watching Dean absorb the implications of the dangers they all might meet up with Ben took another swig of beer to wash away the taste of the tequila before offering up sadly, "Sure wish we had your dad or Caleb along for the ride for this one, it would have made things a whole lot easier to get it done."

Dean's eyes sparkled at the thought, "Yeah it sure would have."

Struggling to keep his emotions in check he grimaced and bit his bottom lip as the loss hit deep again. When a shadow fell over him he managed to keep his emotions hidden when Sam returned to the table with the drinks. "Bout time dude. You watching them brew the stuff or something."

Sam pushed a bottle of beer into his brother's hand and flopped down in a chair besides him throwing a packet of peanuts on the table, "Just thought I'd give you guys some time to catch up is all."

Anderson snatched up his fresh beer and chugged a huge gulp down in one deep swallow before throwing a cheesy grin at the brothers, "Yeah well catch up time is over. Time for a little R & R is if you ask me."

Sam watched his brother clink his bottle with the older man's with obvious relish and knew that it was going to be a long night still trying to put aside his instant dislike of the older hunter.

A few hours later and still only nursing his second beer to the many that his brother and Anderson had knocked back Sam's watched his brother swagger over to the bar.

Turning his attention back to the man sitting opposite him, who had drunk enough now not to be even remotely likeable anymore, Sam dragged in a tired resigned breath. Poking his eye with a sharp stick would have been more fun than sitting with Mr Neanderthal he surmised.

All night long the grizzled hunter had been throwing the odd barbed comment his way but he had managed to bite his tongue every time. Being left alone with him now felt more than just a little uncomfortable and his hopes for his brother's early return were dashed when he saw him in heavy conversation with a busty red headed barmaid.

Sensing his unease the older man leant in, beer and tequila fumes wafting over Sam's face so that his top lip lifted in disgust as Ben slurred out, "Ya know its real funny seeing how yer brother is when he's round you all uptight and on edge. Dude can't seem to breathe easy."

Sam for his part tried to ignore the man's ramblings but the stinging words were leaving invisible marks cutting deep. Ben tried to straighten up and wagged a knowing finger over at him, "Seems like he can't be himself with you in tow. Why's that?"

Sam swallowed hard taking the man's drunken ramblings to heart and shot a concerned look over to his brother as he stood at the bar flirting with the redhead. Seeing for the first time in days the relaxed look on his brother's face as he leant into the woman he felt a stab of self-doubt eat away at him.

Perhaps what Anderson was saying was true but finding his voice he muttered a denial, "Dean's his own man, he does what he likes. I don't stop him from doing anything…."

"Yeah well seems to me that your sucking the life out of your brother like some giant leech," shot back Ben viciously as he eyed the youngest Winchester at the table as he leant back. "In all the years I've known him I've never seen him so uptight."

"It's been a hard year for him but you know that," growled out Sam eyes narrowing as he reassessed the hunter in front of him and not liking what he was seeing, "Look you clearly have a beef with me so spit it out man."

Anderson leaned even further back and looked at Sam grimly, "I knew your daddy well boy. Good man, damn fine hunter and as I heard it he washed his hands of you. Must have been a valid reason for him to do that, right?"

Fingers digging tight into his own bottle Sam felt a compulsion to smash it into the smug face in front of him and he tried to suck back the anger, "My relationship with my father is none of your goddam business."

Anderson smirked openly, "Funny what someone dying does to a person. Dean tells me you tried to turn into the devoted hunter overnight when John died. Like your trying to be the good son all of a sudden."

Sam looked away his mind swirling at hearing his brother's thoughts coming out of Anderson's mouth before he turned back to him with a hard stare, "You know nothing about anything old man."

Anderson laughed coldly adding as the beer made his tongue even more vicious, "I heard enough over the years. Anyways Johnny already had the perfect son with your brother …but you knew that right?"

Watching how the young man seemed to shrink down into his chair Anderson mistook it as a sign of defeat not seeing the dangerous glint in the youngest Winchester's eyes and he added in a warning whisper, "As I see it one day you might just end up getting your brother killed if all he has to do is worry about protecting your sorry ass."

Before Sam could counter the damning words Dean walked back to the table with a wide grin on his face only for it to vanish as he felt the bad vibes coming back up at him. Dumping the drinks on the table he sat down trying to judge the reason for the silence that greeted his return but neither his brother or his old friend seemed to be in the talking mood.

Looking at the unreadable look on his brother's face he pointedly asked, "You planning to have fun anytime soon kiddo?"

When Sam just shrugged not bothering with an answer Dean added tersely, "Jesus dude learn to lighten up why don't you. Its only a few beers…"

Ben cackled hard finishing off one beer to pick up the next all in the same beat, "That's what I just said. Killjoy brother of yours really knows how to destroy the mood, don't he?"

Dean scowled over at Sam again the affects of the alcohol making his tongue looser than normal and more caustic. "Like I see it you didn't mind mixing it up with those skanky girls a while back did you? What were their names – Candy and Shandy right? Had some fun then didn't you little brother?"

The colour rose on Sam's cheek at being reminded of his drunken encounter with the two scary girls with roving hands and equally foul mouths a few states back and he shook his head in denial, "Not like I intended for any of that to happen."

Dean chuckled and leant into Ben in a conspiratorial wink, "Remember I told you the idiot was lucky to get out the bar with his pants still on. Those girls were readying to eat him alive. Lucky for him he had me to bale him out at the end of the day. Again."

Ben sniggered and cast an eye back at Sam, "You always expecting big brother to protect your pretty boy ass? When we go on the job tomorrow don't expect me to play babysitting duties with you."

Sam glowered back anger bubbling fully to the surface that he had held back for too long. "I don't need anyone to watch my back, especially some burnt out pseudo macho hunter trying to drown his inadequacies down the end of a bottle."

Ben curled his lip at the insult but Sam wasn't finished, "As I recall Dean had to save your stupid ass that same night too…drove your car straight into a ditch I heard. Or where you too juiced to notice at the time?"

All Dean knew that with Sam's sharp use of language was that things got ugly too fast to stop what happened next as Ben clearly incensed at the verbal putdown staggered to a half stand to throw a meaty punch at his brother's head. A frighteningly quick Sam though struck first though to knock the stocky man off his feet with one devastating left hook.

As hard knuckles struck flesh and bone Anderson was lifted of his feet to land flat on his back with a hard crash groaning out in pain as the hit left him more than a little stunned. A small chorus of cheers went up from some of the other drinkers at the back of the bar enjoying the spectacle but none tried to intervene.

"Hey, hey, hey," spat out Dean as he hastily stepped in between the two as Sam stood to his full height face flushed in anger, eyes glinting a warning that he was about to take it further than one punch.

Putting out a restraining hand Dean pushed him back with a shove harder than intended and Sam was forced back a step, "What the hell has gotten in to you dude? Let it go. Now."

"The stupid bastard been goading me all night long," huffed out Sam locking eyes with his brother. "Seem like he can dish it out but the moron can't take it in return."

Dean surprised by the vehemence in his brother's words was left to wonder what happened between the two of them whilst he was at the bar. Sure Ben had been in a bitching mood all night long, taking the odd swipe at his brother but that was par for the course with the man. Somehow his warning to his brother from the start that Anderson's mouth was liable to run off with him after a few drinks had been forgotten.

Then all questions were left unspoken as Ben staggered back on to his feet cursing loudly as the blood dripped down his face. "Think the freaky shit broke my nose."

Dean turned to look at his friend and winced in sympathy at the damage clearly visible on his face before a smirk took over, "Well don't you look all the prettier for it you dumb ass idiot. What the hell were you thinking swinging at my brother like that?"

Ben laughed with a mouth full of crimson teeth whilst fingers tenderly feeling for any breaks as he eyed both brothers, "Thought you said the bitch hit like a girl…"

Dean pushed a napkin over to his bleeding friend and cocked an eyebrow, "What can I say old timer. He may look like some pansy geek but my little brother is still a Winchester through and through."

As Sam continued to glare daggers at him over the top of his brother's head and Ben grinned back maliciously at him before nodding over at his brother, "If you say so dude. If you say so."

"Well whatever it is you two have going on work through it. I don't intend to be piggy in the middle on the job tomorrow," snapped out Dean in annoyance. This was not the relaxing evening he had planned not with his brother doing his Hulk impression to leave his friend bleeding all over the place.

Ben shrugged as he sat back down, throwing Sam a scowl as he continued to dab at the blood trickling from his bruised nose and snuffled out, "I can work with most people even on a bad day as long as it gets the job done."

Sam glowered back at him but held his tongue, not wanting to make the evening any worse for his brother. Then the anger dissipated away as he watched Dean try to assess the damage to his friend's face and he felt a guilt wash over him. His brother clearly thought a lot of the man, he was after all someone he had trusted with his life time and time again and he had just punched his lights out.

Picking up his jacket Sam didn't want to upset Dean anymore and speaking to his brother's back said as calmly as he could, "I'm going back to the motel. Might give mighty mouth here some time to power down…"

Dean turned and gave him a brief calculating look to see if he could read him any better but his brother was shut off from him and he shrugged wearily, "Sure - if that's what you want."

Sam shrugged on his jacket and took a long steadying breath, the hair falling over eyes masking the hurt he felt. "Yeah it is."

"Well just don't expect me back anytime soon," indicated Dean with a nod of his head over to where the barmaid stood, before throwing him the car keys, "Not a scratch Sammy…."

Taking that as his cue that he really should leave Sam grunted his understanding and tried to ignore the hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. As he stepped out of the bar he drank in the cold night air just glad to be out of the smoky atmosphere and away from the older hunter inside it.

Knowing that he had let his brother down after all his warnings to ignore Anderson's mouth it still felt a release to get rid of some of the pent up anger. Flexing his bruised knuckles he grinned to himself admitting it had felt more than just good despite the look of mortification on Dean's face as he flattened the bastard.

As he drove in silence the couple of miles back to the motel he was left trying to wrap his thoughts about all that Anderson had said to him. Since their dad's death he had no idea where his brother's head was at times as the last person he seemed to want to talk to was him. The Andersons and Walkers of this world seemed to have more of a clue in of what his brother was thinking and feeling that he would ever be allowed to know.

As Sam pulled into the motel and his new home for the night he sat for a moment trying to get his thoughts together. He knew what he was experiencing was a mixture of jealousy and regret but it still hurt.

The last thing he wanted to do was go to Haskell tomorrow. What he really wanted was a chance out of this gig as it felt inherently wrong but knew it would be impossible to say this to Dean without the huge explosion of anger that would follow.

Loyalty was not a negotiable word with his brother and he held an allegiance to the older hunter that he wouldn't ignore.

The cold hard facts was that Anderson and his brother shared a history that he knew virtually nothing about and it left him feeling like a redundant third wheel on a two-wheeled carriage. It also brought back an unwanted memory that he had tried to excise, of feeling just like he had with his dad and brother before he left for Stanford. And he hated it.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

In the bright morning light Anderson's face showed the damage from the night before in clearer detail. His swollen nose, although not broken, felt like it should have been from the way it throbbed and his jaw felt decidedly tender too. That coupled with a raging hangover from hell made him feel more than decidedly delicate.

As he drew up to a stop outside the motel frontage he saw the youngest Winchester sitting alone on the edge of the Impala's hood and winced again knowing that he owed him an apology. After the tongue lashing from Dean last night he knew he had to try and put things right, no matter what he felt about the kid and all those whispers that had trickled down the hunters rumour mill about him.

Gingerly he walked his sore jaw from side to side and could acknowledge that the kid swung just like his old man, hard and mean. Dean's baby brother wasn't as soft as he looked and he had let the emotive features, long hair and apparent quiet air about the boy let him assume otherwise.

Wincing in memory at all the harsh words he had drunkenly mouthed off at the kid he knew he deserved the punch. Next time he told himself he'd fine a softer target to goad. Word sparring with a Winchester was one thing but having the crap beaten out of you was another, and he could hazard a guess that if Dean hadn't stepped in when he did that's exactly what his little brother would have done to him.

As he approached the impala he coughed out his presence and the shaggy mop of hair twisted around and green eyes followed to look coldly at him. Yep, definitely a Winchester acknowledged Anderson as he felt the stare bore through him without any hint of forgiveness. 'Damn Winchesters can hold a grudge to the extreme,' cursed Ben under his breath.

"Hey Sammy," he called out with a tight smile trying to make the first step in an act of contrition without falling on his ass again.

"Its Sam or Winchester. Take your pick but don't ever call me Sammy," spat back Sam in a soft but menacing drawl as drew to his full height, a good head and half taller than the older hunter. After Walker he wasn't going to play the trust game with another hunter not till they proved themselves to him to his satisfaction.

Ben watched how the boy suddenly loomed over him with a frown fighting down the urge to turn tail and run back to the nearest bar for something to steady the shake in his hand and his frazzled nerves. Finding his voice he confessed, "Look I shouldn't have said half the things I said last night."

Sam didn't answer just looked down at him trying to assess the truth of his statement and fidgeting under the stare Ben shrugged. "Dean must have told you what a complete ass I can be with a few slugs under my belt. Hell I was already half wasted before you even showed up so look what I said about your dad, about you, it was all just the stupid mutterings of a mean drunk."

Sam grunted and turned away in dismal but Ben tried harder, "Come on kid, at least for your brothers' sake try and meet me half way here. Dean's not about to walk away from this job and he wants you along."

Sam turned back and nodded slowly his eyes still flinty hard, "For my brother, Anderson, and only for him, do we pretend to play happy hunters because he wants to do this salt and burn. Me personally I could care less if you got your ass fried doing this on your lonesome."

He looked and sounded so much like his father that Ben blinked hard, "Okay then…. Glad we know where we stand with this one."

The waft of coffee coming his way turned Sam's head around to see his brother approach with two large Styrofoam cups in his hand. Silently Dean nodded over to Ben guessing that he had said his apology before he thrust a coffee into Sam's hand.

"We good here?" he asked in general to be met by his brother's slight shrug who seemed more interested in studying the lip of his coffee cup than speaking to his brother. Dean chased a quick looked over at Ben who smiled wanly back at him with a look that said 'I tried.'

Sam cautiously sniffed at his coffee before taking a sip of the bitter scalding liquid happy to keep the silence going. After last night he didn't trust himself not to make the situation worse so he walked over to the passenger side and got in, waiting for Dean to finish up chatting with his friend.

"You fit to drive?" asked Dean of pointedly noting Ben's decidedly unkempt appearance and in the unforgiving glare of golden sunshine his skin looked almost grey.

Ben chuckled fingering his nose before throwing a look over at the silent Sam, "Yeah I'm good, nothing a couple of Advil and shot of tequila won't fix."

Dean looked at him coolly noting the tremor in his hands and whispered a warning, "Dude if you're not up for this tell me now. From the look of you man you couldn't hit a barn door at ten yards never mind hit Casper square between the eyes."

"You worried about my 'inadequacies' as your little brother oh so fucking delicately put it last night too?"

"You tell me? You look like you should be in detox man and after the stunt you pulled last night trying to hit my brother what I am supposed to think. Are you letting things get out of control here Benny?"

"Hey I apologised to the kid and if it makes you any happier I'll stay off the juice until the job's finished. I admit I was stewed last night but since when has that ever stopped my game before?"

Dean stabbed a finger in his chest and hissed out, "Before we never had my brother along for the ride dude. I mean it man you'd better be on the ball with this one. No fucking screw ups to come and bite us in the ass later."

He had trusted Anderson implicitly to get the job sounded out before they turned up but if most of that was done via a bottle of tequila then Sam had been right to question this entire job. No way was he going to let his brother walk smack bang into a multiple haunting and not know exactly what they faced.

As if reading his thoughts Anderson laughed, "Jesus kid lighten up. Like I said I've done the research. As long as you and your brother stick to the plan its gonna be just fine."

Dean shook his head, "You and I are going to have go over the ground work again Benny. We're not stepping foot into that building till we do."

Snorting his disgust Ben went to walk back to his vehicle but Dean snaked out a hand and gripped his arm. "I mean it dude. Don't make me regret saying yes in helping you out."

Turning darkly around to match his hard stare Anderson top lipped curled tossing a nod over to the impala, "You worried about pretty boy getting his hair mussed up or something. Look like I said I've checked all the bases and we can do this job blindfold man. Since when did you stop trusting me to know how to get things done?"

o0o0o0o0o0o

The feeling of weightlessness was unsettling as he was flung through the open doorway into the windowless room. A nanosecond later Dean felt himself smack against the far-side wall, body hitting brick and plaster with a sickening thud so that his lungs rebelled as in an almighty rush all the air was expelled out of him.

Before he could react further gravity took over and Dean found himself sagging in a loose heap to the ground the shotgun clattering on the stone floor from loose fingers desperate to keep the darkness at bay.

Forcing air back into his lungs despite the grating of busted ribs he gasped for breath as white noise hissed in his ears and every bone and muscle in his body screamed pain at him. Still from the blanket of white noise a familiar sound from a familiar voice could be distantly made out and he was roused back to consciousness.

"Sam?" gasped out Dean as his voice kicked back into action and his eyes refocused and darted frantically around the dimly lit room.

In the corner was Anderson, left leg buckled unnaturally under him, his upper torso bathed in crimson and Dean forced jelly legs into action and raced over to his side only to turn with a gasp of fear as the heavy metal door into the room swung suddenly shut with a loud clang, with the outside lock spinning to lock, effectively keeping them both prisoners within.

Dean's eyes widened in fear, the steel door a barrier from the corridor beyond where he had last spoken to his brother before telling him to check the next level on his own.

'God damn fucking stupid, stupid, stupid decision ever,' rebuked Dean to his inner self and angrily he turned his attention back to Anderson. Grabbing him by the collar dragging him back to his feet despite the man's grunt of pain as his busted leg beneath him buckled he growled out, "You stupid bastard. What did you do?"

TBC

P.S. let me know your thoughts as feedback seriously devoured!