Title: The Reader's Special: First Edition

Author: Disasteriffic Kaz

Info: Post 4X02 AYTG?IMDW This is the Reader's Special. You Review and tell me what you want in the next chapter and I do my best to write it! So, expect lots of hurt/limp/angst/protective/comfort!Sam/Dean I'm sure.

Author's note: Alrighty kids! Final Chapter here! This first edition has gone amazingly well! You've all been BRILLIANT! Be sure to check the A/N at the end of this chapter if you prompted this story at all! :D Yes, this is going to be a long one, working all the prompts in and tying up the storyline. Enjoy!

Also: Two conflicting prompts in this chapter. Had to happen I suppose. LOL We've got Mihai taken from the camp with Tiberiu wounded and the boys going to rescue AND Mihai and Sam get taken by the spirits and Dean and Tiberiu go to the rescue. Crap…um…I'll figure it out. Might have to smush the two prompts together a bit. :D

Reader Prompts in this chapter: Eliska and Katya fight over Sam again & rip his shirt, Dean teases him about it; a ghost comes to the gypsy encampment and kidnaps Mihai, wounds Tiberiu and the boys have to go save him; Mihai stows away in the Impala because he wants to be like Sam & they can't take him home right away, lots of Sam snuggles; Sam collapses while trying to play down his injuries to Dean; expose the guy who shot Sam; boys get more advice from Ileana; Sam gets dragged by someone intending help or harm & gets more beat up in the process, Dean freaks; the spirits take Sam and Mihai, Dean and Tiberiu go to the rescue.

Do please Review once you've read. :D Every comment and vote of support helps keep me writing. Not to mention if I've pooched anything, someone can always tell me. :P

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"Yes I got the damn cat." Dean rolled his eyes as Sam wobbled away from him and he followed. Inside he was still quaking with the knowledge he'd shot his own brother. He scooped up the shotgun and studiously avoided noticing how it was shaking in his hands. I shot Sam. He said to himself silently, the thought echoing through his head. He shook once, hard, remembering that he'd almost used the pistol instead; ready to kill the creature when he thought how Sam would be angry with him if he had. Dean watched Sam's hunched, uneven gait ahead of him and felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. He could have killed him; if not for a last second decision he would have. The wounds were all on the upper left side of his chest; around his heart.

"Dean?" Sam stopped and turned, seeing his brother's face whiter than it should be. "Are you hurt?" Sam went back to him and started pulling at Dean's clothes and then he stopped and stared, a grin beginning to tug at his mouth and tired eyes as he finally took in what Dean was wearing. "Dude…" Sam took a moment, swallowed. "Are you wearing a…a dress?"

Dean shook off the paralyzing terror and glared at his little brother. "Not one word, Sammy." Dean warned. He took Sam's arm and shook his head when he felt the blood beneath his hand. He tugged at the shredded sleeve and saw four, shallow claw marks on his arm. "You tease me right now and I'm cleaning all this up without anesthetic." Dean let go of his arm and stepped around to his other side, pulling Sam's good arm over his shoulders. "Don't argue, sasquatch." Dean warned when Sam opened his mouth to lie and tell him again how fine he was. Sam studied his face for a second and then nodded, letting his big brother take some of his weight.

"The girls? Mihai? They ok?" Sam asked, shuffling beside Dean and he frowned when he felt small tremors in the shoulders under his arm. He looked down again and then waivered when realization sank in. Dean was terrified that he'd almost killed him. That was why he was so brusque and so focused on helping him. Sam sighed and did the only thing he could think of to help relieve some of the tension he felt in the man next to him. "You borrow that skirt from Eliska? Kinda looks like the one she's wearing." He said with a smirk. Dean growled but didn't reply. "Wait, are there shoes too? Dude, are you wearing heels? Lemme see."

"Bite me, Sammy." Dean said fiercely and yet felt a smirk tugging at his mouth none the less. Sam was alive to tease him about the dress. That was worth it.

CHAPTER 9

"Let's get you in the car." Dean shuffled Sam toward the passenger door of the Impala, now free of covering branches thanks to Tiberiu but Sam shrugged off his arm.

"Dude, I'm fine. I can walk. It's not that far." Sam told him and stepped away. He hugged his wounded arm to his chest and smiled at Tiberiu and the girls.

"You look like cat chew toy." Tiberiu told Sam, taking in his bleeding arm and blood spattered chest.

Sam snorted a laugh. "I feel like one too." He grunted when Mihai appeared from around the car and ran to him, plastering himself to Sam's legs. "Hey, Mihai." Sam pried the arms loose and let Mihai hold his hand.

Dean shook his head, irritated. His brother's chest looked like burger meat thanks to him, clawed arm and healing gunshot and he wanted to walk around like it was just a damn scratch. He watched Sam hobble off into the trees with Mihai at his side and sighed. "Dammit."

Tiberiu dropped a hand onto Dean's shoulder in sympathy. "He vill be alright, friend Dean. Ve vill see to it, yes?"

"Whether he likes it or not." Dean growled. He scrubbed a hand over his face and opened the driver's side door, listening to the two gypsy girls chattering at Sam as they walked away. "You wanna go walk with him? Make sure those girls don't hurt him?" Tiberiu chuckled, nodding and closed the door for Dean as he started the engine.

The Gypsy camp was in controlled uproar as Dean parked the Impala beside Tiberiu's caravan. News of the attack in the forest had spread and Ileana was surrounded by chattering, excited people as she attempt to make Sam sit where she could reach him. Dean chuckled as he watched the two gypsy girls each take a shoulder and push him down while Mihai tugged on his good arm and Sam ended sitting on the bench beside Ileana's caravan with a bemused smile on his pale face.

Sam watched his brother get out of the car, hike up his ridiculous skirts and vanish inside Tiberiu's caravan to change. He chuckled and then hissed out a breath as Ileana peeled his shirt away from his chest. "It's really not that bad." Sam told the old woman. She raised an elegant, grey brow at him and ignored him.

Ileana rolled her eyes when she was bumped from behind and turned to glare at the crowd around them. She shouted in Romanian, punched the air a few times with a long finger and obediently the crowd dispersed leaving only Ileana, Sam and Mihai who wouldn't relinquish his hold. He sat on the ground beside Sam's leg, arms wrapped around his knee.

Ileana gave the child an adoring smile. "This micuta….little one he is fond of you." She caressed a hand over Mihai's hair and went back to Sam's chest.

Sam nodded, smiling. "The girls said he spoke?" He looked down at the boy. "Mihai?" The boy only smiled up at him before resting his head against Sam's knee again happily.

"Is good." Ileana tsked as she finally had a clear view of his chest. "He vill speak more vhen ready. You should lie down." She told Sam. "This vill hurt." She gestured to the chunks of rock salt still embedded in the skin. Sam shook his head.

"I'll be fine." He smiled at her and steeled himself as she aimed a pair of tweezers at the first chunk. He was tired of being flat on his back and wounded and no use to his brother. He needed to do better than this, he told himself. He'd survived four months…four long months without Dean and he needed his big brother to know he wasn't helpless. He could see something dark and painful lurking behind Dean's eyes and it tore at his heart. He could only imagine what Dean had suffered in the pit. Now that he was miraculously free he didn't want to end up being just another burden his brother had to carry around. Sam needed to be stronger for him. He flinched each time Ileana removed a piece of the salt and focused on the tightening of Mihai's arms around his leg to take his mind off of it.

Dean emerged from the caravan with a relieved smile, happy to be in his own clothes again and rolled his shoulders, settling his jacket. He easily found Sam still where he'd left him. A large, white bandage covered his upper chest and Ileana was bent over the scratches on his arm, pouring disinfectant of some sort. He watched Sam's face pale further, frowning when he hunched forward. Sam's eyes opened and saw him and Dean watched as he forced himself to sit straighter and toss a wave toward him as though he weren't in nine kinds of pain. Dean shook his head, striding over to watch Ileana carefully wrap his arm from elbow to wrist.

"Liked the dress better." Sam commented with a smirk.

"Next time you can wear it." Dean said flippantly. He bent, tugging gently at the bandage on Sam's chest, wanting to see for himself that it was properly cleaned. Ileana swatted his hand away and he snarled. She only grinned at him.

"I have cleaned. It is good." She gestured around the camp at the gypsies still standing about in groups and looking nervously into the trees around them. "They are vorried. Spirits could come back. Be useful." She finished wrapping Sam's arm and patted his shoulder. "You can help us?"

Dean nodded as did Sam. "Yeah we can protect the camp temporarily while we figure out what's going on and stop it." Dean smiled. "How much salt you got around here?"

"And cat's eye shells if you have any of those too." Sam rose, bracing a hand on the wall of the caravan for a moment. "We have some in the trunk but more would be better." Ileana nodded and walked off, clapping her hands and calling in Romanian. Soon several people were dodging off into various caravans and trailers with purpose.

"You need to sit down." Dean told Sam. "Better yet lay down. I can handle this."

Sam shook his head. "Dean I'm ok. Ileana's tea earlier did a good job helping to heal the bullet wound and this stuff." He gestured at his chest and arm. "Not as bad as it looks." He smiled, trying to convince his brother. "With two of us this will go faster." Sam turned toward where a growing pile of salt containers was accumulating, Mihai holding firm to his hand and left Dean to follow.

"Dammit, kid." Dean growled and ran an angry hand through his short hair. "Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?" He chuckled at himself then, knowing the answer to that; genetics. Since he couldn't make Sam stay down, he'd stay at his side and keep an eye him. Despite Sam's protestations that he was 'fine' Dean could see the fine tremble running through his shoulders; familiar with how his brother's body reacted to pain from a lifetime of experience.

Half an hour later, the largest salt circle Dean had ever seen was going up around the whole of the gypsy camp. They worked in groups, pouring the thick line to keep the spirits at bay. Dean had explained the gypsies would need to watch it at all times, keep it whole; that spirits could call up the wind sometimes to break it. He and Sam we're working toward each other, Mihai tagging along beside Sam like a puppy and Dean chuckled as he remembered how Sam had been much the same with him at that age. A pang of regret made him sigh, wondering when he had lost that kid that idolized him, trusted him. Now Sam was determined to be super hunter and didn't seem to need or want Dean like he used to. It hurt.

"How you doin', Sammy?" Dean called. He whirled when he heard a crash behind him and froze as he saw his little brother sprawled in the grass, Mihai hovering beside him, death grip on his arm. "Sam!" Dean sprinted the few yards, salt line forgotten and skidded to his knees beside them. He gently rolled Sam to his back, running a hand over his face and under the damp hair sticking to his forehead. "Ah hell, Sam." He was running a fever and down for the count, not even stirring at Dean's touch or when Mihai slid in next to his shoulder and wrapped his small arms around Sam's neck, pulling his head into his lap. "He'll be ok, kid." Dean said and checked Sam's pulse, worried to find it faster than it should be. "Sammy." Dean called and gently tapped his cheek. "Come on, Sam. Wake up." Seeing his brother boneless like this scared Dean more than he liked to admit. "Sammy."

Mihai looked up at Dean and then out into the woods beyond, fear on his face as a growl sounded far too close. "Oh crap." Dean breathed. He turned to face the forest, himself between it and his brother. "Tiberiu!" He called, knowing the man was somewhere nearby. "We got company!" He was torn between grabbing up the salt and finishing the line and staying with Sam. He didn't want to leave him unprotected to finish it and yet knew it was their best defense. The decision was taken out of his hands as a second Cougar, larger than the first leaped from behind a covering of bushes. It didn't play games as the other had. It gave a short snarl and leaped directly into Dean.

The impact bowled him backwards, skidding along the ground and slamming his head into the hard earth. He grunted as the cat left him. Dean managed to turn his head up and see Tiberiu burst into view. The big cat spun and swiped a paw across the strong man's chest, sending him to his knees. Dean rolled to his stomach, feeling the world spin around him as black crept into his vision. The Cougar reared up on its hindlegs over Tiberiu where he hunched on the ground and then did something Dean hadn't expected. The dark mist of a spirit exploded from the cat and rushed into Tiberiu. The giant man collapsed to his back as the Cougar fell boneless to the ground.

"Tiberiu?" Dean gasped. His ribs were burning and bruised from the weight of the big cat crashing into him and he was quickly losing the battle for consciousness. Tiberiu rolled to his knees, stood and stared down at Dean. Nothing of the strong man remained in his eyes as he stalked past Dean toward his brother and the boy. "N…no." Dean reached out a hand to try and stop him and flinched as Tiberiu's big foot snapped out and caught him on the side of the head.

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Dean woke to find Ileana hovering over him. He still lay in the grass and gasped, lurching up with a steely grip on the old woman's arm to look for his brother. He was gone. "Sam!"

"Be still." Ileana put a gentle hand to his head. "He is gone." Sadness covered her face like a mask. "I saw but could not stop it. Tiberiu…" She trailed off and looked down for a moment. "The spirits, they have him yes?" Dean nodded. "He tried to take Mihai but the boy vould not let go of your brother. Tiberiu, he took them both then. Carried avay toward the mines."

"Mihai." Dean let his head fall for a moment, waiting for the spinning to stop. "Sam said the spirit came for him the last time too. It's him they want. Why?" He didn't wait for an answer, wasn't expecting one. Dean made himself get to his knees and then his feet. "Finish the salt line." He told Ileana and stumbled back toward the camp while the old woman called orders to the other gypsies. He forced down the panic gripping his heart, making his head pound even worse. No way had he come back from Hell only to lose Sam like this. Dean went to the Impala and leaned on the trunk for a moment, letting his head settle. Tiberiu had a hell of a right boot.

"Dean!" Ileana called and he turned to see her hurrying toward him with a cup in hand. "You vill drink."

"Ileana I don't…"

She cut him off and shoved the cup into his hand. "Drink. Is for head." She glared at him until he nodded and drank the tea, the taste bitter but surprised when his head began to clear.

"Thanks." Dean handed it back and opened the door. "You keep the camp safe. I'm gonna go get our boys."

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Dean stood outside the entrance to the mines; shotgun in one hand, flashlight in the other and a duffel loaded with every weapon he could think of over his shoulder. He stared down at the large prints he knew belonged to Tiberiu leading into the darkness and took a deep breath. He'd survived decades in the pit, he was going to survive this and so was his brother. He let the rage at having his brother taken from him sweep over him and fill him. It gave him an odd sort of peace as he entered the mine shaft with a simple thought; gank anything standing between him and Sam.

The EMF meter in his pocket whined in and out as he moved, warning him that though he appeared to be alone in the tunnels, he was far from it. Twice the apparitions of dead Miners appeared and Dean blasted both to dust, reloading on auto-pilot and followed the heavy boot prints easily visible in the soft earth of the tunnel floor.

"Sam!" Dean shouted. His call drew another spirit and let it run toward him, drawing close before he loosed another round of rock salt with a satisfied smile. He turned a bend in the shaft and stopped, alert for a trick. Tiberiu lay sprawled across the tunnel floor ahead of him. "Tiberiu?" Dean asked; shotgun trained on the large man in case the spirit was playing possum within him. He groaned, rolling slowly to his side and blue eyes blinked groggily up at Dean.

"Friend Dean?" Tiberiu raised a shaking hand to his head. "Vhat…"

Dean lowered the gun and went to him. He tucked his flashlight in his pocket and reached a hand down. "Come up, big guy." Tiberiu grasped Dean's hand and let himself be pulled to his feet where he swayed and braced one hand against the wall while cradling the other over his bloodied chest.

"Coaie." Tiberiu groaned, looking down at the rents in his vest and the scratches beneath.

"Do you remember anything?" Dean asked him, watching both ends of the passage for spirits.

Tiberiu nodded. "Some. I remember…big cat and then…" He scowled, brows drawing together. "I vas carrying your brother and Mihai…here." Tiberiu turned and looked toward the tunnel leading deeper into the mine. "That vay. It vas taking them that vay."

Dean dropped the duffel and pulled out a second shotgun, handing it to the Romanian. "Point and shoot. Don't hesitate. Just shoot." Dean shouldered the bag again and stalked off down the tunnel he'd indicated. "Sam!" Dean called again, listening to Tiberiu's heavy steps behind him and he paused.

"I heard…" Tiberiu started and Dean raised his hand, stopping him.

He tilted his head, listening and was rewarded with the sound of a young boy calling his brother's name. "Come on." Dean sprinted ahead through the tunnel, following the sound. The two men passed quickly through the passages and oddly encountered no more spirits. The tunnel opened wide into a large chamber and Dean stopped, gun raising to the black figure standing over his brother. Sam was laid out on a long rock in the center of a circle that glistened darkly of blood.

"Get the hell away from him." Dean growled and advanced on the circle, taking in the figures appearance. He was dressed all in black, face hooded and Dean's eyes widened as he saw what was clearly a bullet hole in the center of his chest, over his heart. "Son of a bitch." He looked up to the piercing dark eyes behind the mask. "You're the bastard Sam shot. Why aren't you dead? What the hell are you?"

Tiberiu moved into his line of sight, going to the other side of the cave and quickly picked up a cowering Mihai, cradling the boys in his arms. "Vhat have you done?"

"You cannot kill that which does not die." The dark figure said in response to Dean. It lifted a thin arm and pulled the hood from its head.

"Crap." Dean breathed as he looked on the face of something he'd only read about in his father's journal. His face was wizened, dried looking and sunken, the skin pulled taught over the bones beneath. His eyes were solid black pits, glowing as they looked out at Dean. "A Liche."

It bowed, sarcasm pulling a taught smile across its face. It raised an arm, pointing to the circle. "You cannot cross and this one…" He trailed a hand over Sam's chest and Dean growled, stepping closer to the circle. "I will use."

"Use for what you sick son of a bitch?" Dean's toes were level with the outline of the circle now.

"A new Phylactery." The Liche grinned up at him. "Andrew Moffat found mine here." He waved an arm to encompass the mines. "He removed it. I followed him to his home but I could not find it. No matter." The Liche leaned over Sam and scratched a symbol into the stone beside him with a fingernail. "I shall make a new one."

"Doesn't work like that." Dean inched closer to Tiberiu, staying at the edge of the circle.

"I was going to use the boy." The Liche glanced at Tiberiu and Mihai then back to Sam. "Until I felt this one. His soul…it is…powerful."

"Not gonna happen." Dean tried to take a step forward and an invisible wall stopped him. He pushed harder against it while the Liche laughed.

It bent over Sam carved another symbol into the stone beside his head. "Nothing living may pass my ward." The Liche told Dean and scratched a final symbol into the stone on the near side of Sam's head. His brother's body arched off the stone as the Liche threw his head back, arms out. A thin rope of energy drew from Sam's chest and into the Liche.

Dean stepped back and raised the gun. "Nothing living." He fired and the rock salt passed over the line as though it weren't there, taking the Liche full in the face. Dean fired again into its chest. It was thrown backward, falling to the ground across the circle, breaking it as it landed. Dean sprinted to the altar as Sam collapsed back to the stone. "Sammy? Sam?" Dean put a hand on his chest, relief flooding through him as he felt his brother's heart beating, chest rising with shallow breaths. He stepped around the altar and faced the keening form of the Liche.

"You…cannot…kill me." It growled up at Dean.

Dean nodded. "You're right. Not without your Phylactery. Tiberiu?" The strong man came forward. "make sure he doesn't move." Tiberiu nodded and Dean turned back to Sam. "Sammy?" He asked again and this time his little brother moaned. He set down the shotgun and slid an arm under Sam's shoulders, his other under his knees and grunted with the effort of lifting Sam's long frame from the stone. He carried him outside the circle and set him gently down on the floor. "Don't go anywhere." Dean said softly, feathering a hand through Sam's long hair before going back to the Liche. He dropped the duffel and pulled out a long length of rope.

"Vhat do ve do?" Tiberiu asked. He was truly out of his depth. He had never though a Liche to be a true creature. He grunted in surprise when Mihai struggled to free himself and set the boy down to watch him scramble over to Sam's prone form.

"First, we make sure this Ringwraith son of a bitch stays out of trouble while we're gone." Dean clamped iron hands around the creature's arms and raised it easily. He turned and slammed the Liche down on the stone altar; grabbing up the rope. Tiberiu kept his shotgun trained on the hissing, spitting and cursing creature as Dean expertly tied it to the stone, leaving only its head free to move. Dean reached into the duffel again and came out with a heavy container of salt. He popped the lid and poured a thick line around the altar, caging it in and the spirits out. The Liche screamed its frustration and Dean bent over its head, a grin on his face.

"Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go back to Moffat's house. I'm gonna find your Phylactery and then I'm gonna destroy it and you." Dean grinned wider as the Liche roared angrily, fear widening its dead eyes. "You're gonna stay right here and wait for death and have plenty of time to think about how badly you screwed up when you laid a finger on my brother. Come on." Dean straightened and strode to Sam, kneeling beside him.

"He won't wake up." Mihai said softly, looking up to Dean with pleading eyes.

"Sure he will, kid. You just gotta know how to talk to him." Dean leaned over and took Sam's face in his hands. "Sammy!" He said sharply. "I need you to get your ass up! Now!"

Sam stirred, responding to the tone in his big brother's voice, the need he heard there and fought his way back from the place he'd been floating. He cracked his eyes open to find Dean, Mihai and Tiberiu all staring down at him. "D…Dean?"

Dean grinned. "About time you stop lying around." Mihai pulled eagerly on Sam's good arm as Dean helped to raise him until he was sitting. Sam's eyes wandered around the cave and stopped on the stone altar and the Liche.

"Holy crap. Is that…"

"Liche. Yeah." Dean took Sam's arm from Mihai and slid it across his shoulders. "Up we go."

"You haven't enough time!" The Liche shouted from the altar, straining uselessly against the bonds that held it tight. "He is still mine! Even now his life force flows to me!"

Dean's head whipped between the two and he looked carefully at his brother. "Sam? You feel anything…strange?"

Sam scowled. "Dean, I don't…" He trailed off and raised a trembling hand to his chest. "Actually…yeah. There's something…"

"Crap." Dean groaned and glared one more time at the Liche before turning away. "Ok, changes nothing. We just gotta move faster. Come on." Even without the circle, the Liche was still draining the life force from Sam, just far more slowly.

"If faster ve must move." Tiberiu smiled apologetically at Sam and swept him up in his arms. "Come." Sam's irritated protests faded as Tiberiu jogged down the tunnel, Mihai on his heels and Dean grabbed up his duffel, his shotgun and ran to catch them up.

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"Ileana!" Tiberiu unfolded his far too tall body out of the backseat of the Impala the moment they stopped in the Gypsy camp and called for the wise woman, pulling Mihai out with him.

"Out you go, Sammy. You're staying here." Dean ordered but Sam only crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

"Nope. I'm going." Sam said and raised a hand as Dean opened his mouth to argue. "It's my life we're talking about here. I'm going and honestly, I feel okay. I mean it's weird." He put a hand over his chest again, rubbing absently. "I can feel it but it doesn't hurt and I can do this." He looked sincerely at Dean, begging him to believe. "I can do this."

Ileana appeared from her caravan, Tiberiu tugging her unceremoniously along with a cup of sloshing tea in his other hand. They reached the passenger side of the car and he pushed the back door shut while opening Sam's. "Here. You must drink."

Ileana huffed and tugged her arm from Tiberiu's grip. She glared up at him. "Grandsons should show more respect." She looked away from him as he rolled his eyes and bent to Sam, placing a hand over top of his on his chest. She hissed between her teeth. "He is right. Drink so I may see." She could feel the pull of something dead draining energy from the boy in front of her and it made her skin crawl. Sam took the cup and drained it quickly, handing it back.

Ileana stood and peered into the cup at the leaves clumped and scattered along its bottom, eyes losing their focus as she opened the other sight and focused on that dead thing and its source of power. "It is in the mansion still." Ileana said softly. "It hides there, surrounded; protected. The eyes of the forest's dead watch over it and the beads of a man once holy surround it." She lowered the cup and took a deep breath. "That is all I can see. You must go quickly." She told Dean with a careful nod toward Sam.

"Thanks, Ileana, Tiberiu." Dean revved the Impala's engine as Sam pulled his door closed and raised a cloud of dust as he backed out of the encampment. "Eyes of the forest's dead? What the hell does that even mean?"

Sam thought back to their brief look inside the Moffat mansion. "In his study. There were hunting rifles over the fireplace. So, maybe the 'forests dead' means trophy kills?"

"Stuffed animal heads." Dean nodded. "Ok I'll buy that." The car roared off the forest track and back onto the black top as Dean floored it, determined to reach the mansion in record time. Sam had yet to stop rubbing that spot on his chest.

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The driveway to the mansion was blocked off with two rows of yellow crime scene tape when they reached it a half hour later. Dean drove them and poured on the gas toward the big house hoping they wouldn't find any cops in residence. Sam slumped in the passenger seat, face pale, eyes sunken and said little as they drove. "How you doin?"

Sam jerked his head up and nodded, making himself stop rubbing at the tingling spot on his chest. "I'm good." He wasn't, but he wasn't going to tell Dean that. He could feel himself getting weaker every moment that passed. It felt as though cold were stealing into his bones and some indefinable part of him was slowly leaking away.

Dean parked the Impala beside the house this time, finding no police cars in evidence. They were in a hurry. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go find this thing." Dean climbed, noting Sam's stiff movements as he followed. They had gotten no more than ten steps from the car when the back door opened and a small, blonde blur sped toward them, thumping into Sam's legs.

"Mihai?" Sam said in surprise and looked up to Dean. "What the hell?"

"I'll be damned." Dean groaned and covered his face with a hand for a second. "He stowed away? Geez kid this is not a place for you to be." Dean went and took one of Mihai's arms to put him back in the car but he wrapped his other firmly around Sam's upper thigh and wouldn't let go.

"Uh huh." Mihai said softly and looked up at both men with a pleading face. "Wanna help Sam."

"Oh man." Sam groaned and rested a hand in the kids' hair. "Mihai, it's not safe. You've gotta wait in the car." Mihai shook his head.

"We don't have time." Dean said and threw his arms out. "He's coming." He knelt beside the boy. "You stay close to Sam. Anything jumps out you get behind him." Mihai nodded, eyes wide and changed his grip to hold Sam's hand instead. Dean shook his head and headed for the house, Sam and Mihai trailing behind.

The interior of the house was the same as the last time they'd been there except now most of the surfaces were covered in a fine layer of fingerprinting dust from the police. They went quickly through the first floor to the stairs. Dean knew there was nothing like a trophy room down there and jogged up the first flight. At the turn he looked and saw Sam making much slower progress up the stairs.

"Sammy?" He asked. Sam looked up, exhaustion in every line of his face and gave him a thumbs up.

"I'm ok. Keep going." Sam told him and watched Dean nod and vanish up the stairs. "Gotta move faster, Mihai." Sam said, breathless and used the bannister to help pull him up the stairs. A feeling of heaviness was beginning to steal over him as they climbed. By the time they reached the top of the stairs, Sam was winded and breathing heavily. The tingling in the center of his chest had become a numbness and it was slowly spreading outward.

"Sam! It's here!" Dean's voice called from his right and he and Mihai went quickly down the hall, turning into a room that was creepy in the extreme. Heads from every animal imaginable lined all four walls and some even hanging, mounted from the ceiling. Bears, wolves, big cats and small, at least a dozen deer heads and something Sam was sure was once an anteater hung all about the room; dead eyes watching as they searched among the forest of tables and glass topped displays in the room.

"Which one is it?" Sam asked, panting for air as the numb feeling overtook his chest and began to inch down his arms and legs. There were necklaces, rings, vases and vials; it was a knick knack collectors dream. Sam swiveled his head from case to case, trying to discern which one was the Liche's Phylactery. He didn't realize he had begun to sink to the floor until he saw Mihai's worried face on a level with his own.

"Sammy!" Dean was suddenly there beside them, holding Sam's shoulders and lowered him to the floor as he collapsed sideways.

"Dean." Sam breathed and worked hard at pulling in a deep breath. "Hurry." Dean watched, helpless as Sam's eyes closed and all the remaining color leached out of his face. Mihai pulled Sam's head and shoulders into his lap, wrapping his arms around his neck and held him.

Dean growled and stood, stalking among the cases and the dozens of possibilities. His eyes stopped on one case, near the far corner. He walked closer to it and narrowed his eyes. In the case was an antique apothecary's vial. It was tall and narrow, made of blue glass with an elaborate stopper and lying around it on its velvet pillow was a Rosary made of Tiger's Eye stone.

"Beads of a man once holy." Dean whispered and opened the case. He picked up the vial and could almost feel evil pouring off the thing into his hands as he held it. Thankfully, destroying a Phylactery required no complicated measures. It was as simple as smashing it and he did. Dean launched the glass across the room into the wall and watched with satisfaction as it shattered. A dark light grew from the broken pieces, exploding out into the room. At the same moment, Sam gave a startled cry; back arching up off the floor as he filled his lungs and then fell silent, dropping into Mihai's lap once more.

"Sammy." Dean went to them and pulled his brother from Mihai's lap. His heart was beating sluggishly but no breaths were passing his lips. "Come on, Sam." Dean laid him down, tilted his head back and forced two breaths into his brother's lungs. "Breathe dammit." He pushed more air into Sam and heaved a breath when Sam gasped in air, head arching back in Dean's hand. "That's it, tiger."

"Gah…crap." Sam groaned, opening his eyes. "That…hurt." He put a shaking hand to his chest, rubbing at the ache centered there. "Thanks, Dean." He managed. He had felt himself dying. It was a feeling he hoped he never had to experience again, the feeling of his soul being sucked out of him. Dean clasped a hand around Sam's shoulder and just held on for a moment, settling himself as well as his brother.

"Ok, let's get out of here before someone finds us." Dean stood and reached down for Sam. "Get shorty here back to camp." He pulled Sam's arms, tugging him up from the floor with Mihai pushing from behind and got Sam swaying between them.

Sam dropped his head, the floor spinning in opposite directions from the walls and closed his eyes to try and orient himself.

"Sam?" Dean put a hand on his neck and Sam nodded.

"Dizzy." Sam argued with his head, begging it to stop, to play nice. "Sorry."

"What for?" Dean asked just as Sam folded into his arms. Dean grunted and took all his weight. "Hell. Ok, Mihai. Time to go home." Dean bent and got Sam up over his shoulder and smirked when he felt the boys hand slide into his own.

Once at the car, Dean slid Sam into the back seat and chuckled as Mihai crawled in with him. The boy maneuvered himself so he was once again sitting with Sam's head and shoulders in his lap, arms around him and rested his cheek in Sam's dark hair.

"What is it with you and Sam, kid?" Dean asked fondly and Mihai looked up to him with a small smile.

"Sam saved me." Mihai whispered and Dean nodded.

"Ok, kid. You just…make sure he keeps breathing." Dean ruffled a hand fondly in the boys' hair and shut the door on his fervent nod. He slid in behind the wheel, started the engine and looked into the rearview mirror in surprise as he heard a soft voice. Mihai's head was resting in Sam's hair still and the little boy was crooning something softly in Romanian to his little brother. Dean chuckled and shook his head. He was going to enjoy teasing Sam about this later.

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Three days later, Sam and Dean stood in the center of the gypsy encampment surrounded by new friends and made their farewells. Tiberiu crushed each man in a hug, lifting them one at a time off the ground and setting them back down with a laugh. Sam stepped away as they shook hands and turned to find Mihai waiting behind him.

Sam smiled and put his arms out. Mihai grinned and jumped up, letting Sam pick him up and eagerly snuggled into Sam's chest, arms slinging around his neck. "I'm gonna miss you, kid." Sam said fondly to the blonde head under his chin.

"Miss you too." Mihai said and leaned back so he could look at Sam. "I could come." He said fervently and grinned. "Wanna be like you." Sam's jaw dropped as Dean began laughing beside him and clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Now you know how I felt when you were that age." Dean chuckled and left him to follow Ileana as she drew him aside.

"Come boy." Ileana pulled him away from the others, Tiberiu beside them and looked up at Dean with serious eyes. "Something is coming. I saw it in the leaves." She nodded. "For you and him both." She nodded to Sam. "A great darkness. I cannot tell you vhat I saw."

"Why not?" Dean asked, suddenly angry as he remembered what she had said to Sam the last time she'd looked into his future; how she had cried and thanked him for something she wouldn't say. "Why the hell not?"

Ileana shook her head sadly and reached a hand up to touch his face. "All I can tell you is you must trust in each other. Together you are stronger." She patted his cheek firmly and gave him a watery smile. "But you know this already. Good journey, curajos omul." Ileana left him standing there, sucking back his irritation.

"What'd she call me?" Dean asked of Tiberiu finally and the strong man chuckled.

"Brave man." Tiberiu nodded. He looked over Dean's shoulder and frowned even as a laugh burbled up. "Ve should go get little man. He is about to be having trouble again I think."

"Huh?" Dean spun and saw the two gypsy girls from earlier latching on to his brother as he set Mihai back on the ground. Sam put his hands up and backed a step but the girls each had a hold of one arm, tugging. Dean smirked, grinned and finally burst out laughing when it became clear they were arguing over him and loudly in Romanian. "Oh, Sammy, Sammy." Dean shook his head and headed over to save him from himself.

"Girls. Really, we have to go." Sam argued and tried to gently pry their hands from his sleeves.

"No, no. You vill stay." Eliska purred up at Sam, putting her other hand on his chest, tangling her fingers in his shirt.

"Yes stay, but vith me." Katya glared at the other girl and reached across, grabbing Eliska's hand and giving a pull. Sam's shirt parted with a rip under the stress and he rolled his eyes to the sky for patience as Dean stepped up beside him.

"Girl trouble, little brother?" Dean winked, still laughing and pulled him back as the girls began arguing in earnest.

"You should go before they realize." Tiberiu wiped tears of laughter from his eyes as the cat fight escalated. "They are too much for you little man." He told Sam, grinning at the look on the younger Winchester's face. "They vould eat you alive."

Sam gave up and laughed, waving a hand. "I can believe it."

"Come on, Romeo." Dean turned Sam and gave him a push toward the Impala. They climbed in together and waved at Tiberiu as Dean backed slowly out of the camp. He'd given the Romanian a card with their numbers in case he ever needed them again. He and Tiberiu had gone back to the mine's while Sam was healing and found that all the ghosts seemed to have gone back to their rest without the Liche stirring them up. Dean had salted and burned the Liche's remains with joy and left the mine's feeling a bit lighter at heart.

Dean looked over at his brother, trying uselessly to pull his torn shirt back together and laughed. "Dude, you got beat by girls." He said, laughing harder when Sam glared at him. "Gypsy girls." Sam flipped him a finger and Dean wiped tears from his eyes. "Twice."

"Oh bite me, Dean." Sam ground out and let his head fall back, resigned to let his older brother laugh himself out since Tiberiu had told him about the punch he'd taken from Katya in the clearing. He groaned as Dean's laughter finally began to die away and aimed a light punch at his shoulder in retaliation. "You tell anyone about the girls and I'm telling Bobby about the dress."

"You wouldn't." Dean glared, humor forgotten under that threat and Sam only grinned innocently at him.

"I would." Sam chuckled and let his head roll to rest against the window. "Dammit I missed you, Dean." He said softly. He figured Dean would say nothing to that, his hatred of chick flick moments something that would never change and so Sam was surprised when he felt Dean's hand slide behind his head to grip his neck lightly before going back to the wheel. Tears sprung to his eyes and he quickly blinked them away for Dean's sake as the Impala hit the open road and roared down the highway.

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The End.

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A/N DON'T GO ANYWHERE! :D If you prompted this story, you'll find your name in the list below. As a thank you to all of you who did such an amazing job keeping me on my toes, I offer the only gift I can give. A One Shot Story of your choosing. Either comment this chapter or Private Message with: Which season you would like it set in and what you would like the story to be about either in general or in detail. Anything your little supernatural hearts desire. Except Wincest. As stated in every chapter...I don't do that. :D

Again, if your name is on the list, you've earned a special One Shot written just for you to your specifications. Comment or PM what you want and I'll write it. Thank you all again! This has been a hell of a fun challenge and don't worry, we'll play this game again. :D This was only the first edition.

Carry on!

Prompters Extraordinaire:

Brielle-W

Colby's Girl

Deanlovespie

Fayesnuttytart

Hinfallend

Jeanny

jennytork

judyann

Kelisem

LadyBeryl

LaedieDuske

Leahelisabeth

LeighAnnWallace

Little White Comet

sammynanci

Shannanigans

Souless666

Sparkiebunny

threedays