Chapter Text
A/N: Hello dear readers, I am back with the last story in the Dominick trilogy for your reading pleasure. It seems Sam is not getting better, in fact he is getting worse, especially after pushing himself to the limit when saving Dean. It will be a roller coaster ride, so buckle in and hang on, our journey is about to being. I do like reviews/comments. NC
Chapter 1
The black Impala made its way down the blacktopped highway as dusk descended quickly across the land. Dean shifted in the driver's seat and rolled his shoulders feeling the slight ache still in them. He glanced over to the passenger seat where his brother was slumped against the side window asleep. There was still just enough light for him to see the weariness and pinched look on his face, even as he slept. He would twitch and jerk in his sleep, his dreams not peaceful ones.
The brothers had finished a hunt early that morning and Dean wanted to head toward Whitefish, Montana, before finding a motel room for the night. It was too far for him to drive straight through since Sam was in no shape to help with the driving. He thought the hunt would be a simple one, but it turned out more complicated than expected. Sam had gone all out, using his powers to save Dean's life again and he was weak, drained, and exhausted from it. This worried Dean about how much the powers took from Sam each time he used them, since it seemed to be getting worse and not better.
Small things like moving objects or astral projection did not seem to bother him, but when he had to expend a great deal of his energy, he seemed totally drained afterwards. Dean would not have thought anything about it, but he could see the toil it took on Sam and he wasn’t popping back like he should. He knew he could not ignore this, but he did not want to upset Sam by confronting him yet.
It had been several months since they had joined forces with a friend and fellow hunter, Dominick, to take down a siren. They had worked the case together to kill the monster and then went to Bobby’s for some down time. The brothers invited Dom to join them since they wanted Bobby to meet him, and it would give Dom another resource if he needed it on a hunt. Dominick and Bobby bonded over sharing their knowledge and experiences. They stayed a week with Bobby, enjoying the time to recharge.
Dean had spoken to Dom about his concerns for Sam when they went into town to visit a bar and Dom told him to contact him if things changed for Sam and he seemed worse. He had sent a text to Dom that they were heading for Whitefish and if he was free to meet them there, he needed his help.
spn
Sam grunted and began to stir in the passenger seat as he woke himself up and pushed the fog from his mind.
“Where are we?” he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and yawned widely.
“In Nevada, I’m going to stop in a couple more hours so we can get some rest before heading on to the cabin.”
“Okay, you want me to drive some?”
“You can hardly hold your eyes open, no; I don’t want you driving my Baby.”
“I’m not that bad,” Sam huffed coughing and clearing his throat as he stifled another yawn.
“I got this. When was the last time you talked to Dom?”
“Right before the hunt. He’s in Colorado chasing down a black dog.”
“Is he going to meet us at the cabin?”
“Yeah, he’ll be heading that way when his hunt is done. He said maybe a day or two at the most. Why?”
“Just wondering, you haven’t seen him in about six weeks, right?”
“We both got busy, why is something wrong?” Sam questioned catching a concerned look on Dean’s face before he hid it.
“Nope. You wanna grab a bite before we get a motel room?” Dean asked trying to change the subject and not make Sam suspicious about him talking about Dom.
He did not want to voice his concerns if they were nothing to worry about. Sam had been working hard on mastering his powers because he wanted to use them for good, not for the evil that Azazel had originally planned. Dom was guiding and training him in learning different psychic powers, if it seemed he was able to do them, but cautioned him in not overextending himself. He told Sam it was better to master some common ones that were the most useful for him than to try and do too many.
“Yeah, I could do with some food.”
“I’ll start looking for an exit then.”
Sam looked over at his brother wondering if there was something he was not saying. He could usually read him like a book unless he put up his walls to block everyone and that was what he was doing right now. He had a feeling it had to do with him but saw Dean’s tactics of changing the subject and let it drop for now. He was not in the mood to pick a fight with him, nor did he have the strength to argue. They had slowly started building their relationship again since Dean had come back from Purgatory, and he did not want to mess that up. It took Dean a while to adjust to this world after his year long stint in Purgatory.
Dean kept his eyes on the signs he passed until he saw one to his liking and moved into the far-right lane to exit off the interstate when he got to it. He was lucky to have found a restaurant and motel at the same exit that would suit their needs since they were on a stretch of the highway that was not very populated. He slowed the Impala down and signaled to exit the highway and rolled to a stop at the top of the ramp. The restaurant was on one side of the road and the motel was down below it. There were several gas stations and fast food joints in between, but he knew Sam needed healthy food right now and rejected the fast food places. He waited for the traffic to clear before turning and getting in the lane to pull into the restaurant parking lot.
Sam looked around and was pleased that Dean decided on an actual restaurant and not a greasy fast food place. It seemed he was being more particular about where he stopped for meals now and Sam was wondering what that was about. Any other time, he would be walking to the restaurant alone and Dean would pig out on artery clogging hamburgers and fries. He was not going to complain or make a big deal out of it. If it continued, then he would try to figure out what was going on with him. Sam got out of the car and followed his brother to the front doors of the restaurant and went inside. The place was about half full but there were plenty of tables and booths available. They waited for the hostess to seat them, and Sam was already trying to decide what he felt like eating.
spn
The motel was a small ma and pa place and not a chain but seemed taken care of. Dean had gone inside to get them a room and Sam looked around the shadowed parking lot noticing the dozen or so cars already there. Seemed like they were not the only ones deciding to stop for the night and get some rest. He stifled a yawn as Dean came back out and got in the car. He moved the Impala past the office and found their room and parked in front of it. They got out and grabbed bags from the back before going to the door. Sam knew the routine and it had not changed since Dean had gotten back from Purgatory. He waited patiently at the door as Dean unlocked it and went inside to check the place out first before letting him come inside. He automatically took the bed away from the door, knowing that was another of Dean’s rules, had been since they started hunting together. Dean surmised that if anything came in the door, it would have to get through him to get to Sam. Sam quit questioning these quirks and rules of his brother a long time ago and just went with them.
“You want the bathroom first?” Dean asked sitting down on the bed and unlacing his boots.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Sam replied sitting his bag on the dresser and rummaging around for some sleep clothes. He decided to take his shower now in hopes it would relax him. He was tired, but in a way that sleep did not seem to help. Sam grabbed his bathroom bag and stepped into the room closing the door behind him before letting his body slump back against it. He did not want Dean to see him like this. He heard the television coming on and figured Dean was looking for something to watch. With a long sigh, he stripped out of his clothes and turned on the water, adjusting the temperature before stepping under the spray.
The heat of the water seemed to pull the tension from Sam’s body, making him feel slightly weak. He shampooed his hair and soaped his body before rinsing and shutting off the water. Once he had dried himself and towel dried his hair, he stepped from the tub and dressed. After brushing his teeth and relieving himself, Sam headed back into the other room to see Dean almost asleep on his bed.
“Hey, I’m done in the bathroom.”
“Yeah, alright,” Dean grunted pushing himself from the bed and stretching before hunting his own sleep clothes from his duffle. He moved to the bathroom as Sam turned down his bed and crawled under the covers, collapsing onto the mattress. It felt good to be out of the Impala, even though it was like a second home to him.
Sam got comfortable and glanced toward the television to see what Dean had found to watch and saw Dr. Sexy MD was playing. He never knew what Dean saw in the program but watched the nurses and doctors running across the screen in the emergency room to take care of a critical patient. He guessed it was for the hot women and wild sex. His eyes lids grew heavy, and he was out for the count when Dean stepped from the bathroom and tossed his dirty clothes on his duffel.
Dean gave his brother a quick glance to see he was asleep before getting into his own bed to continue watching his program. He made sure the volume was low and would not disturb Sam since he knew he needed the rest. Dean listened to Sam’s nasally breathing coming from the other bed and automatically matched his breathing with it.
Dean drifted to sleep with the droning of the television playing in the background and Sam’s snoring just loud enough for him to hear.