I Need You

The Mark

He was hurting. No, he was suffering. Day after day ever since he first held that damn blade Dean had been having hallucinations and increasingly strong urges of blood lust. Yes you needed the Mark of Cain to defeat Abaddon, but at what cost? Dean had finally killed the evil bitch and for a moment you all thought the worst was finally over. Oh how wrong you were. Now that she was gone you had a new mission, getting rid of the mark.

For days now you and Sam had done nothing but research ways to get rid of the Mark. Even Castiel tried to find out how to remove it but with no luck. Dean stayed in his room, slowly deteriorating. On the rare occasions he got any sleep it was filled with nightmares that would have him screaming and lashing out. Once you had made the mistake of trying to wake him up and ended up with a bruise around your throat shaped like a handprint. Dean had immediately stopped himself when he fully woke up but the guilt he felt afterward continued to eat at him.

Today was another day filled with lore books, web searches, and no sleep. Sam left a while ago to try and get Dean to eat something. You decided you needed a break and stood up, stretching your arms above your head and cracking your back. Looking towards the door of the library you wondered how Dean was holding up. Making your way down the hall you stopped inside the doorway to his room, the sight made you instantly want to break down crying.

Dean lay curled up under the comforter, eyes squeezed shut and sweat pouring off his body. Sam sat on the side of his bed, elbows on his knees and his hands covering his mouth, staring at his older brother. He couldn't take the pain of seeing his big brother look so weak and vulnerable. You turned away from the scene and quietly made your way back to the library. After a few minutes Sam came back and sat across from you, running his hands across his face and sighing loudly. "He's getting worse."

You looked up to meet sad eyes and frowned.

"There has to be something we can do, anything! He won't last much longer like this." Sams frustration matched your own and your heart broke for him. "Sam, we're doing everything we can, and we'll find the answer, I promise.'

He looked at you and nodded, "I just hope we find it soon."

The next day Castiel appeared in the kitchen where you and Sam had been drinking coffee and going over different options. Any hope that he may have found something vanished the moment you saw his crestfallen face. "I am sorry, no one knows how to be rid of the Mark of Cain. Since it is a direct creation of God there seems to be nothing anyone can do. Now that Cain has given up the Mark I assumed something could be done since he no longer possessed it but I apparently was mistaken." Sam stood up and left, probably going back to the library to comb through the books you'd both already read three times.

"Thanks Cas, just keep an ear out okay? We can't give up," You smiled at the angel. He nodded and vanished. You sat there drinking the hot liquid and wondered what the hell you were going to do. After a while you realized something Cas said stuck with you, now that Cain had given up the Mark....

Standing up suddenly you ran to your room to change clothes. You threw on some jeans, a tank top and one of Deans old leather jackets. Lacing up your boots you kept going over in your head the thousands of ways your plan could go wrong but you had to try. Dean meant everything to you, and the world needed him a lot more than it needed you. Looking around the room you think of all the good times you've had with the Winchesters. You'd met when Bobby asked you to help them on a hunt two years ago. You smiled at the memory.

At first Dean had been reluctant to team up, telling Bobby he didn't have time to "babysit". Two days and five dead vampires later, three of which you had killed alone, you told Dean he could collect his babysitting money from Bobby and left the boys with stunned looks on their faces. When you ran into them again a few weeks later Dean apologized and admitted you were a pretty badass hunter. After that it was nothing but pie eating contests, ganking monsters, and blasting every cassette in Deans collection continuously. You'd fallen for Dean after the first few months but never told him.

For that reason you knew you were doing the right thing, Dean couldn't take anymore and Sam was close to his breaking point not being able to help his brother. You loved Sam too, he was the greatest friend you'd ever had and by saving Dean you were saving Sam too. It was a win win, right?