Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural and its characters, but Mary-Claire does belong to me.

Author's Note: Special thanks to LadyWallace for helping my brainstorm for this story. She's written some wonderful SPN stories, so check them out if you get a chance.

After All This Time

Chapter 3

Dean found a vending machine next to the elevators where he got Jess a ginger ale and then went to the waiting room to brew himself a cup of coffee. He was going to need it in order to have this conversation with Jess. He had never intended on telling her the truth about the supernatural monsters and demons he and Sam had faced in their lives. Perhaps there was a way he could skirt around the full truth, but he needed her to understand that Mary-Claire could be in real danger. So could she, for that matter. Dean didn't want to ruin Sam's normal life by revealing family secrets to his wife, but even more important was keeping his brother's family safe. In order to do that, Jess needed to hear the truth.

With a heavy sigh, Dean took a sip of his coffee and then made his way back to his brother's room. Jess shifted anxiously in her chair as Dean entered the room. A glance at the hospital bed told him there was no change in Sam's condition. The young man still rested in the same position, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. The monitors beeped steadily on the IV pole next to the bed. Dean bit his lip; he wanted to scream with rage at whoever or whatever had done this to his baby brother. He resisted the urge to move to his brother's side and instead turned his attention to his niece.

Mary-Claire shifted in her sleep from her place on the window seat and then was still. Dean walked over and adjusted her blanket around her shoulders before he finally moved to stand next to Sam's bed. "Sorry, Sammy, but I gotta tell her; I hope you can forgive me if I mess things up for you," he murmured to his brother as he gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before pulling a chair over and sitting down to face his sister-in-law. He handed Jess the bottle of ginger ale and waited to make sure she opened it and took a sip.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, his brow furrowed in concern.

She took another swallow of the soda and sighed. "I'll be okay. It's all catching up with me," she admitted. Her fingers picked anxiously at the label on the bottle of ginger ale. "So, what do you think happened to my husband and why do you think Mary-Claire and I are in danger?" Jess pinned Dean with a glare that made the seasoned hunter shift uncomfortably in his seat.

Dean took a swig of coffee and ran a hand over his face before he began. "Okay, Jess, what has Sam told you about growing up?"

She shrugged and thought for a moment. "Your mom died in a house fire when he was six months old," she began slowly, "and your dad started moving around a lot after that. He couldn't stand to stay where your mom had died. He ended up doing some sort of bounty hunting, so you practically raised Sam."

Dean nodded and glanced at his brother; he missed the younger man's dimpled grin and saucy comebacks, and he was worried he'd never experience either again. "Our mom did die in a house fire when Sam was six months old, but it wasn't an accident. Something killed her."

Jess raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly in her chair. "Something? Don't you mean someone?" she asked curiously.

"Jess, our mom wasn't killed by anything human. She was killed by a demon." Dean sat back in his chair and watched Jess' face carefully.

"A demon?" she asked incredulously. She stared at Dean as if she wasn't quite sure whether to believe him or not. "As in from the Bible or something in a horror movie?" Her voice got a bit louder with her question.

"Our dad wasn't a bounty hunter. He hunted supernatural things like demons and witches, and has been on a constant quest to get the thing that killed our mom." Dean ran a nervous hand through his short hair. "Sam hated that life. He wanted out. He wanted normal."

Jess pushed to her feet and began to pace the small room. "I don't know if I believe you." She wrapped her arms around herself.

"I can understand that," Dean admitted, "and I wouldn't be telling you any of this except that I'm worried for your safety."

"Let's say you're telling me the truth," Jess choked out as she ran a shaky hand through her blonde hair. "Why would something come after Sam all this time?"

"That's what I aim to find out. Everything about what you've told me makes me think that Sam's coma isn't something related to an accident. Someone caused this to happen for a reason; it was deliberate."

"A demon?" Jess asked in disbelief.

Dean leaned forward in his chair. "A witch is what I'm thinking, actually," he told her.

Jess threw her hands up in the air. "Oh, of course, a witch!" she nearly yelled.

Dean hushed her and glanced toward the nurses' station where several people looked their way. "You're going to get us kicked out of here," he cautioned. He checked on Mary-Claire and was relieved to see that she was still sleeping soundly on the window seat.

Jess wrapped her arms against herself once again and moved to stand beside Sam's bed. She stared longingly down at her husband before reaching out to brush her fingers along his cheek. "I can't imagine Sam hunting anything," she nearly whispered. "He's so sweet and gentle with Mary-Claire and me. He loves to read and work on his computer." She bent to kiss his forehead and looked up at Dean. "What you're saying is just too unbelievable."

Dean nodded. "I get that, Jess, but I'm trying to keep you and your daughter safe. Even if you don't believe me about the witch, you need to be on the alert for anything strange. Tell me the minute something out of the ordinary happens, or even something you just don't feel right about."

"Now you're trying to make me paranoid," she said with a tight, humorless laugh.

Dean stood and moved to her side, gripping her arm gently. "Jess, you need to be careful. Something out there got Sam, and I don't know what it is. There's a good chance it could come after you and Mary-Claire. Please take me seriously. I owe it to Sam to keep you safe."

"Knock, knock," the nurse called as she entered Sam's small room. "I need to do a check on vitals. I hate to interrupt." She checked Sam over as Dean and Jess looked on and frowned. "He's running a fever," she announced, "and his heart rate is elevated. I'm going to call the doctor. He will probably want to run some blood work and see what's going on."

"Do you think he has some sort of infection?" Jess asked as she brushed Sam's hair tenderly back from his face and adjusted the blankets around his shoulders.

"Could be," the nurse told her. "The blood work will give us some answers. Let me go call the doctor."

Once the nurse left the room, Jess looked up at Dean. "He's getting worse," she told him in a trembling voice, "and the doctors have no idea what's wrong with him. Now you're telling me it's a witch!" She began shaking and backed up against the wall. "I don't know what to think!"

Then, to Dean's surprise, she slapped her hand over her mouth before turning to the side and vomiting all over the floor. "Jess?" he asked as he stepped forward. He watched in horror as her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped toward the floor. He caught her slight frame before she landed on the hard tile and lifted her into his arms. "I need help in here!" he called out.

The nurse who had just checked on Sam poked her head in the doorway and her eyes widened. "There's an empty room next door. Put her on the bed in there."

"Mommy?" Mary-Claire called as she sat up quickly and rubbed sleep from her eyes. She caught sight of Jess hanging limply in Dean's arms. "Mommy!" she screamed as she launched herself off of the window seat and lunged toward Dean, wrapping her arms tightly around his leg as he stumbled through the doorway toward the empty cubicle next door. Gently, he placed Jess down on the bed and then lifted Mary-Claire into his arms.

"Mommy," the little girl sobbed as she stretched her arms out toward Jess' prone form.

Dean held her close and watched as the nurses checked over his sister-in-law. He hated to leave her side, but he didn't think Mary-Claire should be watching this. He caught the attention of the nurse who had been caring for Sam. "I'm taking her back next door," he told her as he flicked his eyes toward the child in his arms.

The nurse nodded. "I think Mrs. Winchester is dehydrated," she explained. "Might need to be seen in the ER. We can get her down there on the gurney. I'll give the ER doc a call before we move her."

Dean nodded. "Thank you," he told her as he stepped out of the room with Mary-Claire and went next door to where his brother was still lying unconscious in the bed. Jess' vomit had been cleaned up and a wet floor sign was in its place on the tile. Fear churned in Dean's stomach as he looked down at Sam. He was no closer to finding out what had happened to his brother and now Sam had a fever and an elevated heart rate. Dean had a feeling that things were only going to get worse from here. He had to get Jess taken care of and then get started with his research. It was the only way to save his brother's life.

Dean was jolted back to the present when he felt Mary-Claire's hot tears against his neck. "I know it's scary, but your mom is going to be okay," he soothed as he rubbed comforting circles on his niece's back. Her whole body was trembling in fear and he held her more tightly against him and rocked back and forth gently.

"Daddy," the little girl wailed, reaching out for Sam this time. "I want Daddy," her voice quavered.

"Do you want to lie down beside him?" Dean asked her. "You'll have to stay really still so you don't pull any tubes or wires loose."

"Okay," the child hiccupped.

Dean wiped gently at her tears with a tissue from the box beside the bed. He'd only known this child a few days, but already she had captured his heart. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Just stay very still," he cautioned once again.

Mary-Claire nodded and curled quietly into Sam's side when Dean placed her on the bed. She sniffled and wiped her tears on his blanket. "Daddy," she whispered as she closed her eyes and pressed into his side. Sam didn't move.

Dean swallowed hard around the lump in his throat before tugging his cell phone out of his pocket. He called Bobby and when the older hunter answered the phone, Dean dove right into the conversation. "Bobby, can you come sit with Sam and his family while I do research? I don't feel comfortable leaving them alone."

"You've got it, Son," Bobby promised. "I'll be on the road in an hour. Any idea what happened yet?"

Dean sighed with relief and gratitude. "No, not yet. Thanks, Bobby. I really appreciate this."

"Can't wait to meet Sam's family," the man chuckled. "Hard to imagine little Sammy as a dad."

"His kid's amazing, Bobby," Dean told his friend as he looked at Mary-Claire curled peacefully next to Sam in the hospital bed. "I see so much of Sam in her."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Bobby promised, ending the call.

Dean sighed and tucked his phone back into his pocket as the nurse poked her head into Sam's room. "We're getting ready to take Mrs. Winchester down to the ER. She's awake now."

Dean nodded. "We'll walk down with her."

"Oh, and the doctor ordered blood work on your brother. I'll be in to draw some blood shortly," she explained.

"Thanks," Dean told her. "I'll leave my phone number on the table by Sam's bed. Please call me if anything changes."

"Don't worry, Mr. Winchester. We will take good care of your brother, and I promise to call if there's a change."

Dean nodded and moved to Sam's bed. "Come on, squirt," he told his niece as he lifted her carefully from Sam's side. "Your mom is awake. We're going to take her downstairs to see the doctor. She fainted because she threw up so much. The doctors are going to make her stomach feel much better so she can stop throwing up."

"She's not gonna keep sleeping like Daddy?" Mary-Claire sniffled as Dean settled her on his hip.

"No," he told her. "In fact, she's already awake."

Mary-Claire brightened at that news. "Mommy!" she called loudly.

"Shhhh," Dean told her. "She's right next door. We have to be quiet so we don't bother the other sick people in the hospital."

Mary-Claire nodded and kicked her legs impatiently against her uncle. "Hurry, Uncle De!" she urged.

Dean chuckled and carried his niece next door where he found a teary Jess sitting up in bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked her. Dean frowned when he noticed she was nearly hysterical. "Jess?" he asked as he settled himself on the bed beside her and reached for her hand. "What is it? What's wrong?" He held Mary-Claire tightly in his lap, not letting her crawl over to her mother in case Jess was in pain.

"My baby," the woman sobbed with her free hand pressed to her abdomen. "What if something happened to my baby when I fainted?"

"Baby?" Dean queried in shock. And then it hit him. All the vomiting was from morning sickness.

Jess nodded miserably. "Yes," she choked out. "Sam was so excited. What if I lose his baby?" More tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Hey, the doctors are going to take good care of you," Dean soothed. "The nurses think you're dehydrated, so I'm sure they'll give you some fluids and you'll be feeling much better." He tugged Jess against him and felt her body shake as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"It's okay, Mommy," Mary-Claire said as she rubbed a hand over her mom's blonde hair.

"Thank you, baby," Jess sniffled as she pulled back from Dean and leaned forward to give her daughter a kiss. She blinked when the room swam around her. "I'm so dizzy," she moaned.

"Lie down," Dean instructed as he stood up with Mary-Claire in his arms. He tucked the blanket around his sister-in-law as the nurses entered the room. "We are going to get you checked out in the ER. It's going to be okay, Jess."

"You don't know that, Dean. First Sam and now this. Please, you have to find out what happened to Sam. My family is falling apart."

"I will, Jess," Dean promised. "You can count on that." He followed the nurses as they rolled Jess' bed down the hallway toward the elevator.

To Be Continued…

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