Sam waited at the passenger's side door, knowing Dean would lean across and unlock his door after he got in. He watched Dean walk toward the driver's side door and knew both of them had shit eating grins on their faces. He was really glad they'd come here for lunch, and equally glad the warehouse was just a few blocks away. He could eat Mexican twenty-four seven, well if you mixed in some burgers and pizza occasionally, so maybe this would become a tradition for them. That would be kind of cool. A 'their' place to go to. It also meant he probably wouldn't be able to come here with his parents without thinking of Dean and blushing his fool head off. He laughed at himself for that thought. Yeah and how would he explain that to his parents?

His head snapped left when he heard the tires. He screamed Dean's name as the car careened into the side of the Impala, as the driver's side window shattered like ice, as he saw Dean throw himself over the hood in an effort to avoid the dark green car. Dean had been clipped by the car and Sam knew it. He rushed to Dean but watched to make certain the car was speeding away rather than coming back for a second pass. He tried to catch the license or get a look at the drive but he was at the wrong angle and couldn't see either. He watched it tear out of the parking lot and as his eyes followed it, he saw the red car parked on the street pull away. Eric's car.

He knelt at the senior's side. "Dean, are you okay? Dean?" Sam asked worriedly. He heard someone from the restaurant call if he needed an ambulance.

That son of a bitch was going to pay for this, pay like he couldn't believe, Sam thought savagely. And the payment was going to be worse dependant upon just how badly Dean was hurt. He might not know how to fight an he might not by as physically strong as Eric and his friends, but science and computers? Those two things he knew.

You shouldn't piss off guys with money. You shouldn't piss of guys with weapons. And you shouldn't piss off guys with brains.

"Dean?" Sam said again, gingerly brushing some hair off of Dean's scraped and bleeding forehead.

He must have blacked out for a minute or two. Dean knew it couldn’t have been too long, considering he was still lying in the street instead of in an ambulance or hospital or something. His head was pounding like someone was using a jackhammer inside of it and his whole left side throbbed with pain from his shoulder to his hip. Hell, he hurt all over really, but his left side definitely hurt the worst. That must have been where the car trying to run him down had clipped him…

God damned son of a bitch had tried to purposefully run him down, he was sure of it. Oh yeah, he remembered that. Must not have a concussion then. Or at least, only a mild one. He hurt, but he didn’t think anything was broken. All in all, he was pretty damned lucky. Of course, if he’d been paying attention in the first place, he might not be lying here at all.

Feeling the gentle brush of the fingers across his forehead, Dean blinked his eyes open and winced as he turned his head slowly towards the sound of Sam’s voice. It took him a minute to focus on the younger boy’s worried face. Yeah, maybe a slight concussion then.

“Fine… I’m fine…” Dean managed, shifting and trying to get his arms underneath him to push himself up. His left shoulder protested vehemently, but it was the sharp pain in his side that made him gasp and abort his efforts, falling back to the pavement with a low groan.

His hand went to his side, gently probing. He wasn’t all that surprised to feel that his shirt was damp and when he pulled his hand away his fingers were bloody. A piece of metal or glass must have cut him when the car clipped him. Dean couldn’t really tell, but it didn’t feel all that long or deep, but it might need stitches. Something like that didn’t need a hospital visit Bobby could take care of it. Of course getting to the salvage yard might be a little difficult right now…

Relief filled Sam when Dean's eyes finally opened but the pain he saw in the young man's face and the way his eyes were slow to focus clinched it.

"Yes!" he yelled back to the guy at the restaurant. Dean was definitely going to go to the hospital. He was no medic but he'd seen enough TV to know unfocused eyes and that Dean had been knocked senseless, even if only briefly, were bad signs.

While he was yelling for the ambulance Dean tried to get up. "Lie still you idiot. You just got hit by a car." His eyes widened when he saw the blood on Dean's hand when he pulled it back from his side.

"Oh Jesus." Sam immediately moved so he could get a look, afraid he was going to see a rib poking out or something, but it was a just a gash, but a wicked one all the same. He pulled off his coat and then his shirt, folding his shirt up and pressing it against the wound to staunch the bleeding.

"Just stay down, Dean. Relax. An ambulance is coming. And you are going to the hospital, no arguments. You need x-rays and you were out for a minute there."

Dean winced a little at the volume of Sam’s voice, since it made the pounding in his head worse. What the hell was the younger boy yelling about anyway? Yes? Yes what? Dean was beginning to wonder if Sam hadn’t gotten himself knocked on the head as well.

At that thought Dean’s expression turned concerned as he looked Sam over, but Sam looked ok. A little shaken up a little, but ok. That eased Dean’s mind a little.

“I know I just got hit by a car.” Dean replied rolling his eyes a little, as though he thought Sam was the one being the idiot. Though his expression changed from annoyance to confusion when Sam started stripping off his clothes until Sam pressed the shirt to his side hard, making Dean wince a little, but he didn’t protest. At least, he didn’t protest until Sam mentioned an ambulance and hospital.

No way. No fucking way he was going to the hospital. He was fine. A little bruised and bloody, but fine.

“I said I was fine, Sam. I’ve had worse.” Dean said, putting his own hand over Sam’s shirt and holding it there as he tried to push himself up again. He managed to almost sit up this time, though he might need some help getting to his feet.

“How’s my car?” He wondered if it was drivable, or if he would have to call Bobby for a tow. That bastard, if he’d totaled his car…

"You've had worse? That would explain the brain damage that lets you think that I'm going to back down on this. You are going to the hospital." Sam swore as Dean pushed himself up. Dean was pale and definitely shaken. "You shouldn't be moving! Will you stay put? Your car? How's your car? You just about got smeared all over the pavement…fine, I'll check. And I'll even tell you if you just sit here and stop moving."

Matching Dean's glare with one of his own, he got to his feet and went around to look. He saw Dean's keys and picked them up, putting them in his pants pocket. After giving the car a once over he returned to Dean's side. Dean was wearing the bitch face from hell and Sam was sure it was about the hospital as much as about the car. Tough. He was confident Bobby would agree Dean needed to go to the hospital to be checked out.

"Broken driver's window, side mirror torn off, both doors smashed in, front fender smashed in, flat tire. Your windshield didn't crack and your bumper is okay. The wheel just looks flat, not bent up or sitting weird. The back door didn't take too much damage. I'm not sure the front door will open though. The door handle looked okay just the door's smashed good. After we get to the hospital I'll call Bobby and have him come get it."

Brain damage?! Dean glared a little at the younger boy when Sam insisted he go to the hospital. He knew the Sam was only being so bitchy because he was worried about him, but damn it, he didn’t need to go to the hospital!

“Fine.” He muttered when Sam agreed to check on the damage to the car if he’d sit here. It wasn’t like Dean could get up on his own right now anyway. He needed a few more minutes before he attempted that.

Dean watched Sam’s face as he got up and went around the car. Just from the younger boy’s expression he knew he wasn’t going to like it. He was right.

“Mother fucker!” Dean growled. From what Sam described, it didn’t sound like his car was too badly damaged but definitely damaged enough that it couldn’t be driven for at least a few days. Oh yeah, he was pissed.

Dean started trying to get his feet underneath him. He was tired of sitting here. His cell phone was in the car. He could call Bobby to come pick them up from here. Unfortunately he didn’t make it much past the kneeling stage before a wave of dizziness hit him and the edge of his vision started to darken.

"Will you sit your fucking ass down!" Sam yelled at him as he started to stop Dean from getting up and instead caught him as Dean nearly passed out again, feeling the terror tighten his chest. "And don't you dare puke on me," Sam muttered.

This was his fault. All his fault. Dean could have been killed! It wasn’t worth it. If Eric wanted him so bad he was ready to try to kill Dean over him, no. Hell no. He'd…he'd get used to it. But he wasn't going to let this happen again. Vengeance wouldn't solve anything. The only thing that would stop it was going back to Eric. He'd make sure that Dean and Bobby were left alone, untouched by anyone. He felt the tear run down his cheek as he helped settle Dean back on to the pavement. "Please Dean, just sit down, okay? For me?" he begged. He could hear the ambulance approaching and hoped they got here fast. Dean was so damned stubborn. He could be hurt bad and until the adrenalin wore off, not even know it.

Sam picked up his blood soaked shirt from where it had fallen and folded it over to a clean side and held it on Dean's gash. He used his other hand to wipe away some of the blood from the senior's forehead. "I won't let this happen again. I'm sorry."

“Not gonna puke...” Dean protested mildly as Sam eased him carefully back down to the pavement. Even though he did kind of feel like puking right about now the way everything was kind of spinning.

He closed his eyes, though he wasn’t really sure if that made the vertigo better or worse. Dean could hear the approaching sirens now and even though he didn’t want to get on the god damned ambulance he really didn’t have much of a choice at this point.

Any lingering thoughts of refusing to go to the hospital pretty much vanished at the tone of Sam’s soft plea, and Dean sighed in resignation.

“Alright, Sammy...” Dean replied softly, not protesting when he felt Sam press the shirt once more to his side. Though Sam’s apology, or more the tone, the spike of fear it drove through him, had his eyes snapping open and he gave the younger boy a hard look. Reaching up to grasp Sam’s hand that had been touching his forehead.

“This is not your fault, Sam. Don’t you even think about doing something stupid or I’ll kick your ass.”

Sam tried to smile but he knew it was more a grimace. "Me? I don't do stupid stuff." The glare Dean gave him, a glare that said Dean would do more than just kick his ass, made him swallow a little hard and he suddenly very much understood why the kids got out of his way. He squeezed Dean's hand. What was he supposed to do? Pretend this hadn't happened? Pretend he hadn't seen Eric?

He knew he could get all bitchy, he knew he could piss Dean off enough that Dean would throw up his hands and walk away from him and never once look back. He knew that's what he should do, for Dean's sake. But he didn't want Dean mad at him like that. He didn't want Dean to hate him for making the choice he knew he had to if he was going to protect the senior who had looked after him and made him feel safe, even if only for a couple days. Eric was accustomed to getting what he wanted and Sam feared he would go to any lengths to get it, to get him. …Would Eric actually try to kill Dean though? He didn't think he would, not really, but there was a niggling doubt and he wasn't really sure what Eric was capable of at this point.

"Eric was watching, Dean. I saw his car pull away. I'm sure he hired that person to do this. You could have been killed! You know it's because of me. He was leaving you alone until I wrecked you life, and now your car. You can't tell me it's not my fault when we both know it is."

Sam’s insistence that he didn’t do stupid things didn’t really satisfy Dean in the least, but he also didn’t really have the energy to get into an argument right now. The light squeeze the younger boy gave his hand made his hard expression melt away though and Dean sighed again, leaning his head a little against Sam’s thigh. He only realized now he’d ended up practically cradled in Sam’s lap which definitely wasn’t a bad place to be, in his opinion. Dean squeezed Sam’s hand back gently in return.

When Sam mentioned that he had seen Eric watching, that Sam thought the other boy had probably paid that asshole to try to run him down, Dean couldn’t say he was really surprised. He had suspected as much himself, Sam’s words pretty much confirmed his suspicion, though of course there was no way for them to prove it. Even if the cops managed to find the car and whoever was driving there would be no way to tie it to Eric. Eric’s family and their legion of high priced lawyers would make sure of that.

Dean frowned again when Sam insisted that this was his fault. That if Dean had never agreed to ‘sponsor’ Sam that this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe that was true, but there had been plenty of bad blood between him and Eric for a couple of years now, before Sam had ever come into the picture. It was really only a matter of time before they clashed again.

“Sam. Eric’s hated me long before we ever met. It was just a matter of time before it all came to a head again. I’d rather it be over you. I’m not letting him have you…” The ambulance finally pulled into the parking lot, interrupting him before he could finish and maybe that was for the best. Since he’d been about to say, You’re mine.

Sam couldn't help but sigh. He couldn't deny Dean and Eric had apparently tangled before he came into the picture. Eric had said things about Dean when they'd been hanging out and there was pure venom in his words when he'd said them. Sam didn't know who he'd been talking about at the time. And then Dean had told him about putting two of Eric's friends in the hospital and everything. He scowled. Maybe he was nothing more than the catalyst and he really didn't want to go back to Eric. Okay…but if anything else happened that put Dean in danger he would reconsider his options. He smiled a little at Dean's words about not letting Eric have him. He was lucky to have Dean watching out for him.

He saw the concern and worry and pain in Dean's face. He wanted to make Dean feel better somehow. After a moment of thought he leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Kinda extreme to hire a guy to run you down just so you didn't have to share me with a girl tomorrow night, don't you think?"

He looked up at the paramedic that appeared at Dean's side. Sam recounted what happened, that Dean had been knocked out he thought and that Dean was definitely dizzy when he tried to get up. He started to show the paramedic Dean's wound when the paramedic shook his head and told him to leave the shirt in place, that taking it away might make it bleed worse.

Sam held Dean until they got a collar on Dean and loaded him onto a backboard and then the cot.

"Dean, do you want me to come with you or stay with your car?" Sam asked. He wanted to go with Dean, but he knew how much the car meant to him and with the broken window, he would stay with the car if that's what Dean wanted. "I'll use the phone inside the restaurant and call Bobby if you want me to stay here."

Dean couldn’t help but snort softly in amusement at Sam’s words whispered in his ear, though he actually did feel a little bad. He’d been giving Sam a bit of a hard time about it just this morning, getting a bit jealous on Sam when he’d been the one to suggest the whole thing in the first place. Now he’d worked up Sam’s hopes in anticipation of tomorrow night and he probably wouldn’t be able to follow through on it. Well, he still might be able to, depending. Maybe he just wouldn’t be able to participate, which would suck, but he’d made Sam a promise and he wanted to keep it if he could.

Then the paramedic was there reminding him he had other things to worry about right now. Like making sure he didn’t have brain damage or anything.

Dean remained quiet and still as he’d promised the younger boy letting the paramedics look him over. Sam talked to the paramedic for the most part while the man took his vitals and shined a light in his eyes, and Dean only spoke when the paramedic addressed him directly. He really didn’t want to wear the damned restricting neck collar they wedged him into but he knew from experience they weren’t going to risk moving him without it.

He was more than ready to get on the damned ambulance by that point since they’d drawn a small crowd of gawkers and the police by then and Dean definitely wasn’t very pleased about that. Then Sam was asking him if he wanted him to come along… Dean hadn’t even really considered the option that Sam wouldn’t, but now that the younger boy mentioned it, it kind of made sense for Sam to stay with the car. What if the cops started snooping around his car for ‘evidence’ and found the secret compartment in the trunk? But what if Sam stayed here and Eric, or one of his cronies, showed up? Unlikely maybe, but it had also been unlikely of Eric trying to kill him by having him run over.

“My cell is in the glove compartment. You can call on the way.” Dean finally answered.

The paramedic gave a nod to Sam, telling him they needed to get the hospital called and an IV started anyhow, reassuring Sam and Dean both that it was standard procedure. Sam went to the car and threw what little was in the car into the trunk, though he grabbed his backpack of spare clothes and his homework along with his school coat that he pulled on. When he tried to open the glovebox he was surprised to find it locked. He fished the keys out and opened it and when he did a box fell out and with it a handful of fake IDs. Sam's eyes grew wide as he glanced over them and in some cases the badges that went with them. There were also a couple credit cards with names that were not Dean's. He suspected they probably would match some of the IDs if he had time to compare them. He heard one of the police call out to him. Oh crap.

Sam quickly tossed everything back into the box and shoved it down in his backpack. He almost forget the cell phone in his haste, but grabbed it and relocked the glove compartment. He locked the door out of habit even though the driver's side window was shattered to rubble.

The police just wanted to confirm a few things with him then Sam hurried to the ambulance with his backpacks and sat on one of the benches, buckling himself in. Dean recited Bobby's phone number and he punched it in.

"Hi Bobby, it's Sam. Dean got hit by a car. He's okay, but we're going to Mercy hospital. He might have a concussion and they want to take a few x-rays.…I'm fine. I'm going with him though…it was just some lunatic…probably….His car got hit. It's at Estaban's Mexican restaurant….yeah, that's the place. The car has a flat tire and busted window and I don't think the driver's side door will open. Do I need to leave the keys? …Okay. Yeah. I'll tell him. See you then. Bye." Sam turned to Dean. "He'll meet us at the hospital as soon as he gets your car home."

Dean was really glad when Sam agreed to come with him in the ambulance. Not that he was at all capable of looking after the younger boy in his current condition, but he still felt better knowing that Sam would be close by. Not to mention being in a crowded hospital was a hell of a lot safer than being out on the street ‘alone’ so close to the school, especially when Sam had seen Eric.

When Sam got in the ambulance Dean gave the younger boy Bobby’s number, though it actually took him a moment to remember it. That probably wasn’t the best sign, though to be honest his headache had gotten a lot worse in the last few minutes so it wasn’t much of a surprise he was having trouble concentrating. Now that the adrenaline had begun to fade, every ache and pain seemed to intensify.

The next time he saw Eric the bastard was going to wish he’d never looked at Sam twice.

Dean only half listened to the conversation Sam had with Bobby over the phone as the ambulance pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the hospital. The siren definitely wasn’t helping his headache. At all. He hated this fucking neck brace. He couldn’t even turn his head to look at Sam or nod when the younger boy told him Bobby would meet them at the hospital.

“Thanks, Sam.” Dean said and sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. The fluorescent light above him definitely wasn’t helping his headache any.