Nightmares were not uncommon for the Winchester brothers. At night, while their bodies slept, their minds tried to make sense of the things they'd been through, but to no avail. They would wake up with a start, shivering in cold sweat. Lately, both were experiencing this more than usual. Dean often dreamt about the Mark, and the Darkness. Sam dreamt about Lucifer. Though Sam's dreams tended to be quite disturbing, he attributed them to the visions he'd been receiving from God. So, in a way, he was dealing with his nightmares. Dean's version of dealing with them was drinking himself to sleep, and drinking whenever a nightmare woke him up. Sam was worried about his brother, but as usual, Dean refused to talk about his emotions.

It was a long shot, Sam thought, but maybe in their library he could find a spell that would help Dean. So that's where he was before it was even six in the morning, a large tome in front of him, and his coffee cup in his hand as he read. He lifted the cup to take a sip, but when none of that precious caffeinated liquid met his tongue, he looked down into it with a frown on his face.

I've finished it already?

That'd been his third cup that morning. With a sigh and a little shake of his head, he placed the cup down on the table. Sam looked at it for a couple of seconds as he speculated whether to get himself yet another cup. Having tossed and turned all night, he was tired.

Nah, I should save some for Dean. He probably needs it more than I do.

And that drew Sam back to the book in front of him. It didn't seem like what he was looking for, but it hit the mark more than the others did. The other two books he'd flipped through and skimmed were lying open on the table just in case an idea came to him, or he'd missed something.

Nothing in this section seemed to have anything useful. It was about a potion that could be used to force someone to dream. They'd found it useful when interrogating unwilling prisoners. The thought that the Men of Letters had even experimented with such a thing unnerved Sam. He turned the page, but only found a thesis about why humans dreamed. Man, the Men of Letters sure were stuffy and boring at times.

Feeling defeated, Sam pushed the book aside to have it join the other rejects. He folded his arms and rested his head atop them. Maybe he could call Cas. He immediately dismissed the thought. He didn't want to have Cas rushing down here - which he would - just because Dean was having nightmares. Everyone had nightmares. The ones they experienced were just more intense because of their dangerous lifestyle.

Part of Sam felt ridiculous for even looking for an answer in any of the books. Maybe the real answer was to find a way to get Dean to open up. But he'd tried that already. Sam sighed. Maybe he really should call Cas.

Just as he got his phone out of his pocket, something in the book he'd been looking at caught his eye. The subtitle Nightmare Devourers seemed to stare out at him from the page. Quickly, eager to see if he'd finally found something useful, Sam placed his phone on the table and pulled the book toward him. He read:

Nightmare Devourers are specific types of creatures or spirits that meet a certain profile. To be classed as a Nightmare Devourer, the creature or spirit must have the ability to consume one's dreams, specifically, but not limited to, nightmares. The manner in which they do so is not of import to this classification. Whether it be through entering a host and feeding on the amygdala, through dimensional transference, or through a psychic pathway, all creatures or spirits with such abilities fall under the classification of Nightmare Devourers.

A Nightmare Devourer need not feed only on nightmares. Some, while having the ability, may not even do so at all. Rather, they might feed on the positive dreams that can manifest during sleep. Some consume the brain chemicals created from the dreaming process, while others may consume the dream itself. Creatures or spirits that are meant to devour nightmares, but stray from that path, are considered Rogues, and are highly dangerous. Victims of Rogues are often driven to committing suicide.

It is possible to summon a Nightmare Devourer to use for one's own purposes. Many of the intended purposes of such persons are of the like that are too evil to write in here. One purpose however, is not so evil. One might have the intention of summoning a Nightmare Devourer simply to temporarily cure themselves, or others, of nightmares. While such intentions are pure of heart, one must be cautious in dealing with a Nightmare Devourer.

The Nightmare Devourer with the least known cases of becoming a Rogue is the Baku. *A comprehensive list of Nightmare Devourers can be found in the following section. A Baku is a Japanese spirit. Oftentimes, a Baku may be mistaken for a demon due to the power it wields. However, this error is only made when working with the Japanese classification of demons.

A Baku, intrinsically, is not dangerous. After being summoned and given a target, it will feed on the harmful emotions, and the essence, of a nightmare, and then it will leave. If summoned, it will visit the target of the summons while they are experiencing REM sleep. It will then wait till it senses a nightmare before feeding. However, as one can suffer through multiple nightmares during sleep, the Baku will not immediately leave. They will remain through the night, or until, subsequently, their target has awoken for the day.

Summoning a Baku is fairly easy. All that is required is a talisman to put on one's bed at night. The talisman draws the Baku, and accurately directs it to its target.

Sam stopped reading. Hope was beginning to flare up in him, giving him some sorely needed energy. This could help Dean. Despite the maybe five percent chance of the Baku being a Rogue, Sam was beginning to seriously think about this. Just to make sure he didn't get ahead of himself, he read the paragraphs about the Baku once more. Was the risk worth it?

Yes, Sam decided. This is to help Dean.

Just as he finished reading up on the talisman, Dean walked into the room. Sam's first instinct was to close the book as quickly as possible, but he fought it down. That would make Dean suspicious. So as Dean settled down in the chair across from him he slowly closed the book.

Dark circles were under Dean's bloodshot eyes, and he was pale from sleep deprivation. With a groan he wiped his hands over his face.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, Sammy, I'm fine. Just more of those stupid nightmares."

"You wanna talk about them?" This was the last time he would try to get Dean to open up about them, and if he wasn't forthcoming, he would go through with his plan.

Dean shook his head. "Nah. It's just part of being a hunter, I guess."

"Yeah. S'pose it is."

After blinking tiredly, Dean straightened a little. He gestured to the books. "Whatcha reading? Did you find us a case or something?"

Sam stood, gathering up the books, as he answered, "No case. Just reading for the sake of reading."

His back was turned as he put the books away, so he didn't catch Dean's affectionate smile as he said, "Nerd."

"Whatever," Sam said as he turned back to Dean. After his brother yawned he asked, "Want me to get you some coffee?"

"No, I'll get it," Dean replied, pushing his chair out to stand. He wavered for a second when he got to his feet, and instantly, Sam was by his brother's side, his hands out in case he needed to catch him. Dean whacked his arms aside. "I'm fine, Sammy." They locked gazes, and Dean appeared rather defensive. Still, Sam wasn't about to back down.

"Dude, you clearly didn't sleep well last night. The least I can do is get you some coffee."

"All right, fine," Dean relented as he sat back down.

Sam pat him on the shoulder, and started towards the control room. A hallway branching off from there led to the kitchen.

"Put lots of sugar!" Dean called to him as he left.

"Got it!" Sam responded.

Sam thought over his plan as he got his brother's coffee ready. The Men of Letters had some artifacts stashed around the bunker. Somehow Sam would have to look through them without getting Dean suspicious. Maybe he could lie that he was looking for a weapon that could possibly stand up to Amara's power. Yes, that's what he'd do. He'd feel bad about the lie, but ultimately, it would help Dean.

Satisfied that his plan was falling into place Sam focused more on the coffee. He couldn't remember... Did Dean like two spoonfuls of sugar, or four?

Dean gladly took a gulp of his coffee as soon as Sam handed it to him. He frowned from the bitter taste.

"Did you even put sugar in this, man?" he asked as Sam settled down across from him.

"Yeah."

"You sure you didn't confuse it with salt?"

As a response, Sam gave Dean one of his classic bitch faces.

"All right, all right," he relented, bringing the cup back up for another sip. "I was only teasing."

Still, from the next gulp he grimaced. Noticing that Sam was watching him, Dean just decided to down the whole thing. After doing so, he set the cup down, looking at the table as he waited for his taste buds to come to grips with the bitterness of the drink. Definitely not enough sugar.

"You good?" Sam asked, seeming amused.

"Shut up," Dean responded light-heartedly, which set Sam off laughing.

"Dude, you should have seen your face."

"I wish I could have. My face is gorgeous."

That made Sam laugh even more. It took some effort, but Dean joined in. Smiles settled on their faces, but Dean's quickly faded as he thought back to his nightmares. Being surrounded by dead bodies, the First Blade in his hand, the Mark burning like a fever. Darkness sweeping in and shrouding the horrors around him. Amara before him, the Mark now on her rather than him. She had smiled and caressed his cheek. The black clouds had vanished, and then there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. And Amara had disappeared as Dean fell.

Despite all the nightmares he'd had recently, this one had been the most disturbing. The bliss that had flowed through him from Amara's touch made him feel unclean. The nothingness that he'd fallen into afterwards only gave him a heightened sense of urgency. They had to find Amara, and they needed a way to kill her. Stat.

"Anything on Amara?" Dean asked.

"Still nothing."

Dean groaned and put his head in his hands. "I can't take this anymore. When will we get a hit on her?"

"She has to make some noise eventually," Sam reasoned. "And if she means to end the universe like she says she does, then I doubt she's going to do so quietly." When Dean said nothing, Sam adopted a soothing tone, "Hey, we'll find her."

With a nod, Dean straightened. "Okay, so what do we got? Any hints on how to find her?"

Sam was leaning back in his chair, one arm extended as he tapped the table with a finger. Dean recognized this as a sign that he was thinking. Dean would be thinking about the same problem, but he was just too tired, and he felt like everything was dragging him down.

An idea came to Sam - Dean knew based on the way he started in his chair, leaning forward.

"I can search through the Men of Letters artifacts," Sam said. "See if there's anything powerful enough to take on Amara. Who knows, maybe there's even something to track her down."

Dean doubted that would do any good, but when Sam was eager about an idea he was difficult to argue with. It'd be better to add to the plan, if it could even be called that.

"I'll call Cas and see if he's found anything. If he's sniffing at dead ends maybe I could get him to come here and help you out with the artifacts."

"Sounds good."

That was the end to their conversation and Sam left. Dean watched him go, and then sighed. He didn't want to call Cas like he said he would. He was just too tired. In fact, the table was starting to look like a comfortable place to rest his head. With a shrug he settled down.

I'll call Cas later. No one can blame me for needing a little more sleep.

This time, when he dreamed, he saw Sam and Cas floating in an ocean of blood.