The Great Equalizer (SPN, Sam)

[Seeker]

This is so awesome! You have such nice long updates and oh my gosh so freaking hot! Normally I like sickfics (maybe the sleepiness? I don't know cause I am not a real life sick fan) but this story is just so...mmmm oh wow 

inducing the sneezes...oh...oh...using the pollen alone was amazing...the tissue trick was just bonus.

Have I said I love this? Because I love this. Like, so hardcore 

[fickle_tickle]

No joke, this is one of the best fics I've ever read!! I love that Sammy's allergy is a side affect of his "demonic disability"! Way to work some of that good old fashion Winchester identity angst in there! Normally I prefer natural sneezes instead of induced, but induced cpr sneezes are super sexy! Kudos on the creativity and the A+ characterization, looking forward to more!

[LostGirl2.0]

@AngelEyes THANK YOUUUU!!!  !!

On 5/17/2018 at 1:21 AM, ReidSeeker said:

This is so awesome! You have such nice long updates and oh my gosh so freaking hot! Normally I like sickfics (maybe the sleepiness? I don't know cause I am not a real life sick fan) but this story is just so...mmmm oh wow 

inducing the sneezes...oh...oh...using the pollen alone was amazing...the tissue trick was just bonus.

Have I said I love this? Because I love this. Like, so hardcore 

Haha, you know, I actually like sickfics way better too and don't like sick sneezes IRL, either.   So I'm not 100% sure why I wrote this... lol  But I'm so glad you're still liking it! (I was  actually super nervous about that last Part, and reading your reply really helped motivate me to get to working on this next bit. So thank you so, so much for that!!)

On 5/17/2018 at 11:10 AM, fickle_tickle said:

No joke, this is one of the best fics I've ever read!! I love that Sammy's allergy is a side affect of his "demonic disability"! Way to work some of that good old fashion Winchester identity angst in there! Normally I prefer natural sneezes instead of induced, but induced cpr sneezes are super sexy! Kudos on the creativity and the A+ characterization, looking forward to more!

Holy crap that's so nice of you to say!!  Thank you!!!  And you know what, I actually don't like induced sneezes much at all either.   This story just kinda ran away with itself once I started it.   But I never thought of them as CPR sneezes!  I LOVE that!  And no lie, when I read it the other day I literally laughed out loud. People thought I was weird. lol  So thank you so much for that!!

 

A/N: So I picked the Season 3 initially because I wanted a season where it was still the brothers against the world and not against each other (and also because I thought it worked well with the plot as that developed), but I completely neglected to think about how emotionally charged the end of this season was. So, my apologies in advance for the angst in this Part.   It kinda crept up on me! (But really, angst and bromance kinda go hand in hand.  And I have to admit....I am all about the bromance. )

 

Hope you guys enjoy!!

 

Part 7

 

Dean woke up as it was just starting to lighten outside. He blinked blearily down at the brown head of hair on his shoulder and sighed. Looked like Sammy was still out of it. He removed one of his hands from around his brother and rubbed the grit out of his eyes. Should he wake him up? The sleep was probably good for him, and it meant he wasn't in pain, but Dean really wanted to know where they were at with the paralysis, so…

He kept his left arm securely around Sam's waist just in case he startled and ruffled the kids hair gently with his right.

“Hey, Sammy. Wakey wakey.” Sam snorted and moaned in response. “That's it, Rip Van Winkle. You've had enough beauty sleep for the moment. Sorry to say it doesn't seem to have made a difference.” He ruffled Sam's hair again.

Sam pried his eyes open with a great amount of effort as something seemed to have crusted them shut. He looked around the room and realized he was sitting up and being held by someone, and that that someone was...rubbing their hand in his hair? He really hoped that was Dean, otherwise he had somehow gotten himself into a very awkward situation. He struggled to sit up and cried out in pain as it suddenly felt like his chest was being run through with a sharp, hot poker.

“Whoa, Sammy! Easy, man. Cracked ribs, remember?”

Sam breathed hard for a second and forced his body to try to relax. Ok, good. It was Dean. Wait... How the hell had he cracked his ribs? Had they been in a fight? Was Dean ok?

“D’n?” he croaked.

“Yeah, Sammy, I got cha. Just take it easy ok. Audrey tenderized you pretty good.”

Audrey… Suddenly it all came flooding back to him.  The plant, the pollen, his chance to save Dean. Fuck, the pollen! ...The jar!!  He'd gotten some of it into a jar before the Aequatore had taken over. Maybe he'd gotten enough? He had to check.

“Mm’good. Lemme go.”

“Ok, fine. But seriously, take it easy.” Dean released his hold on Sam's torso and helped to get him propped up.

Sam sat still for a moment and panted shallowly as he rode out the pain from the position change. “Gotta...usse the bathrroom. You wanna...go ffirst? I'mm gonna be...sslow.” Despite the challenge that breathing now presented, it seemed that at least words were slightly easier to form today, which was nice. Although he was far from feeling back to normal.

“Yeah, ok.” Dean shimmied his way out from behind him. “But I want you to take something for the pain first. Think we still have some oxy in here from the last time I was in the hospital--”

“Nno.”

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've still got some. Let me look.” Dean crossed the room and started rifling through his duffel for the med kit.

“Nno oxy.”

Dean paused and looked up incredulous. “You don't want it?”

“Ll’make me…ssleep mmore. We needta figure out ann...ex...exorcism.” he said, being very deliberate with each syllable.

“Yeah, but I can work on that while you rest. You're still not functioning at 100%, Sam. You need to chill.”

“Jus’ give me...th’Tylllenol.”

Dean frowned. “I think it would be better--”

“Pllease? I wanna hhelp.”

Dean's resolved faltered, as it always did, in the face of Sam's patented puppy dog eyes.

“Fine”, he replied grudgingly. He fished out the Extra-Strength Tylenol and poured two into his hand. “But I think you're going to regret it.” He walked into the bathroom, grabbed a cup of water and returned to Sam's side.

Sam lifted his arm to take the pills and felt like he was moving through molasses.  Dean was patient with him though and dropped the pills into his hand when Sam finally managed to get his palm level. He clumsily dumped the things into his mouth and then reached for the water. The cup was more of a challenge, and it took him an agonizingly long minute to get his fingers curled enough to just loosely hold onto it. He got it it to his mouth, but by the time he was finally trying to take a sip his muscles were trembling with the effort. One such tremble happened to tip enough of the water into his mouth that he was able to swallow the pills, but a second nearly had him wearing the rest.

Dean saw Sam’s body calling it quits and swooped in before the kid gave himself an impromptu bath. Jesus...This stuff really was taking its sweet time wearing off, he thought with a frown.  He eyed Sam critically for a moment. “You sure you're gonna be ok while I--”

“Yyes, Dean.” Sam rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Ok, ok. Don't get your panties in a bunch, Samantha.” He grabbed some clothes out of his duffel. “I'll be out in ten. You good to wait that long?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Right. Holler--or ahh, just moan loudly or...knock something over I guess if you need anything.”

Sam gave him bitch face.

Dean ignored it.

The bathroom door closed with a click and Sam was struggling to get off the bed as fast as his moderately responsive body would allow. He grit his teeth hard to keep from grunting with the effort. He just needed to take it slow. He could do this. He managed to get himself standing, but was forced to take a second to catch his breath after and wait for his vision to slide back into focus. Okay… So far so good. ...Now where his bag? Had Dean even brought it back with him when he'd gotten Sam away from the Aequatore? Sam looked around the room until his eyes finally landed on a black strap fairly close to his feet that appeared to be half wedged underneath the bed and nightstand. Yes! Sam's heart began to pound. Please, please still be inside…

He wrapped an arm around his lower chest and very slowly focused on bending his knees so he could reach the bag without having to bend his torso. Just when his fingers brushed the surface of the strap he somehow managed to move just the wrong way, which sent a sudden flare of pain into his chest that made him flinch. That flinch unfortunately was his undoing as it caused his center of gravity shift, which in turn threw off his presently precarious sense of balance and sent him stumbling to his knees. Hard.

Sam's vision went white and he nearly bit through his lip in an effort not to cry out.  He could have sworn he felt something shift inside his chest in a very not good way, but he didn't want to focus on it too much for fear he'd find out he was right. All Sam could do for the next three minutes or so was pant as shallowly as possible and struggle not to puke or pass out. When his brain finally began to process sound again he tried to focus on whether or not Dean was still in the shower. He was pretty sure he could still hear the water running, so he took another moment to settle his body down and work his way past the pain.

Once he thought he could move again without screaming he reached out with clumsy fingers and snagged the protruding strap. He pulled the bag to him and felt his heart plummet into his stomach when he heard the tinkling of what sounded like broken glass.  While keeping one hand around his chest to brace himself he held his breath and leaned forward a little to slightly upend the bag. The bottom of a broken jar fell out in a puff of gold and rolled to a stop against his knee.

No… No no NO! Sam felt a lump lodge in his throat and squeezed his eyes shut tight. God... why couldn't something just go right for them for a change?! His hands balled into fists as he suddenly looked upward and glared. Where the hell was God in all this anyway? How could he just let this happen? Dean sacrificed himself for him and now he was going to go to HELL for it. How did that make any sense?! Didn't he deserve to be saved as well?! Sam’s vision started to blur and he knew he was on the verge of losing it again. Dammit! Dean did not need to walk out here and see him blubbering like a two year old. He’d only just barely gotten away with it last night.  Probably the only time he'd been thankful for these damn allergies since this whole thing started. He sniffed in hard and blew out a long breath struggling to regain control of himself. Five seconds into the effort however he felt only marginally more calm, and a hell of a lot more certain that he shouldn't have been sitting as close to a bag full of pollen as he currently was.

The tickle sprung to life out of nowhere and his breath reflexively hitched hard. Christ, not again! He thought in frustration, immediately holding his breath and doing his best to just will the sensation away with his mind. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Sam took a risk and hesitantly exhaled. The tickle immediately returned with a vengeance, (he had no idea how, he hadn't even tried to breathe in again yet!), and right away he knew he wasn't going to be able to stop it. He tried to raise his hand to pinch his nose, but his movements were still too slow.

“Hih’ng’CHH!”

He ducked his chin and tried to stifle it anyway, but that appeared to have been the wrong move as he was forced to bite into his lip again in order to avoid crying out in pain.  He’d clearly felt a grating in his chest that time. Dammit. Dean was going to kill him.  Although maybe not right away because he wasn't entirely certain he was going to be able to remain conscious for much longer and he didn't think Dean was the kind of guy to kill a man when he was out cold. He felt the next sneeze already beginning to build and although he had his hand up by now, he still couldn't get any real movement in his fingers. So he quickly went for the next best thing and smashed his wrist up under his nose as it tore loose, grated out harshly between clenched teeth.

“K’SSHHT!”

Sam's vision whited out again, but he didn't have time to register more than all-consuming pain before his breath hitched hard once more and his body wrenched forward.

“h’EXSHHU!”

Suddenly Sam was aware of a pressure against his cheek that hadn't been there a moment ago. He blinked his eyes and realized that his head was now lying on the comforter on the bed. What the...? How did he-- But before he could follow that train of thought any further he felt the tickle surge once more. ...Man, this really wasn't turning out to be his week. He managed to turn his head just in time to smother the sneeze into the bedspread.

“H’mmph!”  Oh Holy Mother of God-- Yeah, this was definitely not an ideal position for his body right now, he thought as the pain he felt afterwards was so great it completely stole his breath away. But somehow, despite that fact that his lungs seemed to have shut down for the moment, his body still managed to proceeded undaunted in its attempt to rid him of the irritant.

“h’MPH!”  Hazily Sam realized he could hear someone screaming. Shit-- Were they being attacked? What were they hunting? He couldn't even remember. He should go check... He should--

“CHHFF!”

Sam's world exploded in a burst of agony and he found himself gratefully slipping away into nothingness.

----------

Dean was just pulling on his t-shirt when he heard what sounded like a muffled yell from the other side of the wall. He was out of the bathroom in a flash and if the shout alone hadn't been enough to send his heart into his throat, the sight that greeted him afterwards would have been.

“SAM?!”

Dean sprinted around to the other side of the bed where Sam was collapsed and slid to his knees beside him. He quickly reached out and turned his head so he wasn't smothering in the mattress and fumbled for his pulse, trying his best to ignore the slight tremble in his hand as he did so. Be ok, please be ok...The second he felt Sammy's pulse going strong beneath his fingertips he gustily blew out a breath he hadn't even been aware he'd been holding.

“Fuck’s sake, Sam.” He ran a hand over his face as he tried to force his pounding heart back down into this chest. “You trying to give me a friggin heart attack?” He chastised, the gruffness in his voice at odds with the tenderness he displayed as he gently lifted one of Sam's eyelids. Yep, the kid was out cold. Dean sat back on his haunches and finally took a moment to take in the scene. “...What the hell are you doing down here anyway?” He half mumbled to himself, looking more closely at Sam's position. It was then that he noticed the backpack on Sam's other side, the shattered piece of jar at his knee, and the spray of golden pollen coating the floor.  Suddenly all of Dean's questions from last night jumped right back to the front of his mind. Had Sam been looking for that just now? And if so, once again...why the fuck had he collecting the thing that was poisoning him in the first place?! Dean felt his anger at the situation flare into being once more. As soon as the his brother was conscious he was getting an explanation. No more putting it off. Ah, speaking of…

Sam’s nose twitched. Then his nose twitched again and his breath hitched. He moaned when the small hitch tore through his torso like a knife on fire. Ugh... Unconsciousness had been so much better than this. What had woken him up? Sam's breath stuttered once more. Oh god, he was going to sneeze again. He scrunched his eyes shut tight. Why hadn't this stopped yet? His body must hate him.

“You back from wonderland yet, Alice?”

Aaand of course Dean had found him. That was just how his life worked nowadays, Sam thought sardonically. His breath caught again. Shit! He held it. ...don't sneeze don't sneeze don't sneeze…

“What the hell are you doing down here, Sam?”

His brother's voice was loud and came from just behind him to his right. Sam could tell right away that he was pissed.  

“I told you to take it easy. And what's with this jar, huh? Why were you carrying around a jar of the thing that's trying to kill you? Are you really that stupid?!”

Sam winced. God he was such a screw up. He wrinkled his nose and rubbed it hard into the comforter. ...It just made it itch more. Dammit! He couldn't even do that right! Sam truly wasn't sure what was worse at that moment. The pain in his body or the pain in his heart.

“C’mon, Sam. What do you have to say for yourself?  What reason could you possibly give for putting yourself at--”

Sam couldn't take it anymore, couldn't stand to have Dean thinking he was trying to be some heroic idiot and that he had done ANY of this without good reason. Not with so little time left... He turned his face to the side again and gasped in a breath.

“T’save yhhhhh!...you.”

Dean's brow furrowed at Sam's words, but before he could say anything more Sam cut him off as his body jerked hard with a half suppressed sneeze.  

“HIH! H’KXSHT!”

The noise Sam made right after was something Dean never wanted to hear come out of his little brother again. This horrible keening noise ground out through clenched teeth. Dean was at his side in an instant, wrapping an arm around Sam's chest in support along with Sam's own that was already tightly clasped there.  “S’ok, Sammy. It's ok. I got cha.”

“Hhhhh...h’GISSSHu! Aaahhhg!”

Dean's eyes went wide as Sam screamed and he held his brother tighter. Shit. “It's worse, isn't it? Your ribs. Did they snap all the way?”

Sam just turned his head back into the comforter and bit down into it by way of an answer.  

“H'MMPHH! Mmmmmmmmmm!” Sam moan-screamed again.

Ok, Dean was done with this. Sam kneeling on the ground half hunched over on himself... No way that was helping things. Plus he needed to get him as far away from this fucking pollen spill as possible.

“Alright Sammy, time to get you off this floor.  ...Never know where it's been.” Dean tossed out as he gently slipped his arms under Sam's. “On three, buddy, one...two...three!” Dean grunted as he heaved Sam up as far as he could without touching the kid’s torso.

“Next time you go down...I'm leaving you there...by the way.” Dean ground out, taking most of Sam's weight as he struggled to get his feet back underneath him. “Chiropractor...and a massage...Sam. You're paying...for both.”

Sam finally found his footing and Dean, who was now wedged tightly up under his arm, was reduced to just extra support. “Here, back on the bed, Sasquatch.”

He carefully helped Sam to turn around so the backs of his legs were against the mattress. He was just starting to help him sit down when he heard Sam gasp. He paused.

“Sammy?” He looked up and saw Sam's eyes flutter shut and his nose scrunch, and immediately abandoned tactic of 'slow and steady' for 'fast and furious'.  He snatched a pillow from off the bed and pressed it to Sam's chest. Sam grabbed at it desperately with both arms and Dean quickly pulled him down onto the bed at and angle. He then wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulders from behind and braced him against his chest so he wouldn't be thrown forward. And not a second too soon too.

“ESSSHH! h’ESSSHah!”  Sam sneezed a quick hard double half directed down towards the pillow. It still hurt like hell, but it hurt so much less than before he almost couldn't believe it.  Even though Dean was pissed at him and had just had to save his ass again last night...he was still right there to take care of him.  Sam felt a fresh wave of sorrow wash through him again at the thought of how close he might be to actually losing his stupidly awesome, overprotective big brother, even as his body decided it had other preoccupations.

“Hih-HIH-HIH-ik’TCHH! h’TCHSHu!...hih!...hihh-HIH! h'ISSSHHHHHU!”

Dean couldn't stop himself from wincing at each gut wrenching sneeze. But at least Sam wasn't screaming anymore, so that was something. Dean also approved of the fact that his brother had finally stopped trying to hold them back. Hopefully that would help move him through the attack a little bit faster.  Then as soon as Sam was done, Dean was going to get them a new room. And Sammy a friggin mask for the journey. Cause no way in hell was he letting him go through this again.

“He’EKSHHU! k’shhh!...Hih-HIH-H’ISSHah! Hk'CHSHhh! Ishh-ISHHu!...hihh!...Hih-hih-HIH! Hhhh....hih!....Hu’ESSSHHah!”

There was finally a pause and Sam’s head dropped forward and hung there as he sniffled and panted shallowly.

“Jesus, Sammy.” Dean said in awe and sympathy. His own allergies had never been this bad. “Not gonna lie, man… ‘Bless you’ just doesn't seem like it'll cut it after that.”

Sam continued to just hang there, though the sniffling was dying down and his breathing was slowing up some.

“...What would be above that then?” Dean wondered out loud. “A saint? Wait, no-- Needs to be a verb... What do they do to saints again? Canonize, right? Yeah, that's it. ‘Canonize you’, Sammy.” He smirked.

When Sam didn't flip him off or tell him to shut the hell up, Dean’s concern went up a notch. He patted Sam’s shoulder with the hand that was across his chest, just to make sure he was still conscious.

“Sammy?”

“...Was tryinn...t’save you.”

“What?” Dean frowned in confusion.

“Pollen paralll...paralyzes demons.” Sam spoke slowly and meticulously. “Th’smell, th’oils in th’petals...make demons do what th’plant wants. Thhought I could…”

Sam's voice trailed off and Dean felt him give a microscopic shrug underneath his arm. Dean’s eyes widened as he finally caught on. “You thought you could use it on the crossroads demon to make them scrap the deal.”

Sam remained silent which was confirmation enough.

Dean went ice cold. Feelings of fear, rage, frustration and helplessness somehow freezing and firing him up all at the same time. “Dammit, Sam! That thing could have killed you! When are you going to get it through your head that this is just how it has to be?!”

If possible, Sam's head dropped even lower.

Dean felt vaguely bad for yelling at him, especially since Sam wasn't even arguing back which was likely testament to how badly he was feeling, but Sam had to understand this. He needed Sam to understand this.

“I won't risk you, Sam.” He said fiercely. “I literally gave everything to get you back, I don't have anything left to barter with and I can't-- ...I can't lose you--”

At those words Sam finally rallied and cut him off. “And I can? What I did yess...yesterday, wasn't any different from what you did. It's ok for yyou to save me but nnot for mme to ssave yyou?!”

Sam’s speech started to decline as his emotions began to get the better of him. He wasn't sure if he'd ever hated his body more. He needed Dean to understand-- He had to understand that Sam couldn't live without him either.

When Dean finally replied his voice was softer. “I know it's a double standard, Sammy. I know it's not fair. ...It could have easily gone the other way and I'd be losing my mind in your shoes. I know I would. But if you were in mine, if you'd saved me… If you'd given everything you could just to keep me alive and then I kept running straight into danger trying to undo it, to basically kill myself... Because that’s what will happen, Sammy. There’s no way out of this, you’ll die again if you even try--”

Dean broke off suddenly as he felt wetness drip onto his arm. ...And his heart broke. He leaned his head back and squeezed his eyes shut tight. He knew this wasn't fair. He knew it. But he couldn't change how he felt. There was no acceptable future in which he lived and Sam didn't. That was just fact. And that fact was as much a part of his core being as anything could ever be. He was the older brother. He looked out for Sammy. Hell, he'd practically raised him. You don't bury your kid. ...You just don't. Not if you can help it anyway.

But none of that meant Sam had to like it, and Dean knew that. If it had been anything other than Sam's life on the line for breaking the deal he'd have done whatever it was in a heartbeat. He really didn't want to die... Dean swallowed hard and suppressed the urge to linger too much on that thought. More than that though, he didn't want to leave Sammy alone. But his family meant more to him than anything else in the world…and Sammy deserved to live. He was a good kid who'd grown into an even better man. Dean may have hated it when Sam left, but truthfully he felt proud at the thought of all Sam had accomplished already, and the kid was only 25. Demon blood and visions or not, Sam was still a better person than Dean could ever hope to be. And whatever part Dean might have had in helping Sam become that, that would live on as long as Sam did. And that was enough. That had always been more than enough.

Dean came back to himself when he realized Sam was shaking. He didn't stop to think. Didn't even make a ‘chick-flick’ comment in his head. He just released his grip on Sam’s chest, switched sides so he that was facing his brother, and gently pulled him into him.  Being mindful of his ribs, but for the first time in a long time...maybe being even more mindful of his heart. Because when it really came down to it, who else on Earth could really understand the crazy shit they were both going through right now, but them. And they wouldn't even have that for much longer. Dean felt tears prick at his own eyes and blinked them back. He pulled his brother in tighter.

He felt Sam stiffen at first, probably deciding how much of his pride he wanted to try to salvage, but Dean didn't relax his hold, didn't mock the moment.  And after a few seconds, Sam finally relaxed and wrapped his arms around him in return. Dean closed his eyes and for once, far from thinking how ridiculous he was behaving, all he could think as the tears finally spilled over, was that he was sorry. ...He was so very fucking sorry.  

----------

Sam had started to lose it when Dean had said that he knew Sam would do the same.  Sam had thought Dean had known that, had desperately hoped it, but hearing it actually come from Dean's mouth…

They didn't often say what they meant to each other. And if he really couldn't do anything about this...which he was still reluctant to accept...then he needed to know that Dean knew that. And he did.  

Sam felt fresh tears burning trails down his cheeks and he finally gave in, burying his face in his brother's neck. He hugged Dean even tighter, as if there was a chance that if he didn't Dean was going to be ripped away in the next few moments, even though he knew that wasn't the case. He honestly would have stayed that way too, for as long as Dean would let him (chick-flick moment be damned), if not for the fact that Dean’s hair had to pick that moment to tickle his apparently ‘still too sensitive’ nose. “Hih!” Sam was at the completely wrong angle to turn away in time. If he tried, he'd just end up sneezing all over Dean's lap. “Hihhh-HIH!” All he could do was quickly turn his head even further to the side so that his cheek was almost against Dean's shoulder and his face was turned away from his brother's neck.

“H’IXSHah! ...Ugghhhh...” Sam gasped and groaned in pain. “Shit! Sssorry.”

Dean chuckled and sniffed. He brought a hand up to wipe at his eyes before his brother could see. “Way to ruin the moment, Sammy.”

Sam unexpectedly found himself smiling as well. He sniffled and started to lift his head to retort when another sneeze suddenly ripped through him.

“H’EESSHHU! Aaaghh!” Sam felt his ribs grate on each other again and the pain was breathtaking. Not to mention the sneeze had been forceful enough to rock him forward so that his cheekbone had smacked into Dean's shoulder as well.

“Whoa!” Dean exclaimed as he quickly tried to steady Sam’s torso.  He then winced in sympathy as he felt his brother's chest hitch once more. “Shit, again?”

Sam tried to awkwardly twist away again, but Dean held him in place and pulled him closer instead. He grasped the back of Sam's neck and tugged his head down onto his shoulder to give Sam some way to stabilize himself.  

Sam didn't fight it, he was in too much pain., and if Dean was offering to help again he really wasn't in any shape to turn him down. Sam let Dean hold him there and pressed his nose down hard into his brother's shoulder as another three sneezes tore rapidly through him.

“hu’USHH! Ng’GSHT! Hih! Hi’EXSHUU!”

Dean felt a wet spot growing on shirt shirt and some of the spray from the sneezes misted his neck, but he didn't care. Sam wasn't moaning anymore and that was all he needed to know.  The shirt change and second shower in his near future were entirely worth it.

He listened to Sam breathe for a bit and when he didn't hear any further irregularities, he lifted his hand off of Sam's head.

“You good?”

Sam suddenly smushed his nose back down onto Dean’s shoulder as one last light, tickly sneeze tore through him.

“ngk’isshhuh!”

 

Sam sniffled and raised his head. “Sorry... Thanks.” he panted, cheeks flushing lightly in embarrassment. “Thhink...think I’m good now.”

“Then Gesundheit, and good riddance.” Dean said, smiling slightly and patting Sam supportively on the back. He'd never understand how the kid could get so flustered over the smallest, stupidest things. “Let's get you the rest of the way onto the bed, okay?” Dean moved to help Sam scoot himself back, but paused when his brother pushed him away and turned his head, sniffling.

“You ok?” Dean asked, the concern in his voice easily breaking through. Dean made a mental note to rein it in. Having one badly needed chick-flick moment when imminent death was on the horizon was one thing. Fully turning into a chick was another. Dean was mildly disgusted with himself.  

“Uh, ye-yeah.” Sam stammered and sniffled again. “Just, uh, really need a tissue.”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry.” Dean went to the bathroom and brought back a roll of toilet paper. He tore some off and went to hand it to Sam, but stalled briefly in his movement. “Your hands working well enough now? Or do you want me to--”

“Dean,” Sam growled, his cheeks turning even redder, “just...give it.”  he held out his hand expectantly.

“Ok, ok. No need to get pissy.” Dean passed the toilet paper over.

Sam turned back away and covered his nose with his hands. It took him a second to get his fingers to comply, but in the end he was able to get them into a good enough position to give him the necessary pressure. He waited.

“Dude, I'm good. Go away.”

Dean raised his eyebrows and put up his hands as he backed away.

“Sure Samantha, whatever you say.” He walked towards the bathroom. “I'm taking another shower.”

“You just took onde.” he said stuffily through the tissue.

“Yeah, see, unfortunately snot spots haven't caught on in Paris yet. I told them if anyone could pull them off it would be someone as good looking as me, but for some reason they didn't go for it.  Sorry.”

Sam snorted a laugh and winced at the resulting stab in his chest. He waited until Dean closed the bathroom door to start blowing. It wasn't like he was shy about it normally. But his hands really weren't functioning right just yet and he was kind of afraid he might botch it.  And if that happened then Dean would try to help, and honestly, Sam just needed to manage at least one thing for himself for a second.

It took him nearly the whole time Dean was in the shower, but he got the job done and wasn't too much the messier for it.

When Dean finally came out Sam was already up and working his way slowly around the end of the bed for his turn in the bathroom.

“Whoa, whoa.” Dean cautioned when he saw what Sam was up to. “Slow your roll, Speed Racer. I wanna check your ribs again before you move around too much.”

“I'm fine, Dean.” Sam ground out, trying to sound convincing. Dean could mother-hen him later. Right now he wanted to use the bathroom, and shower, and do his best to wash away the melancholy of the morning.

“Sam--”

“I really gotta pee, Dean. You can check me over all you like after I shower, ok. I feel gross.”

Dean looked reluctant for a moment, but then shrugged. “Whatever, man. Just don't come crying to me if your ribs crack the rest of the way through while you're trying to shampoo your luscious locks.”

Sam managed a vague “fuck you” with a slightly extended middle finger and shuffled on past Dean into the sanctuary of the bathroom.

He shut the door behind him and let out a breath. God it was good to have a minute to himself. Overall he was glad they'd said what they had, but he needed some time to reset himself and get his head back into the game. They still had a mass exorcism to perform, after all. On that note… What medium could they use to reach everyone in the town all at once…

Sam became lost in his thoughts as he gingerly set about getting himself ready to face the day.

 

To be continued...

(Whew!)

[AngelEyes]

Continued brilliance. Bring on the bromance!

1 hour ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

“Hey, Sammy. Wakey wakey.” Sam snorted and moaned in response.

LOL. I always say this to my niece and she just rolls her eyes and pulls the pillow over her head!

 

1 hour ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

“Right. Holler--or ahh, just moan loudly or...knock something over I guess if you need anything.”

LOL! Love this!

 

1 hour ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

God... why couldn't something just go right for them for a change?!

Because you're an idiot!

 

1 hour ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

“...What would be above that then?” Dean wondered out loud. “A saint? Wait, no-- Needs to be a verb... What do they do to saints again? Canonize, right? Yeah, that's it. ‘Canonize you’, Sammy.” He smirked.

This is great, and totally Dean!

 

1 hour ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

They didn't often say what they meant to each other. And if he really couldn't do anything about this...which he was still reluctant to accept...then he needed to know that Dean knew that. And he did.  

 

My heart!

 

1 hour ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

“Yeah, see, unfortunately snot spots haven't caught on in Paris yet. I told them if anyone could pull them off it would be someone as good looking as me, but for some reason they didn't go for it.  Sorry.”

Perfect Dean sass!

 

1 hour ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

On that note… What medium could they use to reach everyone in the town all at once…

Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve!

[jensdw]

I love the plot you have going here. And this last part with sneezy and crying Sam. And crying Dean. Awesome. It was also tear inducing, but awesome.

I really like how you made this last update very brotherly. They’re just about the most adorable siblings on TV if you ask me, and you’ve captured their personalities perfectly.

I love your writing style & I’m excited for more!

[Seeker]

Another beautifully long update! I am totally impressed with your ideas in this fic. The fact that Sam is affected by the demon-eating plant because there is demon blood in him (before he was a steady drinker) was amazing. Sam having the idea to try and use the pollen on the crossroad demon--I'm in awe. That is so smart. I would never have put that together! And I'm glad you had Dean remind Sam  that if he does anything to get out of the deal, Sam dies. I think a lot of the fic around this time forgets that detail. Oh and the sweet brother moments! I have to believe s3 Sammy was heartbroken and love him before s4 Sam (now making myself mad thinking about it)

Now I'm just going to sit for a moment with big eyes of wonder that you have crafted such a story and yet still have more to come. Sending you mental hugs!

[sneezy_frnk]

Finally caught up with this again!!!

And, yup, still amazing. 

Poor Sammy is in so much pain (mental and physical) and I kinda hate it and also love it?? XD

[LostGirl2.0]

 

On 5/20/2018 at 0:13 AM, AngelEyes said:

Continued brilliance. Bring on the bromance!

 Yay!! Thank you! I honestly think bromance is my favorite thing ever. lol Glad you enjoyed!! 

On 5/20/2018 at 7:04 AM, jensdw said:

I love the plot you have going here. And this last part with sneezy and crying Sam. And crying Dean. Awesome. It was also tear inducing, but awesome.

I really like how you made this last update very brotherly. They’re just about the most adorable siblings on TV if you ask me, and you’ve captured their personalities perfectly.

I love your writing style & I’m excited for more!

Thank you so much!! And yep, totally agree. They're my fav TV siblings as well.  Thank you so much for reading as well. You do know that you encouraging me to do this is pretty much the only reason I gave it a go, right? Just want you to know you're awesome and I'm super grateful to you. 

On 5/21/2018 at 4:01 PM, ReidSeeker said:

Another beautifully long update! I am totally impressed with your ideas in this fic. The fact that Sam is affected by the demon-eating plant because there is demon blood in him (before he was a steady drinker) was amazing. Sam having the idea to try and use the pollen on the crossroad demon--I'm in awe. That is so smart. I would never have put that together! And I'm glad you had Dean remind Sam  that if he does anything to get out of the deal, Sam dies. I think a lot of the fic around this time forgets that detail. Oh and the sweet brother moments! I have to believe s3 Sammy was heartbroken and love him before s4 Sam (now making myself mad thinking about it)

Now I'm just going to sit for a moment with big eyes of wonder that you have crafted such a story and yet still have more to come. Sending you mental hugs!

AW!!  Thank you so much!!  This made me smile. Hugs right back at you!!  I'm so grateful for your comments, I honestly think I would have fizzled out on this a while ago otherwise. And I'm really glad you like the plot as well!!  Thank you for sticking with me and I'm so glad you're still enjoying it!

On 5/21/2018 at 7:27 PM, sneezy_frnk said:

Finally caught up with this again!!!

And, yup, still amazing. 

Poor Sammy is in so much pain (mental and physical) and I kinda hate it and also love it?? XD

Haha, yay!  I'm glad you still like it!!  And I know exactly what you mean.  I've long ago come to grips with the fact that the more I love a character, the more I love to stick em in tough situations. lol No idea why! There's a little more roughness ahead for Sammy yet, but not too much.  I hope you continue to enjoy it as it starts to kinda wind down!

 

A/N: Ugh... Sorry for the slightly longer delay in posting.  I was stuck rewriting the heck out of this part because I couldn't get it the way I wanted.  It's kind of a transition part too, so it's a little more chill (slightly less sneezing too...sorry!!), but there's action again in the next chapter so I hope you'll stick with me!  

 

 

Part 8

 

The first thing Dean did while Sam was in the shower was hit up the front desk.

A few smiles and well placed lines later he'd managed to not only procure a key for the room next door, but also two courtesy breakfast burritos. As Dean walked back to their room he surveyed the pollen situation. It was a still day so nothing much was blowing around, which was good, but it was still there. Visible in a light golden sheen on the cars and surfaces nearby.  It was nowhere near as present as it had been at the other places where people had gone missing, though. So perhaps Sam's status as only ‘demon infected’ didn't make him as much of an attractive meal if he wasn't in close proximity to the thing? Dean was insanely grateful for having haphazardly selected a motel that was at least a ten minute drive from any group of trees large enough to even be remotely considered a ‘forest’.

When he got back into their room he found Sam standing in front of his bed seemingly engaged in an impossible battle with his jeans. He appeared to be attempting to pull them up, without actually having to bend over. And from what Dean could tell by Sam's pasty complexion and the sheen of sweat he was already sporting, the pants were kicking his ass.  Dean rolled his eyes. What was it about this kid that made him so reluctant to ask for help? Were all little brothers like this?

“Hey Casper, quit that and sit down before you fall down.”

Dean didn't wait for Sam to comply, he just strode up to him and gently pushed on his shoulders until Sam started to sit.

Sam opened his mouth to protest but immediately thought better of it. If he wanted to help with the exorcism he was going to need to be in the best shape possible. Fighting off Dean's help now would not only risk making his ribs worse, but would probably end up making Dean even more determined to bench him. Sam knew how to play the long game, so he kept his mouth shut, sat down, and let Dean help him pull up his pants without a fuss. But that didn't mean he wasn't silently resenting every second of it.

Dean squatted down and got Sam's pants up past his knees and as close to his hips as he could while he was seated. He was about to help Sam to stand up again when something about his brother's bruising caught his eye. He could've sworn it hadn't been that dark or swollen last night...

His eyes narrowed as he reached out to probe the area. Sam's hand came up to deflect him, but Dean impatiently swatted him away.  When he gently applied pressure, what had just been a slight give before was now a full on shift. Dean grimaced as Sam yelped loudly in pain.

“Shit. Well, they're fully busted now, Sam. The shower was probably--”

“Wasn't the shower.” Sam gasped out, trying to recover from the bolt of agony that had just shot straight through his torso. “Happened before.”

“What?” Dean looked up. “When?”

Sam looked away from his brother's gaze. “I, ah, kinda fell. ...When I got out of bed earlier.”

Dean stared at him in disbelief. “Seriously, Sam? Why the hell didn't you say anything?”

Sam just shrugged and continued to avoid making eye contact.

Who was he kidding, Dean thought. The question with Sam should have been 'why would you say anything?’. Dean shot him a stern 'You-Know-Better-Than-This’ look and sighed as he stood to get the med kit out of his bag.

He fished out a large ACE bandage, knelt back down by Sam, and started winding the bandage around his brother's mottled torso. “These should have been wrapped hours ago, by the way.” He said, frustration easily audible in his voice.  But when he saw Sam grimace in pain some of his ire deflated and he tried to pay more attention to how tightly he was wrapping.

“...I think I figured it out.”

“Say what now?”

“The exorcism. How to get the whole town at one time.”

“Yeah?” Dean's eyebrows went up as he gently anchored the end of the wrap around the side of Sam's chest.

“Tornado Alley.”

When Sam neglected to elaborate any further, Dean decided to jump in. “Earthquake Corner.”

Sam just looked at Dean as if what he'd said had made no sense. Largely because it hadn't. “What?”

“You mean we're not just naming random natural disasters and locations? Cause that's what you just did.”

Sam rolled his eyes.

Dean just arched an eyebrow, daring Sam to contradict the truth of his statement as he reached over to where his brother had laid out his shirts and picked up the white tee.  He motioned for Sam to lift his arms slightly and started to help him slip the shirt on.

Sam tried not to wince as even raising his arms halfway was still decently painful. Although admittedly the wrapping had helped more than he'd expected. ...He'd never tell Dean that though.

“We're in Tornado Alley…where they have tornado sirens. ” He said, half holding his breath as his brother pulled the rest of his shirt over his head and finally gave him the cue to relax his arms. Sam exhaled heavily and dropped them back to his sides. He hated to admit it, but that probably would have been ten times more painful without Dean's help. Ugh... Tomorrow he'd just skip the undershirt so he could do it all himself.

Dean’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, but those work by rotor. You can't use it for a broadcast.” He said as he helped Sam slip his flannel in four seconds flat.

Yep, definitely just the flannel from now on, Sam thought. If he sweat through it, he'd just bring along a second. “Some function by rotor," he elaborated."Some are electrical and computer contrrolled.”

“Nice. So we just need to find out which we're dealing with then.”

Sam nodded and reached out to start doing up his shirt. He tried to grasp the buttons, but no matter how hard he strained he couldn't seem to keep them in his fingers. After several seconds of fumbling he aggravatedly flung the shirt from his hands.

“Heyheyhey, take it easy. What'd the shirt ever do to you?” Dean chided as he wordlessly began buttoning up Sam's shirt.

Sam had to bite down on his lips so he wouldn't reflexively snap at Dean in some misguided attempt to save face. It was his own fault he was like this anyway, not Dean's. God he was useless...

“So if we luck out, we just broadcast a recording of the exorcism through the speaker.” Dean affirmed, continuing their discussion in an attempt to keep Sam's mind on something more productive than how frustrated he was with his non-compliant body.

Sam forced himself to unlock his jaw and take a small breath. “Was thinking we could play it under the sound of the siren, maybe? Help avoid detection so it doesn't get shhut off by the officials too soon.”

Dean considered that. “Smart thinking.”  He finished buttoning the shirt and motioned for Sam to stand.

Sam did so and before he could even make a move toward it himself Dean hiked his pants up the rest of the way. And he'd done it so quickly that Sam had little time for more than an exasperated exhale in response. However, when his brother then reached for the button at his waist Sam saw it coming and drew a line.

“Really, Dean?! C’mon!”

“Ok, fine. Let's see you do it then.”

Sam huffed and reached down determined to do just that. It was just one button after all. And way larger than the others. He was sure he could manage it.

Dean stood back with his arms folded across his chest.

Several minutes went by this time before Sam was forced to admit defeat. “Dammit!” He shouted. Fighting down the urge to punch something. He wasn't sure if he was going to have any dignity left by the end of today at the rate he was going.

Dean sighed and stepped forward, he knew relying on him this much had to be driving Sam up a wall, but he seriously needed to get over it. “Dude, in case you forgot you were barely breathing less than 24 hours ago. Cut yourself some slack,” he urged gently as he stooped forward and began to work the button.

Sam huffed again, but this time with considerably less intensity, and made a point of looking anywhere but at his brother. Largely in an attempt pretend that this incredibly awkward situation wasn't happening. But also in a last ditch effort to distract himself from a particular thought that had been looming in the back of his mind ever since his brother had brought it up the day before. He was trying his best to brush it off, but the more he tried to look away from it, the larger and more distracting it seemed to become. Until it felt like he was trying to think past a flashing neon sign and it was putting him more and more on edge.

As Dean wrestled with the button--these things we're not meant to be done from the outside apparently, no way should buttoning pants be this hard--he suddenly became aware of a change in Sam. As if he had somehow sensed a disturbance in 'the force' that was his brother’s head-space. (Ooor maybe it was that little furrow that he'd seen between Sam's brows just then when he glanced up,  and the way he was worrying his bottom lip. ...But Dean was pretty sure it was his jedi-like brotherly intuition.) He kept his head bowed, staying focused on the button, but slowed in his work, giving Sam his space yet still offering support by casually tossing him an opportunity. “You ok?”

Sam swallowed. Man his brother knew him too well. He contemplated offering his typical denial. It was an instinct born from years of trying to convince Dean he could look out for himself, and it was a hard one too ignore. But nothing about their circumstances right now was typical. And when he got down to it, there really wasn't enough time left with his brother for him to waste it by bullshitting his way through another day. He swallowed and took a breath, making a split second decision, for the first time in a while, to just be honest and tell Dean what was on his mind. Get the worry out into the open and face the thing head on. 

“What if…” he said, his voice coming out more softly than he'd intended. He cleared his throat loudly and started again with more conviction. “What if this is as good as it gets? ...What if it doesn't wear all the wway off?”

Dean's eyes snapped up to Sam's.  Sam could tell in that instant that his brother shared his concern, and thought it would be well within Dean's rights to tell him that he did it to himself and therefore deserved whatever he got, but he didn't. The flash of fear he'd seen in Dean's eyes was gone as quickly as it had come and then his brother did for him what he'd done his entire life. Protect him from the scary shit and reassure him about things that he had no greater insight into than Sam.  And Sam loved him for it.

Dean finished with the button and stood, shaking his head dismissively. “Nah, it's way too soon, Sammy. It took awhile last time too, remember? And you hadn't been exposed for nearly as long.  It's just your fine motor skills that are still off right?"

“And speech, a bit.”  

Dean gave him a look that said 'pshh! No worries’. “It's already better than when you first woke up, so we know it's still wearing off.” He said confidently and clasped him gently on the shoulder. “You're gonna be fine, man. I promise.”

In that moment Sam allowed himself to do something he hadn't in years, which was cling to his brother's words as if they were gospel. He took another deep breath and blew it out. Yeah. Yeah, he was gonna be fine. The light on the flashing neon sign in his brain went out and he suddenly felt like his mind was his own once again.

“Ok, right. Yeah. So, ah, thanks for the…” he gestured awkwardly to his ensemble, “I'm gonna go ahead and lloook up what kind of system we're dealing with, then.”

“Hold up, Poindexter. I got us a key to the room next door. You can do your research over there.  I wanna get you away from this toxic spill.”

“Dean, I'm not even sneezing anym--”

“Ep!” Dean cut him off abruptly.

Sam heaved a sigh and looked resigned. “Fine.”

They packed up their things and Sam was ready to go when he noticed Dean looking at him oddly.

He sighed again. “What now?”

Dean didn't answer, but eyes flicked to the window and Sam knew in an instant what was wrong.

“Dude, you said it's the room next door, right? I'll hold my breath.”

Dean looked uncertain.

Lord... Sam rolled his eyes. Sometimes Dean's protective streak got the better of him and left him completely unable to do anything but want to wrap Sam in cotton wool and put him in a bubble.

Best thing to do when he was like this was nip it in the bud.

Sam strode purposefully forward, snatched the key out of Dean's hand, opened the door and left the room.

“Hey!”

Sam ignored him. He held his breath as promised and was into the next room in no time. Dean was inside and shutting the door behind him not a millisecond later, scowling.

Sam just smirked and held the key out to Dean.  Dean snatched it back and eyeballed him suspiciously as he walked over to the table and set down his bag, as if Sam was going to suddenly explode into a ball of allergic misery the second he looked away.

Sam maintained his supremely smug expression until Dean finally did decide to look away, at which point Sam quickly, but carefully (stupid ribs…), leaned over his bag under the guise of getting out his laptop and scrubbed vigorously at his nose. Thankfully he didn't feel like he was going to sneeze just yet, but the tickle was definitely back. He wondered if being exposed to the toxin for so long had somehow increased his body's sensitivity to it. ...Great...

He stopped his rubbing after a few seconds and resisted the urge to sniff, because he was certain Dean would hear it, and pulled out his laptop.

He moved over to a table and set it down, somehow managing to squat down to plug the thing in without screaming, although he did break out into a cold sweat again. He settled gingerly into the chair and popped the lid. He wiggled and stretched his fingers a bit. He might be a little slower at typing today, but they already seemed to be slightly less stiff than they had been even ten minutes ago. He grinned to himself. If he could do his research, then as far as he was concerned he was back in business. Alright...Time how this town liked to run it's weather alert system.

Sam had only been typing for a minute when hands suddenly appeared in front of him, one holding two pills and the other a glass of water. He glanced up at Dean to argue, but Dean's expression was severe. Sam held his tongue for a moment and looked back down at the meds more carefully. What shape was oxycodone again? Had he heard Dean opening the med kit or did he just get this out of his bag? ...It wouldn't be unlike Dean to try to drug him into oblivion and finish this case by himse--

“Stop trying to gather clues, Sherlock. It's just Tylenol again. You're due.” Dean said.  Sam’s suspicious look instantly morphed into Bitch Face #3, which was the one he used when Dean had guessed his thoughts and he was annoyed about it, and he promptly took the pills without complaint. Then went straight back to his research.

Dean turned away with a self-satisfied smirk. Bitchface #3 was his favorite, not only because it meant he was right, which he really enjoyed, but also because it usually shut Sam up for a while too. He whistled softly to himself as he walked back over to his bag and pulled out the two breakfast burritos he'd stuffed in there courtesy of the beauty at the front desk. He strolled back to the table and dropped one in front of Sam.

“Eat that. Meds aren't good on an empty stomach.”

Sam ignored him. Dean ignored Sam ignoring him and sat himself down across from his brother to chow down.

By the time Dean was finished with his lukewarm burrito, which was only about three minutes later, Sam had found their answer.

“Its electronic.” He grinned. “Give mme a second and I'll see if I can hack it from here.”

Dean leaned around to look at the screen, then sat back, reached underneath the table and yanked the plug out of the wall. A ‘low battery’ warning immediately flashed across the screen.

“Dean-- What the hell?!”

“I'll plug this back in if you eat that burrito.” He bartered. “No hacking before snacking.”

“...No hacking before snacking?”

“Noooo hacking before snacking.”

Sam just stared at him. “You're unbelievable.”

Dean smiled proudly. “You mean unbelievably poetic.”

Sam rolled his eyes.

“My amazing ability to turn a phrase aside, I'm not kidding, Sam. I haven't seen you eat anything since lunch yesterday.” He pushed the burrito closer to his brother. “So just, chow down...aaand then you can go to town.” Dean sat back and grinned, immensely pleased with himself.

Sam, on the other hand, groaned and pinched at the bridge of his nose. “If I eat this will you promise to quit it with the Dr. Seussing?”

“Can’t dim the light on this brilliance, Sammy.”

Sam glared at him, but he grudgingly unwrapped the foil on the burrito and took a large bite. He made a face.

“Ish cold.”

“Would have been warmer if you'd eaten it when I first gave it to you.”

Sam reluctantly swallowed. “That was only like a couple of minutes ago.”

“You eat pizza cold. Just think of it like burrito pizza. ...Or hey!” He exclaimed, thinking back to a recent cooking show he'd seen while channel surfing. “Like gazponcho!”

“What?” Sam was loss for a second  “...Wait, you mean gazpacho?”

Dean frowned slightly. “There's no poncho in it?”

Sam tried really hard not to grin at the complete man pout Dean was rocking.  “Nope. No poncho.”

Dean narrowed his eyes. Sam might just be screwing with him... However, when he thought about it, it was a hell of a lot more likely Sam had actually had the damn fancy-pants soup at some point.  “You sure?”

At this point, Sam was unable to keep the corners of his mouth completely in line. “Yeeeep.”

“Huh… Well, paco, pacho, whatever. Just eat it already.” Dean immediately shrugged off the word battle loss in favor of flaunting his position in computer vs food battle where he presently had the upper hand. He twirled the plug around land looked smugly at Sam as his brother finally caved with a grumble and dug back into his cold burrito.

When he finished it a few minutes later Dean plugged him back in and went to sit on his bed for a little victorious TV channel lap. He hadn't had nearly enough time to veg out on this trip and frankly, with all the drama he'd been dealing with lately, he felt he'd earned it.

----------

Twenty minutes later Dean's “victorious TV lap” had unequivocally turned into a “victorious TV nap” where he was snoring away and drooling to his heart's content.  Sam, however, was still at the computer. And he was far from victorious or content.

Hacking into the building's online systems had been easy. He could Rick Roll the entire company as soon as they logged into their desktops Monday morning, no problem. But what he hadn't been able to do was get anywhere near the computer for the siren. Largely because, according to the schematics he'd gotten a hold of at least, the computer was separate to the rest of their Network and the only way to get anything onto it was to physically load it in.

And Sam just knew that Dean was going to insist he did this alone. If he had barely been able to let Sam walk five feet outside from one room to the next, there was no way he was going to let him take part in this. Especially when they weren't expecting any baddies to show and, if Sam was honest with himself, he really could do most everything Dean would need him to do from the confines of the motel room.  Except back him up, of course, which was his sticking point. But Dean wouldn't see that as necessary. Especially with Sam being 'walking wounded' right now. So Sam wasn't likely to win this battle no matter how hard he fought it, and he hated knowing that he'd lost before he'd even begun.

He heaved a resigned sigh and looked over at his sleeping brother. He briefly considered letting him have a longer nap. After all, Dean probably hadn't had the most restful night either as he'd been up looking after him. But he also knew that Dean wouldn't thank him if he found out Sam’d been sitting on the info for another few hours when they could have this whole thing done and dusted by then. Mind made up, he wadded up his burrito foil and chucked it at Dean's head. ...Perhaps a little more enthusiastically than had been absolutely necessary, but he was about to shut Sam down and Sam was pissed. Never mind that it hadn't actually happened yet. Two minutes into this conversation and Dean would totally deserve it.

As the foil struck Dean square in the forehead he was instantly awake, swatting his hands at an invisible attacker and reaching under his pillow for a gun he hadn't yet put there.

Sam snorted a small laugh.

Dean noticed that, and then the foil ball sitting next to him, and scowled at his little brother.

Sam figured he'd head his brother's approaching bad mood off at the pass. “I thought you'd want to know that we're not gonna finish this case without some B&E.”

Dean's grumpiness vanished in an instant.

“Excellent.” He said, pulling himself up off the bed and stretching. “Where am I E’ing?”

Aaand there it was, “I”. Sam took a breath, convinced himself of Dean's relative safety in the venture, and blew it out, letting the argument pass him by. “114 5th Street. It's the Office of Emergency Management.”

“When you thinking? Now?”

“Might as well. It's a Saturday so there shouldn't be too many people around, and the building is pretty isolated. I don't really want to wait too long in case the Aequa--”

“Audrey”

Sam glared. “Whatever, decides to eat another person.”

“Sounds good to me. You can hack their security system from here, then?”

Sam reluctantly nodded.

“Good!  Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road.”

“I found a recording of a siren that should be pretty close to the one they use. Just let me record the exorcism and run the two together. I'll put the file on a flashdrive for you.”

Dean nodded and went to mute the TV.

They sat together and created the recording. When it was finished Sam popped the drive out and passed it over to Dean, who immediately pocketed it and stood.

“You good to get me in there now?”

“Should be.”

Dean nodded and grabbed his jacket.  He hesitated briefly at the door. “Stay here, ok? And don't do--”

“--anything stupid. I know, Dean.”

“Yeah, well, you're a magnet for trouble so forgive me if I feel like it needs saying.”

“Call me when you're there, alright?”

Dean nodded and headed off.

-----------

Sam looked at the online map again. It should take Dean about forty minutes to get there. He began exploring the security system more thoroughly and was pretty certain he had a handle on how to get his brother in, when he was suddenly booted offline. He troubleshot the connection quickly with no benefit. He then restarted his laptop. Still no dice. Maybe the server was down on the motel’s end?

He sighed and looked out the window. Things looked pretty still outside from what he could tell. Dean would be pissed if he found out Sam went outside, but he figured he'd be more pissed if he drove all the way out there and Sam couldn't get him in. He spotted Dean's duffel on a chair and rummaged through it until he came up with the packet of expired allergy meds Dean had thrown at him the other day. He had no idea if Zyrtec worked on supernatural allergens, but figured he might as well give it a try.

He dry swallowed one of the small pills, took a deep breath, and headed out the door. He was pleased with the fact that he actually managed to hold his breath the entire way to the main office. When he entered the first thing he saw a maintenance man working on a clearly visible router. That's one question answered, then. He approached a pretty young woman at the front desk who was wearing the exact same sombrero Dean had bought when they'd first arrived. Ahhhh, that explained that then.

“Excuse me,” the woman smiled up at him kindly, “I noticed the internet was out and I can see it's being fixed, which is great, but I was wohhh-hih!...ahemm...wondering if you had an estimate as to how long the repair might take.”

Sam smiled and then quickly ducked his head to rub hard at his nose. Well that tickle had gone from two to ten in no time at all. Man allergies sucked ass. He was never giving Dean shit about them again.

The young woman looked over at the man doing the repairs who promptly answered. “Not sure, really. I hope to have em up within the next hour or two, but I can't make any guarantees. Thing's playing up something fierce.”

“I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir.” Said the young lady. “Would you like a complimentary burrito for your troubles?”

“Oh, no. No, I'm fine, thanks. My brother brought me one not too long ago.”

Her face lit up. “Oh! You must be, Sammy!” She smiled at him with a touch of sympathy. “I’m so sorry about what happened to your hamster at the Fiesta Motel in Nashville. I didn't know they lived so long! But to have him for 10 years...I mean, I'd imagine you two were quiet close. And then to lose him in such a horrible way…” her eyes welled with tears. “Well,” she cleared her throat as her voice trembled slightly, “all I can say is I'm so, so sorry you had to go through that and that I hope the slightly different layout in the new room helps decrease the flashbacks.”

Sam blinked dumbly at her for a moment. Then everything clicked into place. Jesus Christ, Dean… A hamster?

“Uh, yeah, uhhhhh, Petey was a really great--friend. He was a great friend.” He forced a smile, discreetly knuckling at his nose again.

“I bet he was.” She smiled again, and Sam found that she actually appeared to be genuine about the whole thing which was impressive considering that the premise was absurd. He suddenly found his own smile becoming more authentic in return.

“Thanks for the new room then. And the uuuhh-update on thhih!...internet.” He squinted his eyes, ducked his head and pressed his knuckles up under his nose harder. Crap, he was totally losing this battle. He had been tolerating his ribs ok until this point, and he really didn't relish being reminded of how bad off they were right in the middle of this strangely not-too-horrible conversation.

The young woman, Miranda, he read off her name tag, was now looking at him with a furrow in her brow.

“Are you alright?”

Sam looked up quickly not wanting to worry her, but that was a mistake as the light coming through the window to his right managed to catch his eye just right.

“Yeahhhh, just--hih!--I’msorryexcuseme--” he twisted to the side as much as he could, wrapped his left arm around his middle and and buried his nose in his right elbow.

“h’ESshu!” He screwed his eyes shut tight as pain stabbed through his torso. Oh holy mother of--“hih-ih’CHISHuh!”  ...Mmmmgg….Dontscreamdontscreamdontscream….

“Bless you!”

Sam panted shallowly against the pain and pinched his nose hard trying to quell the tickle and for the moment. For once, it actually seemed to work. “Sorry, ah….thanks.” He fought hard to keep from turning red with embarrassment. He didn't normally sneeze all that often and doing it in public was still supremely uncomfortable for him. Sneezing with broken ribs just took the whole thing to a new level of awkward unpleasantness. He ducked his head a little to hide his discomfort when the clock in the corner of the room caught his eye. Shit, he really needed to get a move on. He stopped pinching at his nose and rubbed it hard. “What's the nearest place with WiFi?”

“Uh, that would probably be the diner down past Greenbriar, or the library in the other direction on the corner of Main and Townsend.”

The diner was out for obvious reasons, Dean was going to be pissed enough when he found out Sam had left at all, but he'd be less pissed if Sam avoided anything near the tree line.

“Perfect.” He rubbed at his nose again and sniffed cautiously, uncomfortably aware that it was starting to run. “How would I get to the library?”

“Just turn left out of here, go straight till you get to the third light, turn left onto Main Street and then it's at the next light, on your left. Townsend Street.”

“Thanks so much, Miranda” he said.  She blushed. Sam couldn't help his smile as he turned away and headed straight out the door.  

He held his breath again and moved as quickly but as lightly as he could, each step jarring his chest painfully.  His eyes began to itch and his nose ran more heavily, but he didn't dare rub at them or sniff. He ran his sleeve under his nose instead as he headed back into the room. He went straight to the bathroom where he proceeded to blow his nose vigorously and splash cold water on his face. He grabbed the bandanna Dean had used on him last night and washed it as well. When he was satisfied it was as clean as it could be he wrung it out and it balled up in his fist.

He went back into the main room, grabbed his laptop, and shoved it in his duffel bag. Then with the wet bandanna pressed over his nose and mouth, he shouldered the bag and took off out the door to hot-wire yet another car.

...They really should think about investing in a bicycle...

 

To Be Continued...

(Just 2 more parts to go!)

[AngelEyes]

2 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

“Tornado Alley.”

When Sam neglected to elaborate any further, Dean decided to jump in. “Earthquake Corner.”

LOL! This totally cracked me up!

 

2 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

“...No hacking before snacking?”

“Noooo hacking before snacking.”

Sam just stared at him. “You're unbelievable.”

Dean smiled proudly. “You mean unbelievably poetic.”

Perfect Dean and Sam!

 

2 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

Sam blinked dumbly at her for a moment. Then everything clicked into place. Jesus Christ, Dean… A hamster?

OMG Dean. LOL

 

2 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

Then with the wet bandanna pressed over his nose and mouth, he shouldered the bag and took off out the door to hot-wire yet another car.

Oh dear.

[RediChalyn]

Love it!!!  This is perfect!

[Coffee Mug]

I’m melting here girl!!! Sammy’s itchy nose....gaaaah!! 😍 can’t wait for more!! 

[LostGirl2.0]

Thanks @AngelEyes!!!  !

On 5/25/2018 at 0:17 PM, RediChalyn said:

Love it!!!  This is perfect!

Thanks so much!! I'm really glad you're enjoying it! 

On 5/25/2018 at 0:35 PM, Coffee Mug said:

I’m melting here girl!!! Sammy’s itchy nose....gaaaah!! 😍 can’t wait for more!! 

!!! Thank you so much, @Coffee Mug!! 

 

Hope you guys enjoy and thanks so much for sticking with me!! (Sorry it's a little shorter this time. Only 1 more part to go after this!)

 

Part 9

 

Fifteen minutes, and seven painful sneezes later he arrived at the library. He figured he only had another ten-ish minutes before Dean called and needed his help to get in.

He kept the bandanna over his mouth and nose until he got inside, although he didn't think it was really doing much good at that point. He basically felt two seconds away from sneezing all the time now.

He quickly passed the two librarians at the main desk with a smile and a wave and headed to a study room he found in the back left corner. He set up his laptop, doing his best to breathe as shallowly and slowly as he could so as not to provoke his sinuses. He’d just gotten onto the WiFi when he heard the doorknob click and looked up to see the two librarians, a man and a woman, both appearing to be in their 50’s, making their way into his room.

“I’m sorry, should I not be in here? If the room’s reserved I'll just mov--”

The man's eyes suddenly flashed black. “That all depends on what you're doing in here, Winchester.” he growled.

Sam's blood ran cold.

A second later the woman's eyes changed as well.

Jesus, this town really did have a demon problem.

“Our sister was eaten yesterday because of you.” She seethed. “We brought you here to destroy it! Isn't that what you Winchesters do? Save these disgusting human slugs?”

Sam swallowed hard. The knowledge that they had indeed been manipulated into coming here was uncomfortable, but not something he hadn't already imagined. Dammit. He really did not need this right now.

Sam held up his hands.  As much as he would have liked to, it would have been foolish to try to take on both of them right then. Not with his ribs the way they were and definitely not with the bizarre risk that half of the library’s other occupants might also be their friends.

“We're working on it, ok? There isn't anything known that can kill it so we're having to get creative. I'm here doing research. See?”

Sam hit two keys and quickly selected a page he'd found yesterday from his history before he flipped the laptop around to show them. “We're working on it.”

The male demon sidled up to him and looked down at the laptop screen. Without any warning Sam suddenly found his head cracking into the wall behind him as male demon had rounded on him unexpectedly and punched him squarely in the face. He staggered and fell to his knees, unable to stifle a groan when his ribs loudly protested the impact.

“Verin!” The She-demon snapped. “We need them right now. You can do this later.”

The woman dragged the man out by the arm and slammed the door behind them. Sam blinked the bright spots from his vision and grimaced as the pain receptors in his body finally came back online. His head was pounding, his jaw throbbed sharply, his cheek and lip stung where he teeth had cut into them, but more problematic than all that--his nose burned something fierce.  Add that on top of the maddening tickling it'd been doing for the past hour… And yeah, there wasn't even a chance.

His breath hitched hard even as he wrapped an arm around his chest and smashed his nose tightly against his wrist.

“Hhhhh...hih-h'tchxt! TSSHHu! Huh’IXshhuh! Hih-hih-ISSSHHHU! Txt’CHSHuh! TCHSHHh!”

Tears were streaming down his face and his vision had dimmed at the edges. He gasped desperately and wavered. He would have fallen the rest of the way to the floor if he hadn't managed to catch himself on a nearby chair at the last second. Never, he promised himself. Never again was he going to break his ribs and have allergies at the same time. He didn't care if he couldn't control that. He would find a way. It was a vow he was willing to make.

Just as he was starting to push past the pain and come back to himself he heard his cell phone ring. God, Dean... He groaned as he pushed himself to his feet and carefully sat down in the chair in front if the laptop. Maybe he should have gone to the diner after all. Dean was definitely going to kill him for this.

Sam answered the phone.

“About damn time, Sam. Been out here dodging some dude who decided today was a great day to do some landscaping. What do ya got for me?”

Sam blinked at the screen for a moment, willing it to come into focus.

“Sammy?”

“The uh, access code for the back door is now 8675309.”

Dean laughed. “Nice! Tommy Tutone, huh? I like it. Little too much of an oldie for you though, isn't it? Wait, you didn't meet some girl named Jenny while I was gone, did you?”

Sam couldn't help the slight smile that crossed his face even though it pulled painfully at his sore lip and cheek. That was Dean, for you. Just give the guy something illegal to do and he was the happiest he'd been in days. Sam heard the beeps in the background as Dean keyed the numbers into the pad.

He ignored Dean's teasing and tried to focus both on reading the slightly blurry blueprints in front of him and on somehow trying to quell the rising burn in his nose before he lost control again.

“Ok, you'll want to turn left once you're inside and go straight until you hhhhhit the stairwell.” The second his breath caught he reached up and pinched his nose tight. It somehow made the burning worse. Sam had just enough foresight to twist the receiver end of the phone away from his mouth before he pinched his nose even harder and doubled over in a completely silent sneeze.

An instant later Sam had his hand back over his ribs and was once again trying very hard not to scream. His ears were ringing. Holy hell… he thought as soon as his brain was able to function again. Somehow that had hurt even worse than all the other times. Why was Dean always right? Crap!...Dean!

“...said, up or down, Sam? ….Saaaaammy? Hey! Dude! You still there?”

“Yeah,” Sam gasped, “yeah, sorry. Just, uh,thought someone was coming into the room.”

Dean chuckled. “Room service got you spooked?”

Shit! That's right. Dean didn't know he was in the library. ..Man, he was slipping. He was going to have to be more careful.

“Yeah, something like that.” Sam mumbled a tad darkly, thinking of black eyed librarians instead if blue eyed motel maids.

He looked back at the screen. Focus, Sam, focus.  “Go up two floors….and then, ah, turn right down the second hallway.”

He heard the echo of Dean's footsteps as he plodded on when suddenly everything went dark.

Sam started badly, immediately looking for an ambush until he realized the maintenance lights were still on and that the library was empty and quiet. Oh... This must be one of those small town libraries that closed at two on Saturdays. For a second he thought it was odd no one had come to see him out, but then he remembered who was in charge and what they wanted him to be doing. Yeah, guess they wouldn't kick him out would they?

He reached over to a nearby desk lamp and turned it on.

Wrong move. The second the light hit his eyes he was done for. Crap! He was not at all used to being this sensitive. He kept making rookie mistakes.

He snapped his hand up again and pinched his nose so hard he thought it might bruise.

“Ok, where to now?”

“Umb, third door ond your righdt.”

“...Why do you sound funny?”

Dammit! Sam thought. Why did Dean have to be so freaking perceptive when it came to him. Sam took a big risk and just prayed it wasn't going to bite him in the ass.

He released his nose for his next statement so the resonance of his “n’s” came out right.

“I don't sound funny. Maybe it's your phohhhhh-phone.”

Sam cursed himself. He'd been so close too! But in the end it really didn't matter anyway because apparently ‘risk’ was in the mood for some ass-biting, and Sam's just happened to be the nearest at hand.

“H’ngk!”

“Sam… What was that?”

Sam was hunched now over in abject misery and had very little wherewithal left when it came to making his brain continue to work. God his head… And his ribs… He suddenly couldn't think of anything past how much pain he was in.

“Sammy?”

“Uhhh… Was m'head.”

“Your head?”

“Yeah, uh, hit it on th’table.”

“...You hit your head on the table?”

Shit! Had he said “head”? He’d meant to say “hand”.

“Hand.”

“Hand?” Pause. “Just...hand? Hand what, Sammy?”

“Hit m’hand.”

“...And your head?” Dean was sounding frustrated and borderline concerned. Sam needed to get his story straight, and fast.

“No, jus my hand.” ...Wait, he had hit his head though, right? Well, the demon had hit it, but it was still kinda the same, wasn't it? So why was he saying he hadn't? He mumbled a quick amendment. “…. Actually, head. Was m’head.”

“Alright, Sam, what the hell's going on over there? You better have Miss Room Service sitting on your lap or something right now, cause you're not making any sense.”

“N’a chick. We're on a job.”  Sam frowned. Why was Dean talking about women? ...Well that was a dumb question, he thought to himself. Dean was always talking about women.

Sam squeezed his eyes shut tight. Ugh… He was having more and more trouble following this conversation. God his head hurt. He opened his eyes and blinked at the screen, but the lines seemed to be moving in front of him. Had the demon hit him hard enough to give him a concussion? Come to think of it, he was feeling kinda nauseous.

And sneezy.

“Sam--”

Sam accidentally cut him off. “H’chxt!” ...OW.

“...Gesundheit.”

“Mmm.”  Sam absently moan-hummed in response as he held his aching head with one hand and wrapped his chest with he other.

“Dammit, Sam! I knew it!  I knew those were sneezes. ‘Hit your hand/head’ my ass. Why are you sneezing and slurring your words again, Sam?” Dean voice rose in volume along with his anxiety. “So help me you better have just gone to the front desk for a bottle of tequila or I'm going to kick your ass.”

“No tequila. Prob’ly jus’a concuss--”

At that moment the door to his room banged open. Sam jumped and nearly dropped the phone. The He-demon was standing in the door looking pleased about something and the She-demon was nowhere to be seen. Sam was trying hard to think of what to do, but the only thing his brain could come up with at that moment was--

“Fuck.”

“Wait, was that noise? Samwhat'swrong?” Dean's voice came out in a rush.

“Computer’s on th’back wall t’th’right, Dean,” Sam recalled. “Play th’file. Now!”

The demon came at Sam fast and he knew this time there'd be no avoiding the conflict. He dropped the phone onto the table hearing Dean's tinny shout of “SAMMY!” fade into the background as he did so.

“I have riddle for you, Sammy. How many Winchesters does it take to kill a single, bothersome plant?” He sneered. “Certainly no more than one in my opinion. And I don't care how important you are. I'm going to be the one to take you down.” he cracked his neck and began moving toward Sam slowly.

What was it with demons and gloating? Sam wondered distractedly, knowing he had only seconds before the demon was on him. “Do it, Dean!” he yelled into the room, hoping Dean was still able to hear. Then the demon launched himself at Sam and the fight began in earnest. Adrenaline had somewhat cleared his head and he managed to duck the demon’s first punch, but not the second.

Sam was rocked back into the wall again but this time kept his feet. He roared at the demon as he charged and tackled it around the waist. They went down in a tangle of limbs with Sam on top.

Sam used the position to his advantage for as long as he could and pounded his fist into the demon’s face. However, as the demon was naturally stronger and also presently in better fighting condition, Sam soon found himself on the ground with the demon on top--and with no real sense of how he'd gotten there.

The next thing he knew the demon’s hands were around his throat, why was it always his throat?, and Sam found himself wondering what was taking Dean so long.

Just as his vision narrowed to a pinpoint he heard a loud wail. Yes! That was the siren. Dean had done it! Please let it work... please let...it… A split second before he completely lost consciousness he heard a horrendous screaming, roaring, rushing noise and suddenly found he could breathe again.

Sam could do nothing but lay on the ground and gasp for the next several minutes. He was having a lot of trouble catching his breath for some reason. Oh yeah, he recalled fuzzily, broken ribs. He managed to turn his head and saw that his phone had fallen to the floor during the fight.  Even better than that, it had landed not too far away from him.

He held his breath and reached his arm out as far as he could. The pain in his chest flared red hot, but he grit his teeth and pushed through it. Eventually he snagged the edge of the phone with his finger tips. He clawed it into his hand and realized it was still open. Maybe Dean was still on the line?

As Sam brought the phone closer to his ear his question was answered.

“...AMMY! Answer me, dammit! What’s happening? What--” Dean sounded out of breath. Sam guessed he was probably running back to the Impala so he could head to the motel and find Sam. But Sam wasn't at the motel.

“Lib’ry.”

“Sam?! Jesus, you scared the shit outta me. Are you ok? What the hell happened over there?!”

Dean sounded mad. Sam was sorry. He’d tried to go to the safer place. It wasn't his fault these demons liked books. Focus…. He needed to focus.

“N’t there, here. Lib’ry.”

“What? You're not there? You're not at the motel?”

Sam made a concerted effort to get his tongue back on his side.

“M’at th’library.” It half worked.

“You're at the library?? Why are you-- You know what, nevermind. What happened, Sam? I heard screaming. Are you ok?”

Sam heard the slam of the Impala door in the background and knew Dean was on his way.  The relief that washed over him brought with it a wave of fatigue so intense that he struggled to stay conscious in its wake.

“Was’n me. Was th’demon.”

“WHAT?! What the hell was a demon doing there?! Are you hurt?? Sammy!” He barked, reminding Sam of their dad. “Sam! Answer me, dammit, are you ok?”

Sam felt suddenly sad at the thought of his father, but the escalating worry in Dean's voice drew him back.  He needed to tell his brother he was ok.

“S’ok. Work’d.” He found himself panting again. The room was rapidly starting to dim and everything was tilting sideways. “Ex’rcsm work’d. I’work’d…”

Oblivious to the continued frantic shouts coming from the phone Sam's world faded to black and the phone slipped out of his hand to land with a thunk on the floor.

Beside the silent Sam a grey haired, middle aged man snored softly.

 

To Be Continued...

[RediChalyn]

Yesss!!!

[Coffee Mug]

Oooh the cliffhanger is going to kill me! Poor Sammy! 

[estrelleta]

Oh my Chuck, this is absolutely fantastic! LostGirl, your writing is phenomenal! 

[Seeker]

Ooo, this so gooooood! I'm sad that there is just one last part but also can't wait to read it! This is such a great story!

[AngelEyes]

This is great! Love that he gets ambushed by a demon on top of everything else because of course that would happen to him! Sad it's almost over but excited to see how it wraps up!

[jensdw]

So...I’ve missed a couple updates so, sorry for that, but this is sooo good. The plot is really interesting and it’s nothing I’ve seen before which is cool. Plus poor sneezy Sam makes me happy. Your writing is really lovely, too. Thanks for sharing this story!!

[LostGirl2.0]

Thank you so SO much, guys!!  @AngelEyes, @ReidSeeker, @Coffee Mug and @jensdw you guys have kept me going!  Thank you a million times over for sticking with me and continually sharing your thoughts! 

And @estrelleta Thank you so much for the compliment!! 

 

A/N: SO sorry about the delay!  Life got crazy there for a second. (Also....I may have a slightly silly idea for an Epilogue. lol  Maybe? Not 100% sure yet.) Anyway, on with the show!  I hope you guys enjoy!! 

 

Part 10

Dean’s heart was in his throat as he continued to shout into to the phone while he sped towards the location of the nearest library.

Be ok Sammy, please be ok, he thought as his brain kept providing him with horrifying images to fill in the blanks that Sam's silence was leaving. He slammed his hand angrily on the steering wheel. Goddammit, why couldn't he keep this kid safe?! Why did every baddie in the world seem to have it out for his little brother?  And now he was going to leave him to face it alone... The lump that formed in his throat wouldn't be moved. But if he hadn't done what he'd done Sam wouldn't be facing anything. He'd be dead.

Dean closed his eyes for a second and tried to make himself keep breathing as images of Sam falling into his arms on that dirt road assaulted him. He still had nightmares about it. He probably always would. But it wouldn't help Sam for him to fall apart now. Plus, he didn't know what had actually happened. Sam might have just passed out. However, he might also be bleeding out, suffocating,...dead. Dean took a breath and forced himself to calm down. The details weren't important right now. He couldn't do anything about information he didn't have, anyway. What was important was that Sam was vulnerable and needed him. And so Dean was going to get to his brother as fast as humanly possible.

He took a deeper breath in through his nose and blow it out though his mouth. Sammy was going to be fine because Dean was going to make sure of it. For every day, every minute, every second he had left to watch over the kid, he was going to make sure of it.

-----------

Ten agonizing minutes later Dean squealed into the library parking lot. The building appeared closed, but that didn't dissuade him. If Sam said he was inside, then that's where Dean was going. He pulled on the door and found it locked as he'd expected. Undeterred, he made certain that what he could see of the building appeared empty and then took out his gun and fired at the floor behind the large glass door.

The glass shattered and Dean was heading through it before all the pieces had even finished falling.

“SAMMY!” He yelled. Looking around wildly for any sign of life.

No response.

Ok, he took another breath to calm himself so he could focus. Ok, if I was Sam in a library, where would I go? He thought for a second.

He ran toward the back right of the library and began rapidly checking all the study rooms along the rear wall. As he got toward the middle of the library he noticed the pale glow of a lamplight off in the distance ahead of him. His jog turned into a sprint. Pleasebeokpleasebeok….

He came up to the room and instantly spotted two bodies on the floor through the glass door. One was that of an older gentleman, and the other... He threw the door open and dropped to his knees by Sam's head, fingers immediately seeking out his carotid. Sam's pulse beat strongly, if not a little rapidly, and Dean fell back against the wall weak with relief. He scrubbed a hand across his face and found himself unexpectedly choking back a wave of emotion. Even thinking on the way here that he might have lost him again… Dean felt a sudden urge to throw up and shoved his thoughts away. Sam was alive and that was what mattered. Not whatever he'd imagined might have happened.  Dean shook his head and then kicked his ass into gear because, even though Sam's heart was beating, that didn't mean he was out of the woods just yet.

Dean immediately yanked up his shirts to check his chest. As far as he could tell it looked about the same and for that Dean was immensely grateful. Fear of him having punctured a lung had briefly crossed his mind while he'd been driving and that would have been a whole nother horrifying can of worms.

He ran his hands over the rest of Sam's body and found no new damage until he got to his head.

He gently touched the swelling already appearing on Sam's lower left jaw and was pleased when he didn't feel any breaks. The kid had a split lip that was still bleeding sluggishly though. Dean pulled his sleeve out from underneath his jacket and gently wiped off the blood that hadn't dried. He didn't think it looked like it would need stitches, but he couldn't be certain until he got it thoroughly cleaned. He ran his hands through Sam's hair and around the back of his head and hissed in a breath as his hands found a large lump there and came away bloody. “Ah, so that's what you were trying to tell me, weren't you. Not tequila, a concussion.”

He stood to shine the lamplight on to Sam's face and then squatted back down to lift up Sam's eyelids. His right pupil was slightly bigger than his left and not as responsive. “Yep. Got it in one, Sammy.”

Dean took one second to check the man laying next to Sam and found that his pulse was steady and strong and he that appeared to be asleep. He also had a black eye coming on and a broken nose. It looked like Sam had given as good as he'd got. This guy must have been who the demon was wearing, then. That would explain why Sam told him that the exorcism had worked. There was no other way for him to have known that unless he’d witnessed it.

He left the man, quickly packed up Sam's laptop in the duffel he found on the floor, slung it across his back, and returned to his brother's side. “Alright, Sammy. Time to quit nappin on the job.” He gently slapped his brother's face.

After fifteen seconds or so of that, Sam's eyes finally fluttered open.

“There ya go. Good man, Sammy. You ok if I sit you up?”

“Wha?” Sam squinted up at his brother blearily, eyes struggling to focus. “D’n?”

“The one and only.” Dean quipped and shot him a quick smirk, wondering just how many of him Sam might be seeing right now. “I'm gonna sit you up, ok? The cops are probably on their way so we don't have a lot of time.”

“C’ps?”

“Yeah, I uh, might have Rambo-ed my way in here a little bit.”

Sam looked around and seemed to finally become aware of his surroundings. “We in th’libr’ry?”

“Yep. Seems so. And don't ask me why cause that was all you, Tiger. You're gonna be filling me in on that later, by the way. When your brain's a little less scrambled. Ok, here we go. Up on three. One, two, three!”

Dean hauled Sam into a sitting position.

Sam wobbled to the side dangerously and Dean put an arm behind his back to steady him. Sam closed his eyes tightly and gagged once before finally seeming to get control over himself. When he opened his eyes a moment later they found Dean's face much more quickly. And as soon as they did, his brow furrowed.

“You’re hur’.” he reached up to touch the large, bloody gash on the left side of Dean's forehead, but missed and almost poked Dean in the eye.

“Whoa there, sharp-shooter.” Dean said, dodging Sam's fingers deftly. “I'm fine. Just an overzealous intern who decided to work the weekend. Apparently they take their weather real seriously around here. Kid kinda freaked out a bit.”

Sam’s scowl deepened.

Sensing a half coherent argument brewing, Dean threw him a bone. They really needed to get moving. Now. “You can check me over when we get back to the motel, ok? I promise. But right now, we really need to blow this Popsicle stand. Sp you ready?”

Sam, appearing at least momentarily mollified, put his game face back on and gave Dean the slightest nod.  Dean situated himself under his brother's left shoulder, grabbed onto his pants on his other side, and heaved. “Up we go!”

The second Sam was on his feet he staggered as the room no doubt did it's best impression of a tilt-a-whirl for him, but Dean was ready for it and managed to hold him steady.

“Ok, Sammy, let's roll.” Dean was holding one of Sam's arms over his shoulder and had the other hand wrapped around his waist firmly secured in Sam's belt loop on the other side.  Just in case. 

Sam, for his part, had his free arm wrapped around his side to protect his ribs. The two young men maneuvered carefully around the sleeping librarian and slowly but steadily made their way back to the front door.

They were almost through the door when Sam suddenly doubled over with a powerful--

“ISHHshhuh!”

Dean cursed and took an extra couple of steps to steady them as the sneeze had nearly toppled Sam over.

When he looked up at him again, Sam was white as sheet. His eyes shut tight and his ribs clasped even tighter. "Suh...sorry." He panted. "S'prised me."

Dean shook his head at himself. He was the one without a head injury at the moment.  He should have remembered that being outside again was going to be as issue. “Nah, Sammy, that's my bad. Forgot about those allergies of yours. Actually, hold up a sec.” He said, recalling something, as he let go of Sam's belt loop and rummaged through his own pockets. A few seconds later he pulled out another handkerchief, smiling slightly in triumph.  Good thing he'd had the foresight to load up earlier.  ...God, was he glad this wasn't the norm for Sam. The kid was putting his own allergies to shame.

“Here. It might not do much, but it's better than nothing.” He balled the bandanna up and held it over Sam's nose and mouth so his brother could keep his free hand for supporting his ribs. “Car’s just up ahead, ok?” Sam squinted his eyes open and nodded, focusing hard on picking his feet up as Dean once again started moving them forward.

They made it another twenty feet before Sam stuttered to a halt.  And with Dean's hand still holding the bandanna over Sam's mouth, he instantly felt the reason why in Sam's increasingly erratically breathing.  He looked over and saw that the kid was doing his best to fight it, and actually made to keep on walking, but Dean didn't think that was the best idea with his balance already as compromised as it was.  He'd just barely managed to keep him on his feet the last time and Sam really didn't need anymore hits to his body today.  Dean held him still when he tried to continue on and pressed the hand with the bandanna more securely against Sam's face.  Sam shot him an uncertain and semi-panicked look as his breath continued to come in hard, hitching gasps. 

"Hey...hey...," Dean said softly. "I know it sucks, man, but you're not gonna hold em off the entire time we're out here so just let 'er rip, ok? I got cha." He gave Sam a reassuring half smile and stepped in even closer to his brother's body to make sure he was supporting him as much as he could. He felt Sam gasp harshly a few more times and knew by the tension in his body the moment he reached his limit and that there'd be no going back.  Sure enough...

"MNPHHH!" Sam lurched forward once more, but this time the pressure from Dean's hand kept him from going too far and crunching his ribs all over again.  "hih-hihhh!  HIH!! MMPHH'tshhh! Umph'TCHU! hihhh! hhhh... h'Mmmphh!...hihhh-HIHH! Mph'TCHSS'u!"  He gasped and moaned slightly in the aftermath. If only his brother had been able to do something to keep his head from feeling like it was going to explode too...

"Jesus, bless you." Dean said sympathetically.  Unfortunately, he wasn't at the best angle to do much more than just flip the bandanna over for Sam, but at least that would allow him to keep using it with slightly less discomfort.

"You good for the moment?"

Sam sniffled wetly and when it didn't immediately make him sneeze again he nodded in the affirmative.

"Alright, great.  Just a little bit further, ok? Almost there." Dean kept a secure grip on Sam and slowly began helping him forward once more.

They were fifteen feet away from the Impala when they heard the first of the sirens. “Dammit!” Dean tried to pick up the pace a bit, but Sam wasn't ready for it and began to stumble. Dean managed to half drag him a few more feet before Sam's weight became too much and he was forced to lower him to the ground.  Once the kid was down Dean did his best to scoot him just a few more feet over where he would be better concealed behind another parked car. He'd just gotten his brother’s gigantor body braced against the rear door of a royal blue Honda civic when a cop car finally pulled into the lot.

Dean crouched beside Sam and tried not to worry at the labored breathing he could now barely feel through the bandanna and the pasty complexion of his brother's face. Yeah, when they got back Sam was getting some stronger pain meds whether he wanted them or not.

Sam had his eyes closed again but reached up to take the bandanna off his brother now that he hand a hand free. Dean relinquished his hold and eased around the Civic to keep the cop car in his sights. It pulled in a few spaces away and two officers got out, but they didn't move on. They just stood there on either side of the car finishing an ongoing conversation. Seriously?! C’mon, dammit! Get your asses into the building already!

Sam gasped quietly and Dean's eyes were immediately back on him. Sam's eyes were shut tight and what he could see of his face was scrunched up behind the bandanna and he was pinching his nose shut so hard his fingertips were white. Shit. Again? Dean winced. ...Worst timing ever, kiddo. 

The cops were finally starting to move so Dean looked away to signal to Sam that he needed to hold on for just another thirty seconds. Sam blinked watery eyes at him and nodded slightly, appearing to be holding his breath. Dean looked back over to where the cops had been and saw that although they were definitely heading towards the library now, they were still taking their own damn time about it. Gee, glad this wasn't a real emergency and library guy wasn't in there bleeding out. Jesus...

Dean looked back over to Sam and was shocked to see the kid had turned away, so he was now curled up against the side of the car, and was jerking forward in silent sneeze after sneeze. Dean's eyebrows rose. Broken ribs, a concussion, and insane supernatural allergies and he wasn't making a sound. If there had been any space left in Dean's estimation for Sam to rise, he might have gone up another notch just then.  

Dean watched him for a second longer, trying not to grimace at each wracking sneeze and tiny gasp that was no louder than a regular breath. He knew holding them in like that had to be excruciating. Why couldn't these guys just move their asses! Dean fought back the urge to punch something and settled for biting his lip instead. Hard. What could he do to get these idiots inside faster? There had to be something... He looked around desperately for inspiration and within a few seconds he had an idea.

He patted Sam on the arm to get his attention. Sam squinted at him, breath still hitching oh so gently, and Dean mouthed the words ‘be right back’. Sam looked like he wanted to protest but his body won out and he quickly closed his eyes again, pressed his head against the metal of the car to brace himself, and jerked violently as another completely silent set of sneezes tore through him.

Dean reached out and placed his hand on the back of Sam's neck and gave a brief, but gentle squeeze. Hang in there, kiddo. Then he was off to grab a rock he'd seen by the tire of a car across from them and darted towards the side of the building. Once he was far enough around he lobbed the rock through the shattered glass door and mentally cheered when it crashed loudly into something further inside. The cops took off at a run into building and Dean took off at a run back to Sam.

When he crouched down near his brother again Sam's face had gone from white to practically gray. His eyes were still shut tight but now there were clear tear tracks on his face. He was sitting so still Dean briefly wondered if he'd passed out again until another stifled, silent sneeze spasmed through him and he ground his teeth together so loudly Dean swore he could here it. Alright, enough of this nonsense.

“They're gone, Sammy. You're good now.”

Sam's breath hitched more loudly in response, but not trusting that they were completely in the clear he just shook his head, pinched his nose harder, and rocked slightly forward with another choked off sneeze.

“Dude, cut that out. It's never gonna stop that way.” He rolled his eyes when Sam just ignored him. “Yeah, sure, don't listen to the only one of us that’s ever had allergies before." 

Dean double checked that they were still alone and when he was satisfied turned back to Sam. “Time to get you out of this air.”

He reached down and slipped a hand under Sam's arm and slowly helped him up.  Sam was vertical for about two seconds before he had to shoot a hand out to stabilize himself on the car as he wrenched forward hard with another silent sneeze. Dean quickly tucked himself under the arm Sam had put onto the car. “Hey, lean on me, ok? I got cha. C’mon.” Sam clasped Dean tightly across the back and they shuffled quickly, but carefully, four cars over to the Impala. Dean was so busy watching their feet so Sam didn't eat concrete that he jumped a bit when Sam's body spasmed silently twice more in his grasp. “Bless you, bless you. ...Jesus, Sammy.” He mumbled.  When Sam made a noise that sounded somewhere between a gasp and sob, Dean winced. “Almost there, man, I promise, almost there.”

Dean got them to the passenger side of the Impala, opened the door, and ushered Sam inside. The he shut the door, jogged around to the driver’s side, got into the car himself and got them the hell out of dodge.

Dean darted a look at his brother. Sam's head was leaning against the window, eyes closed once more. He would have looked asleep if it weren't for the fact that he still had the bandanna clasped over his nose.

“You hanging in there, Sam?”

His brother cracked his eyes, looked his way, then let his eyes slip closed again and appeared to go back to just focusing on breathing. Dean’s heart sped up a little. Sam was in a bad way. He was never this silent. That he was now let Dean know that the kid was about at the end of his tether. Sam needed rest. Like yesterday. He shook his head at himself. He should have insisted on the oxycodone this morning. If he had, Sam would be sleeping like a baby right now. Instead, here he was, with a fresh concussion courtesy another stupid ass demon and broken ribs from a friggin carnivorous plant... He heaved a sigh. Only them...  

Dean heard a light thunk and looked back over at Sam. The hand that had been holding the bandanna was now on the armrest of the door and Sam's head was tilted back with the bandanna still half stuck to his face, intermittently flapping from the soft breaths that puffed from his wide open mouth.

Dean had to bite his lip to limit his reaction to just a massive grin. Oh man… Any other day he'd have been all over a photo of this. Such good blackmail material. But taking advantage of Sam when he was feeling as rough as he was just seemed unfair. ...Actually, photo or not he was pretty sure he could still find a way to get some mileage out of this. He snickered softly to himself and allowed himself to daydream about the possibilities for a while.

Twelve minutes later Dean pulled them into the motel parking lot. He hated to wake Sam up, but if he had his way this time it wouldn't be for long.

Having learned his lesson the last time he woke a slightly disoriented Sam, Dean got out of the car first and went around to open Sammy's door before the kid even got the chance to try to get out on his own.

Dean looked down at Sam and snorted. “Hey, Bandanna Bandit. Wake up. We're here.” Dean reached out, plucked the bandanna off his brother's face, and gently shook his shoulder.

Sam startled awake and looked up in confusion at Dean who was standing just outside his open door haloed by the afternoon sun.

Sam's eyes instantly squinted shut and his nostrils flared before he even realized what was happening.

“Hihh! ISSSHHhhhu! Hih!”

He sneezed unrestrained, half toward the floor of the Impala half towards his lap, then gasped and grabbed at his chest with one hand and at his head with the other. Oh God... He was still waiting for the time when he would wake up and this would all have been a dream--

“Hih! hih-HIH!” He got one hand up towards his mouth but found Dean's hand with the bandanna already waiting there. He grabbed at the cloth desperately a second before his body folded itself in half.

“Hhh’KISHHuhh! h’EXT’chuu!...hihhh… hih! Hr’ESSSHHHuuu!”

“...mmy! Sam! Hey, come on back to me. That's it…”

Sam opened his eyes to find Dean’s face hovering above him looking worried.

“Hey, you back with me now?”

Sam noticed then that he was flat on his back, although he was still inside the Impala.

“Yeah,” he croaked and cleared his throat. “Wha happen’d?" 

“Ah, basically you sneezed your head off and then passed out. Which is about as impressive as it is concerning.”

“Mmmm.”

“You with it enough to come inside?”

“Yeahhhhhh...hih!” He pinched his nose tightly and for once the tickle backed off. “God, D’n” he moaned, “wh’n's this gonna stop?”

Dean backed out of the car where he'd been braced over Sam and reached back in to help him sit up.  

“Well…” he grunted, tugging at Sam from an odd angle. “I don't know about you, but I'm kinda hopin’ that with the demon population neutralized now, Audrey III will pack up her pollen and hit the road.”

Sam looked up at Dean suddenly concerned. “Wait, b't how-- How're we gonn’ know, f’sure if th’exorscism worked enough t’get rid of the Aequat’re?”

“I was thinking maybe we could just stay--”

Sam wasn't listening, his mind was still struggling for a solution like it was sifting for gold in a keg of molasses. “I could… Uhh... I could go back out 'n see ‘f it shows agai--”

“No!” Dean all but shouted.  Sam looked up at him shocked, appearing completely uncertain as to where Dean's sudden anger had come from.

Dean backed off a bit, thinking Sam clearly wasn't firing on all cylinders yet if he didn't get why that was the worst idea ever. “No, Sam. If you let me finish, I've got a better idea. There's been one missing person each day since this thing fired up, right? So if we hang out here for a few more days, let you rest up a bit, if no one else goes missing then we should be in the clear.”

No…, Sam thought. No, that wasn't right. They couldn't stay idle for that long. Not when there might be other answers out there, something else that could help Dean... Sam shook his head in denial and went to push himself up out and out of the car.

“Ahh!” he gasped as he accidentally bent too far over and felt another wave of agonizing fire roll through his chest.

“Easy! Easy… Alright, c'mon. Let me help. We can finish this talk later. I wanna get you cleaned up first anyway, ok?” Dean levered Sam up slowly and waited until he had his balance back, then wedged himself under his shoulder again and headed to their door.

He turned the key and walked Sam around to his bed, always the one furthest from the door. He helped him sit down and then quickly grabbed a few things out of his bag and disappeared into the bathroom.

Sam panted for a second and eyeballed the med kit sitting on the table nearby. He held his breath and pushed himself up off the bed.

When Dean came back out Sam was standing hunched over by the table where their duffel were, one hand still wrapped around his middle and the other hovering above the med kit holding an alcohol wipe.

“Hey!  What do you think you're doing?  Back on the bed. I'll take care of that.” He strode over and shooed Sam's hand away from the box. He helped him back to the bed again, went back to retrieve the kit, and set it down next to him on the bed. He leaned over and fished around for the alcohol pad. He was about to ask Sam if he'd put it down somewhere else when he felt something cold stinging his forehead and jumped. He looked over at Sam and found his brother smiling at him despite his split lip. “Said I could look at this...wh’n we got back. We're back. Now...hold still.” Dean frowned and went to bat Sam's had away, but Sam made a warning noise in his throat so Dean rolled his eyes and backed off. Sam would probably just end up hurting himself more if Dean fought back.

Sam cleaned his cut more gently than Dean would have thought possible with all the pain he knew the kid was in. And although he could see the almost imperceptible tremor in his brother's hand, he knew it was subtle enough that no one else would have been able to notice it. When Sam finally stopped, seemingly satisfied with the level of cleanliness he'd achieved, he pulled a butterfly bandage out of his pocket. The sneaky little…. He must have palmed it from the med kit before Dean took it away.

“Don’ think it needs st’tches.” Dean looked up at Sam's face, his battered jaw and furrowed brow and his intense focus on the incredibly minor cut on Dean's forehead, and had flashbacks of the millions of other times Sam had done this for him. He felt a sudden surge of affection for his annoying, ‘smarter-than-thou’, bitch-face giving, bighearted little brother. The world really was a better place with Sam in it.  He was glad he'd been able to keep him here.

“All done.” Sam said, and Dean felt the pat on his shoulder signaling the same. 

He quickly rose. “Alright, Nurse Nancy, your turn now.” Not finding another alcohol pad in the kit, he got a washcloth and some soap and cleaned up Sam's lip and the back of his head. It looked like he'd do with just a few butterfly bandages as well. Maybe their luck just came in really small doses.

When he was finished he handed Sam a bottle of water. “Here, you're white as a sheet. Get some fluids into you. I'll go grab a juice but water won't hurt either.” Dean stepped out of the room and walked slowly to the juice machine. He took roughly five minutes to make his selection, apple juice or orange juice, shouldn't rush these things you know, and then decided to leisurely stroll to the front desk for another little chat with the muy calinete Miranda. They were going to be here for a few more days, after all. Dean rolled his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair.  ...Might as well lay a little groundwork.

------------

Twenty minutes later he was ambling back to their room with orange juice in his hand and plans for tomorrow evening on his mind.

When he reentered the room Sam was on the bed, flat on his back. Dean gave a self-satisfied smirk and set the juice on a table. Then he walked over to his brother and immediately started pulling off his shoes.

“N’fffrrrr…”

Dean snorted a laugh. “Come again?” he tossed one shoe to the floor.

“N’fffair. Y’drug’d th’wat’rrr.”

“Now why would I do something like that?” he asked innocently, tossing the other shoe to the side.

“Wan me t’ssllleep.” He said, popping the “p” like it was bubble gum.

Dean found himself fighting a grin. “Well now that you mention it, that does seem like a pretty genius idea, doesn't it?”

“Mmmmmmmmmm…” Sam's eyes drifted shut only to suddenly wrench themselves back open with urgency. “D’n.”

Dean began undoing the buttons on Sam's over shirt so he wouldn't overheat and decided to check his ribs again while he was there. “What's up, Sammy?”

“D’n…”

“What?”

“Hhhhh’ISSHHHhhhhuuu!”

“Jesus!” Dean jumped slightly, and did his best to dodge the resulting spray. He glanced up at Sam again ready to give him shit for the impromptu shower but ended up chucking instead. Sam just looked completely bewildered. Dean shook his head. At least he wasn't moaning in pain anymore. Dean listened to his brother sniffle and went back to gently checking his ribs.

“Mmmmmnnnnnn” Sam moaned slightly as Dean pressed down on what must have been a particularly painful area. Then his suddenly eyes lit up like he'd just remembered something important. “D’n!”

“What's up, buddy?”

“'I'm gonn sn'zzzzzz.” He warned, a very serious look on his face as he tried to emphasize the importance of his statement by drawing the last sound out several seconds too long.

Dean did look back up at that. Because given the option he'd prefer to be better prepared this time. “Again?”

Sam's brow furrowed as he took a second to think about it, and then shook his head vehemently.

Dean's eyebrow arched. “So...you mean the sneeze that already happened?" 

Sam blinked owlishly up at him for a moment and then nodded.

Dean snorted. “Appreciate the warning, kiddo, but I think your timing's a little off there.”

Sam frowned again, clearly not following the conversation and then yawned a jaw splitting yawn. 

“Y’g’nna slleeep too?”

“I might. But how bout you go first though and tell me how it is?” he hedged as he pulled Sam's undershirt back down, satisfied he hadn't done anymore damage.

Sam's eyes had already shut again but he fought them back open once more. “D’n.”

“Yeah, Sammy?” He rolled his eyes and looked back up at his brother. Jesus, would the kid just go to sleep already?  Maybe the he should have given him a stronger dose...

“I st’l l’vv you, by th’ way. ...E’vn though y’ur a basssst’rd ‘n y'drug’d me.” His eyes fluttered shut once more.  “Y'ur still m'…” he sighed, his voice coming out barely more than a whisper. “Still m' b'st br'thhh'rr...”

Dean snorted a laugh again. Yeah, cause you've got so many to choose from. ...Idiot. He shook his head and couldn't help the fond smile that crossed his face.  He rested his hand on Sam's arm as his breathing finally deepened and he slid into long overdue sleep. He looked at Sam for a moment longer and then making up his mind took off his own shoes and over-shirt and sat up at the head of the bed next to him.  Once he got himself comfortable he put his hand on Sam's head and began rubbing his fingers back and forth.  As he did, he saw the pain lines on Sam's brow begin to smooth and could have sworn he heard the kid sigh. He smirked to himself, Sammy was so easy sometimes.  

Dean took a deep breath and closed his eyes as well. And for a moment, just a moment, he allowed himself to pretend that they'd led very different lives. Lives where there was no yellow-eyed demon, no demon blood, no visions, no death, no deal, no future eternity in hell, nothing. Just Mom and Dad alive, and Dean looking after his brainiac, gigantor baby brother like he always had. He smiled ruefully at the bittersweet dream and continued to gently run his fingers through Sam’s stupidly long hair. At least one thing never changed though, no matter what reality they were fortunate or unfortunate enough to find themselves living in… And he had to believe it would carry on even from beyond the grave.

“Love you too, kiddo.” he breathed softly, finally giving into the gentle pull of sleep himself.  “...Love you too.”

 

~The End~

[RediChalyn]

I think I may just cry!!  Amazing!!

[AngelEyes]

So fantastic!!!

6 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

Be ok Sammy, please be ok, he thought as his brain kept providing him with horrifying images to fill in the blanks that Sam's silence was leaving. He slammed his hand angrily on the steering wheel. Goddammit, why couldn't he keep this kid safe?! Why did every baddie in the world seem to have it out for his little brother?

I can totally picture his panic.

 

6 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

“Yep. Seems so. And don't ask me why cause that was all you, Tiger. You're gonna be filling me in on that later, by the way. When your brain's a little less scrambled.

LOL

 

6 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

Dean looked back over to Sam and was shocked to see the kid had turned away, so he was now curled up against the side of the car, and was jerking forward in silent sneeze after sneeze. Dean's eyebrows rose. Broken ribs, a concussion, and insane supernatural allergies and he wasn't making a sound.

Impressive.

 

6 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

Dean looked down at Sam and snorted. “Hey, Bandanna Bandit. Wake up. We're here.”

LOL!

 

6 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

He looked over at Sam and found his brother smiling at him despite his split lip. “Said I could look at this...wh’n we got back. We're back. Now...hold still.”

Sneaky and stubborn.

 

6 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

Dean's eyebrow arched. “So...you mean the sneeze that already happened?" 

Sam blinked owlishly up at him for a moment and then nodded.

Dean snorted. “Appreciate the warning, kiddo, but I think your timing's a little off there.”

This whole section was hysterical!

 

6 hours ago, LostGirl2.0 said:

He smiled ruefully at the bittersweet dream and continued to gently run his fingers through Sam’s stupidly long hair.

Awwww.

This was so amazing! Loved the whole thing!

[Wolfwings22]

I’ve been so busy lately, but I’ve finally had enough time to catch up on this story. It was fantastic! So in character and nice with Dean trying to still take care fo Sam. It was an incredible story and I loved every word of it!

[Seeker]

Aw! I think my heart swelled up 10 times. This was an EXCELLENT story! I cannot praise it enough. I would love your epilogue and I seriously look forward to your future work

[Coffee Mug]

What can I say?? I wanted so bad to come home today to finish to read the rest of the chapter I started this morning. This was so good! So so so good! I loved the part with Sam’s silent sneezes, how you described all of the situation, the care taking aspect, the way you described Dean’s thoughts all through the story. 

Thank you so much for this masterpiece and definitely looking forward for an epilogue and your future work!