Minnesota (SPN SAM)

November 5, 2021

Hello everyone! I had this idea for a story, and well like most of my ideas it didn't turn out the way it supposed too, but thats alright because I kind of like this story better lol. Anyway I wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last story, it gave me the confidence to write to this one! Honestly the support from this group is insane!!! So thank you thank you thank you!!

A few things before we start, this story happens right after Sam gets his soul back, It's a case story, sort of, I haven't fully figured it out yet but there is a case happening in the story. (I have watched enough SPN and read enough fanfics but I have never really written a case story so please bare with me ) I am not from Minnesota so if I make any mistakes please please correct me. I tried my best to be accurate. There isn't much sneezing in the first part but I promise more is to come if you want it Oh and one last thing the temp is in Celsius. -10 degrees Celsius is like 14 degrees Fahrenheit I think. Anyway thats all, please let me know what you think, and without further ado,

The brothers were at a hotel. A hotel in Duluth Minnesota to be specific. A hotel in Duluth Minnesota…. during January. It was fucking freezing. Sam stood shivering in his FBI suit outside the Impala waiting for Dean to find his badge. It was -10 degrees Celsius, and it wasn't even the lowest it would go. It was around 3pm in the late afternoon, and Sam and Dean were on a shapeshifter case. In Dean's words, “it’s an easy straightforward case Sam, help us get back into the groove of things.” Sam understood what Dean meant, he had just gotten his soul back Dean had told him. But the last thing he remembered was pushing himself, Lucifer and Adam/Michael into the pit. Yet Dean tells him that he ran around for a year soulless. He doesn’t remember any of it, but Dean refuses to tell him what happened, saying it was too dangerous to know, something about a Wall and scratching at it. He had tried to remember stuff, but every time he brought the topic up, Dean would have a foul face for the rest of the day, memories of what soulless Sam did plaguing his mind. That’s when Sam decided maybe he didn’t want to know, he just prayed that whatever he did, he didn’t hurt Dean. Though what came as a very welcomed relief was that Dean no longer seemed to hate him. If anything Dean seemed to be overly nice, and looked to be putting in the most effort to be what Sam would call “the best big brother”. Dean was forgetting personal space existed and would often find himself shoulder to shoulder with Sam. Not that Sam was complaining he quite liked the close proximity. Though it was clear Dean was feeling guilty over something, over what Sam wasn’t sure. After dying he thought Dean would have be happy. Happy that he doesn’t have his screw up of a brother around, but after the bone-crushing hug they shared after Sam woke up in Bobby’s house, that told him otherwise.

What Sam did care about though was him standing in the skin numbing cold while Dean took his sweet time to find his badge. He never wanted to take this case in the first place. He merely pointed out one morning to make small talk. Although things between the brothers was a lot better than before Sam jumped into the cage, things were still awkward. But of course Dean thought Sam talking about hunting meant he actually wanted to hunt. Sam was quite enjoying not hunting for a bit, not having to worry about Lucifer, Demons, or other hunters trying to kill him. What was even better was he was spending time with Dean, which he had been deprived off more than he would have liked. Standing in the cold air Sam’s nose started to run and he sniffed quietly, willing for it to go away. His nose had been a leaky faucet ever since starting this case and being forced out into the cold bitter wind. He had been driving Dean crazy with it. So he tried to sniff as quietly as he could, but Sniffing made his nose itch so he rubbed at it, and it made this sort of squelchy sound which just disgusted him. Grimacing at his nose, he lowered his hand, still sniffing and searched his pockets for a handkerchief. Coming up empty he groaned inwardly when he remembered giving it to Dean. He had no idea what Dean needed it for but he thought it would be wise not to ask.

Sam really wanted to blow his nose, he could feel the air freezing his nose making it twitch in protest, making that itch go to the base of the inside of his nose, like a dull throbbing. He knew that Dean most likely had a handkerchief. He always did, tucked away in his back pocket or in the front compartment of the Impala. If Sam was lucky then maybe Dean would still have the one he gave him. He liked that one, it was soft and smooth and easy on his nose, but also was great for stopping bleeding wounds.

Sam squirmed a bit, feeling uncomfortable with his itchy nose. The dull feeling in the back of his nose was getting more intense, he felt like he could sneeze but the sensation wasn’t enough to actually make him sneeze. It was an extremely odd feeling. He could wait till they were inside of the hotel to find a bathroom and blow his nose, but even then that might not be for a couple of hours. He didn’t think he could wait that long, plus that would mean he would end up sniffing and would most likely drive Dean up the wall. So Swallowing his pride, he headed off towards his big brother to ask for a handkerchief.

SPN SPN SPN

Dean was sitting inside the impala scrounging to find his fake FBI badge. For some reason he couldn’t find the right one, he knew he was taking a while, he could see Sam out of the corner of his eye, noting the slight shivers running through his body. The poor guy had been having a rough time with the cold, they were supposed to just drive past Minnesota, but then Sam found this case in the paper, and then Dean said they should give it a go. If Sam wanted to hunt then by all means they would hunt. It meant he wasn’t trying to scratch at the wall in his mind, plus it gave Dean an excuse to be close to Sam. He had done many things he regretted when Sam fell in the cage, and then went through a year of grief only to find he was alive just soulless. So excuse him for wanted to spend time with his real, massive heart dorky little brother. And in his defense when they took on the case it had seemed extremely straightforward, it was clear from the get go it was a shifter behind everything, people being killed then someone being blamed but then people started to realize the “killers” were in two places at once. So taking the case on, they ended up spending a good solid week trying to figure out who would even be considered a suspect. It meant a lot of late cold nights exploring the wet damp Sewers, revisiting crime scenes and so on. He was surprised that neither him or Sam had gotten sick yet, with the late nights and freezing winter air. Eventually they found a lead which led them to this charming hotel, everyone who had died had all been checked into the Comfort Suites Canal Park and if he could just find his badge….

Aha

Holding up his victory he got out of the car scowling at the cold nippy air. He saw Sam walk towards him, hands in coat pocket, Dean headed towards the hotel lobby, meeting up with Sam along the way. Sam had rosy cheeks flushed from the air, and he seemed to have this sort of embarrassed look on his face. As they entered the lobby Sam leaned over closer to Dean and kind of pulled on his jacket just a little getting the older brother's attention, Dean slowed his walk unconsciously so to give Sam time to talk,

“Do you uh, have um, a handkerchief or tissue or something like that on you?” He whispered shyly just loud enough for Dean to hear, Dean even thought he sounded just a little stuffy. Pausing all his motion he patted down his pockets and then pulled out a soft red and white checkered handkerchief. Sam's eyes widened when he saw the same handkerchief that he had let Dean borrow. It even looked like it had been through the wash. Chuckling guiltily Dean said,

“Forgot to give this one back,” Sam just rolled his eyes and smothered a grin. Taking the hankie he muttered his thanks, wiping the soft cloth over his nose he went to continue walking, but Dean grabbed his arm gently, eyebrows knitted down ever so slightly is concern.

“You feeling ok? Not getting sick are you?” Sam turned to him, and smiled reassuringly,

“No, it’s just the weather, making my nose run, that’s all” Dean looked at him closely, but seemed satisfied with the answer given. And it was true, Sam didn’t feel sick, he was just stupidly cold and his nose was a bit runny, it always goes away after warming up.

“Yeah weathers a bitch,” Dean complained and headed off towards the lobby desk, Sam taking a moment to rub at his nose, and then blow it lightly before following Dean, pocketing the handkerchief he felt just a little warmer.

When arriving at the desk, a young woman with blonde hair, with soft facial features was typing away on a computer. Dean looked at her and then back at Sam with somewhat pleading eyes to take the lead on this one. Sam just huffed and stepped to the side, Dean winked before stepping up to the desk,

“Hi there,” he said leaning over the desk. The young lady looked up, her blue eyes lighting up when she smiled.

“Hi,” she replied, looking up at Dean, “how can I help you?” Dean smiled and reached into his coat pocket grabbing his FBI badge,

“I’m agent Knowles and this is my partner Agent Summers,” Dean pointed over at Sam who was standing about 3 feet behind him. Sam nodded politely at her, and pulled out his own badge to show the lady.

“Is everything all right?” She asked, concerned. Dean peered over at her name tag, and giving a charming smile he said,

“Well Hailey,” he paused, “it’s Hailey, yes?” Hailey blushed and nodded,

“Well Hailey, you see we are looking for some records of people who had previously checked in here-“

As Dean sweet talked Hailey into giving them information, Sam looked around the lobby. Not moving from his spot behind Dean. He tried not to laugh at some of the ridiculous word choices, or lies Dean fed the poor girl. Though Sam didn’t really care what Dean did to get what they needed, Sam just wanted out of the cold for good. He had never had any good experiences in Minnesota. He remembered one time they took up residency for a month or so when their Dad was on a case, it was one of the coldest and sickest months of his life. He made a silent promise to himself that their next case would be somewhere hot and tropical. Maybe like Florida or California, that sounded nice.

As Sam daydreamed about someplace warm and hot he felt his nose start to itch again, that dull throb at the back of his nose. Sam went to rub it, but instead of the itch backing down, it grew.

“HETCHSZ,” he sneezed once, “heh, HETCHSZ” then twice. Sam had twisted himself away from Dean and Hailey, when the dull throb had become too much, throwing his arm up to cover his mouth and nose. He sniffed a couple of times, regaining his posture before realizing that both Hailey and Dean were looking at him. He felt his already rosy cheeks go redder, and he muttered a soft

“S‘cuse me”.

Hailey had a look of sympathy on her face, but Sam wasn’t sure what Dean was thinking. Sam had a moment of panic when he thought Dean looked mad, like he was silently telling him to shut up, and be quieter, but then his face softened a bit and it looked more like worry. Sam knew he would be asked later if he felt ok., not that he had a problem with that, there was a time when Dean wouldn’t have even bothered to check on him. Sam just didn’t think he had the energy to fight Dean about him feeling fine. He just had to sneeze right after asking Dean for a handkerchief. Typical.

“Bless you!” Hailey exclaimed. Breaking Sam’s chain of thought, he chuckled nervously as he said thanks. “I hope you're not getting sick, Agent, it’s dreadfully cold outside.” Hailey pointed out.

“No, I'm alright. Thank you though” Sam said as politely as he could. Feeling rather awkward now all the attention had been put on him. He wouldn’t have said he was a particularly loud sneezer, Dean was louder when he didn’t try to stifle, so Sam would have considered himself to be rather quiet. But being in a public place made him twice as conscious about the amount of noise he made, so he had tried to hold back just a little, leaving his nose still irritated. He really didn’t want to sneeze again in front of everyone, so he quietly excused himself, muttering something about going to the bathroom. Trying to control the itch in his nose that was slowly getting stronger. He could feel Dean's eyes on him as he walked away, knowing that he would most definitely think something was up. If he hadn’t already. He almost wished Dean would follow him, maybe he could pull the puppy's eyes and get him to abandon the case. Call in another hunter, go somewhere else together, maybe take a trip to the Grand Canyon or DisneyLand. But even as Sam thought this he knew that would never happen, it was an unspoken rule among all hunters, if you take on a case you stick with it, you can call in for help but the case is yours. You either come out alive or you don’t. It was that simple. As Sam walked further away he could hear the distant sound of Dean chatting to Hailey again.

Thank you for reading, let me know what you think. I don't mind criticism as long as you are nice about it! It only helps me grow ❤️ !!

November 11, 2021

I love this so much! I’m such a sucker for SPN fics, especially when it’s Sam. my fangirly heart is so happy!

November 16, 2021

Love it alreday. 😊

November 17, 2021

On 11/10/2021 at 11:03 PM, NotWho said:

I love this so much! I’m such a sucker for SPN fics, especially when it’s Sam. my fangirly heart is so happy!

awwee! I'm so happy this made you happy!!!

November 17, 2021

15 hours ago, blueprint said:

Love it alreday. 😊

Oh i'm so glad!!!

November 17, 2021

Hello all!! Thank you so much to anyone and everyone that has read the story so far!!

Warning there is some language. I completely forgot to mention it in the last part and i'm ever so sorry, for there was some not so nice words in the first sentence 🙈

Anywho, here is the next part, 🥰

Chapter two:

“HETCHSZ, hehhhh hihHH HETCHS”

Sam sighed in relief as the itch in his nose finally backed off. He was standing alone in the men’s bathroom, blowing his nose, getting just a little anxious when he felt stuffy. Not bad stuffy, like he couldn’t breath stuffy, but just stuffy. He started to pray for it to go away. Blowing his nose one final time he went to wash his hands and as he did so the bathroom door jerked open.

“Sammy? You in here?”

Sam felt the corners of his lips rise up when he heard Dean. Entering the bathroom Dean looked at Sam, eyes scanning him. Sam had to look away, feeling extremely self conscious. Dean noticed,

“Sam?”

Sam rubbed his nose lightly when he felt a small itch. before looking back up at Dean. He regretted the action when he felt the itch take hold, he ducked into his elbow,

“HehhhIii HETXHZ”

Sam could feel Dean's eyes on him, as he raised his head.

“Bless,” Dean offered.

“Thanks” Sam returned.

They stood staring at each other for a few awkward moments. Sam really hated it when this happened. The awkward spells that would fall upon them. Sometimes they would last for hours on end, neither uttering a word, just silently moving around each other. Praying that one of them would break the silence. Normally it was Dean, asking what Sam wanted to eat, or if he wanted to come to the bar with him to get some cash. But this time it was Sam getting the first word,

“So what did you manage to pry out of Hailey?”

Dean took a moment to register what Sam had asked him.

“Nothing much, just when the victims checked in, and the rooms they had,”

Sam nodded,

“So what’s our next move?” He asked. Maybe he could convince Dean to spend the night here. It was lovely and warm inside, clean, and had a 4 star review. Plus Sam didn’t think he could survive a cold car ride to a motel, where there would be a shitty broken thermostat, and the blankets were a disgrace. But then again, a nice place like this would cost a fortune, and they just didn’t have that kind of money on them.

Dean sort of had this grin on his face as he replied to Sam, “I was thinking we get a room and start fresh in the morning. Interview some folks,” after a moment he added,

“I heard they have an all day buffet going on this week as well. Complimentary with room and everything!”

Dean's eyes sparkled and his grin had turned into a full smile at the last part, and even Sam couldn’t hide his own grin.

“How are we supposed to afford this place? It’s not gonna be cheap” Sam asked. He really didn’t want to argue with Dean over staying at the hotel, but he also didn’t want to let on how much he wanted it. He was starting to get a headache, and the dull itch in his nose was back. Trying his best to ignore it he focused on Dean, who had this sort of sheepish look on his face,

“Well uhh, Hailey offered to give us the room a little cheaper seeing as we are on “official FBI business”, and also because she seemed to think you looked a little run down?”

Sam’s eyes widened on the last part.

“What? A little run down? What the hell does that mean?”

Dean shrugged, “I don’t know man! But I mean you do look a little tired and you have been sniffing non stop lately,”

Sam’s eyes narrowed, “cause of the cold Dean!”

Dean shook his head a little, “look man I’m not trying to pick a fight with you, but at the price she stated…” he trailed off a bit, “just try to look a little worse for wear ok? Sag your shoulders a bit or something.”

Sam sighed, he knew the room would be pricey, and he really did want to stay here. Have at least one guaranteed hot shower, and sleep in a soft warm bed. And so what if he had to act a little sick, if it got them the room….

“Fine,” Sam said duly. Dean ginned,

“Atta boy!” Sam gave bitch face number 8 and followed Dean out the bathroom, as he did so, he felt that dull itch resting in his nose spread and sighed as he knew what was coming. His walking faltering, as his breath began to hitch, he reached into his pocket for his handkerchief,

“Hehhhh, hihhhIHh, HETCHSZ, hehhngggeh, HITCHZSSS,” Sam tried to be quiet, grateful that most of the sound was muffled by the cloth, but trying to stifle made the already present pounding in his head increase intensity. As he sniffed into the soft cloth, he felt Deans hand rest on his back,

“Geez bless you. If I didn’t know better I would have said you were sick,” Dean teased. Sam glared at him, I’m not sick he thought, it's just the cold

“Now maybe pull out the good old reliable puppy eyes when we reach the desk yeah?” Dean added.

Sam rolled his eyes and hummed his disapproval, but agreed with Dean. As they reached the front desk and Dean talked to Hailey about a room, pulling up a half true story of being out late in the cold for many nights on end, and as a result “agent Summers” was feeling just a little unwell. Standing behind Dean, Sam tried hard not to blush at Hailey’s sympathetic sighs, while looking tired and just a little unwell.

With an occasional sniffle to back up Dean's story, Sam pushed down and ignored the thought of how easy it was to look and feel sick.

thank you for reading! hope you liked it, and have a lovely rest of your day where ever you may be❤️

November 19, 2021

I loved it!

November 24, 2021

And it got better! Love it! 😊

December 2, 2021

Hello my lovely readers!!! So sorry it took so long to update, I have had this chapter ready for a while, but I traveled back home to England for a week, to see family. (I have been stuck in America since Covid started) and my computer just wouldn't work 😞 But in the meantime while that was happening, I sort of figured out where this story is going, so YAY! Anywho, enough blabbering,

WARNINGS- language, minor spoilers, and I do not own the characters, just the plot!

CHAPTER FOUR

“103,104,105, aha 106!” Dean exclaimed as they reached their room. Hailey had easily eaten up the whole “Agent Summers isn’t doing so hot” act and had given them a room for the night. With any luck they might crack open the case a little more with the stay.

“You alright back there Sammy?” Dean called out, before ducking, when Sam threw one of the duffle bags at him. Picking it up he realized it was his bag. Being the nice brother he was, Dean had carried all the bags till they were out of Hailey’s eyesight, before dumping them onto Sam.

He chuckled at the bitch face Sam was giving him, before opening the door to their room. As they entered Dean heard Sam gasp lightly. He didn’t blame him. There were two queen size beds, neatly covered in green blankets, and far too many pillows covering the top. The walls were a lovely beige unlike the blinding yellow and sick green that is often found in motel rooms. There was a flat screen TV on the opposite wall for which pictures of the hotel were being showcased on. Passed the beds was a small lounge area, with one medium size sofa and two comfy large chairs on either side. A long coffee table in the middle of seating. There was also a small table with chairs sitting in front of the lounge area, next to some large windows that wrapped around the sofa, creating a lovely warm winter vibe, as the sunset reflected off of the snow and into their room. It was to say the least rather pretty. As the brothers walked in, Dean dumped his duffel bag on the bed closest to the door, and started to unpack. He could hear Sam doing the same before he heard a,

“HITChz hehh hu’HETIXHHEHHH, huu’HETXHSC”

Dean looked up over at his brother and saw him hunched over into elbow bangs covering his eyes. Only to then shake his hair away before rubbing at his nose,

“You can drop the sick act now,” Dean joked, expecting a witty reply back as usual, but instead Sam just sniffed and mumbled an apology before heading off into the bathroom.

Dean frowned, there was definitely something off with Sam. He just looked tired and worn out. He knew something was wrong when he fled to the bathroom downstairs, but didn’t really know how to proceed after finding him. He wanted to ask if he was ok, but the words sort of got stuck in his throat. He didn’t know if Sam would tell the truth anyway, not that Dean expected he would, Sam had always been funny about admitting if something was wrong or if he was sick. Dean really hadn’t been the best role model in that department. Plus why would Sam tell him. He had been a dick to him after the whole Lucifer era, and then Sam didn’t remember being soulless, so his last memories would have been Dean being angry and unforgiving. He was of course trying to make up for that, but he was worried it wasn’t enough. As he finished unpacking and even unpacked for Sam, he could hear his brother sneezing rapidly in the bathroom, and then he heard sniffing before the shower was turned on. Dean was joking when he said it earlier, but if he didn’t know better he would have said his little brother was sick.

SPN SPN SPN

In the bathroom Sam scrubbed at his face. His nose was just so itchy, and nothing he did relieved it.

He turned on the tap and grabbed a small towel, dumping it under the semi hot and cold water. Looking up into the mirror Sam frowned when he saw that his rosy cheeks were gone but instead of looking lively his whole face just seemed slacked and tired.

Picking up the small towel he ran it over his face, shivering slightly from the soothing hotness of the water on his numb face. Easing some of the irritation in his nose. Turning off the faucet he grabbed another towel to dry his face, when he felt his nose twitch violently. He pinched his nose hoping to squash any further itch, but it did little to help, before he knew it his breath was hitching helplessly. He grabbed some tissues from the bathroom countertop before he tipped over,

“HhehhhhhhIiIIIehh….huhhhiihhhHIH HETCHSSS, HUTCHZSS,HEHhheh, sniff sniff”

Sighing softly when he deemed his nose done, he gently blew his nose before undressing himself, and starting the shower.

The warm water eased some of the tension in Sam's body, that he didn’t even know he had. The steam also seemed to help clear up Sam’s nose, much to his relief. He just prayed he wasn’t coming down with something. He didn’t want to cause Dean anymore trouble than necessary. Dean may be trying extra hard to be nice and all, but if Sam got sick, then that would affect the hunt, Dean would be forced to stay with Sam. It was rule number one their Dad drilled into them, most especially Dean,

“You never go on a hunt alone. If one of you is sick or injured the other stays and helps them through it. You hear me?”

Growing up whenever Sam got sick, or hurt on a hunt he saw the frustration in Dean's eyes as he was forced to remain behind while their Dad ventured off. He hated it. Being the cause of Dean's pain and anger. It’s probably what started his whole stubborn act of “I’m fine” and never saying when something was wrong.

Not that there was something wrong right now, he just felt really tried, and cold, and the stupid itch in his nose wouldn’t leave him be,

“Hih…..hehh…..hiiIHUR’TSCHS…..huhhhHHHETHZS” he bent a little at the waist from the force, stifling be damned, then there was this flame that sparked in his throat causing him to splutter and cough. Standing in the shower rubbing his nose, he came to the conclusion that maybe just maybe he was coming down with something.

Fuck

“hehhHu’TEcshS”

Double fuck

If that realization wasn’t bad enough, he then heard Dean knock on the bathroom door,

“Sam? Dude you alright in there?” Dean asked

Blushing just a tad, Sam turned off the shower, and pulled a towel around his waist, trying to think of a plausible excuse on why he was sneezing and coughing, and how to hide that he definitely wasn’t getting sick. But as his mind raced to find one, he realized that he just didn’t want to lie. He didn’t have the energy in him too, and more than that he was just sick of all the lies. Lying is what caused the rift between Dean and Sam in the first place, and if Sam wanted things to get better, then there is need for some honesty.

As Sam opened the door he was greeted with an annoyed looking Dean. Sam opened his mouth to say something, but Dean beat him to it by half grumbling,

“Bout time you came out, gonna use up all the hot water.”

Sam just blinked staring at Dean,

“Uhh…yeah…um..r-right, sorry,” Sam stammered. He moved out of the way so as to let Dean into the bathroom. Once Sam was out of the way Dean grinned at him before closing the door.

Sam was left standing, wet, in the middle of the room. He didn’t know what just happened, normally Dean was all over him if he had a sneezing fit, or showed any signs of being ill. But then it hit Sam like a freight train, making his stomach curl. What if Dean didn’t care? What if he was getting sick (which he prayed to god he wasn’t) and Dean didn’t care. Sam didn’t think he could cope with Dean not caring. What was he supposed to say to Dean anyway,

“Hey Dean I’m not feeling so hot, let’s take a break from hunting for a bit and maybe you could make me that soup you always made me when I was sick as a kid, and we could watch crappy TV together,”

Dean would think he was crazy. What was Sam thinking? He couldn’t add to Dean's plate, make him drop everything just to make sure Sam was ok. It was selfish. No, he could make it through the rest of this case, he could be helpful, make Dean happy. Besides, he was 80% sure that he wasn’t sick. Just a good night's sleep and he would be handy dandy by the morning.

He pulled some sweats on, and a long sleeved shirt, when he felt that spark rise again in his throat. He muffled a cough into his sleeve, trying to be as quiet as he could.

By this point Dean had emerged from the bathroom and he too had pulled on some sweats. Sam climbed into bed when Dean gave a him a intrigued look,

“Bed already? Dude it’s only 6:00”

Sam sighed mentally, he just wanted to sleep. His headache was slowly getting worse, and the last thing he needed was for Dean to think he was sick. But then again he could pull some cards without looking like he was sick,

“I’m tired man! We have been running around for the past week, and the opportunity to sleep in a warm, nice and clean place arises, I’m not passing it up!” Sam said, with stubbornness and facts, with a hint of pleading, that oftentimes made Dean give in to whatever Sam was saying. It also helped that Sam had the ability to bring in some of the puppy eyes, not too much, but enough that Dean couldn’t refuse. It was something Sam had spent years perfecting.

“Besides, what more is there left for us to do on the case, I can't research anything, for I have nothing to go off of. I say let’s just cash in an early night and then tomorrow pick everything back up” Sam added, as Dean went to argue.

He saw Dean have a mental fight within him, while Dean was trying to come up with a reasonable excuse on why they shouldn’t go to bed, Sam felt his nose twitch. Laying on his stomach as his breath hitched quietly, he reached his head down to rub his nose on his sleeve, and ended up just staying there as he bent his arm just a tad to cover his nose,

“Hhheh..heh..HEtcHsz”

Sam heard Dean sigh in defeat.

“Bless you”

Sam smiled in victory as he raised his head, knowing that with his well timed sneeze, he had won. He shook his hair out of his eyes, before flopping onto his back, looking over at Dean who was looking at him annoyed. Sam just smiled innocently, as Dean went and pulled the curtains closed,

“Be a dear and turn of the lights as well”

Sam curled in on himself in stifled giggles as a pillow was thrown at him, and he heard Dean grumble something about him being a bitch, but the laughter quickly turned into coughing and he had to sit up as struggled.

Then he felt a hand on his back as a bottle of water appeared in front of him. He gratefully took it and drank a good third of it before he stopped to take a breath.

“You good?”

Sam looked up to see Dean staring at him, hints of concern were hidden in his face.

“Yeah I’m good,” Sam replied, clearing his throat, “thanks” he added, gesturing to the water. Dean nodded before moving over to his own bed,

“So what was that all about?” Dean asked.

“What was what?” Sam replied. Dean looked at him, the eyes in the I know you know what Im talking about mode.

“The coughing, what else you idiot”

“Oh right, I-I choked on my saliva as I was laughing, and then it sent me spiraling, and laughing and choking isn’t a great combo so I started to cough and-“

“Woah,” Dean said, stopping Sam mid sentence, “I don’t need a whole essay, just wanted to make sure you aren’t getting sick or anything, can’t do this case solo now can I?” He said with a grin.

Sam chuckled lightly, “no I’m good.”

There was a brief frown on Dean's face at the reply but before Sam could think about it too much it was gone.

They said their nights and as the brothers went off to Dreamland, Sam felt fear settle in his stomach. He prayed to whoever was listening that whatever was happening today with his health was just a flux and that he would be fine in the morning.

SPN SPN SPN

The following day Sam woke up with a groan. He swallowed and was greeted with hot coals being burned in his throat. Sam opened his eyes wide, and sat up, when he felt lightheaded. His headache was even worse than the day before, and then he realized he was breathing through his mouth, and when he went to try and breath through his nose he found he couldn’t. His whole body felt achy and he just felt like crap.

Well shit

He was sick.

Thank you so so much for reading. Thank you to anyone who left a review, and thank you to the silent readers!! It makes me so happy to know people are reading this!! Have a fantastic day! 🥰

December 7, 2021

Still love it!! But please, please, don't let Dean be an ass.....

December 14, 2021

I really like where this is going!! I hope you continue

December 16, 2021

Hello my lovey fellow readers!!! Sorry it's taken me so long again, I had bloody finals for the past two weeks. 😑 Anyway, I'm out for till the new year, so I should have plenty of time to write! I am also a little curious to know if I am getting the voices of Sam and Dean right, so if there is anything I can improve on let me know :)) Oh also time works a bit funny in this chapter, just go with it lol!

@blueprint- So glad you are enjoying it, and I honestly think I would be incapable of making dean an arse! Or at least without making him fix everything again. Don't worry there is tons of big brother Dean on the way 😄

@onepageatatime- So thankful you are giving it a chance!! ❤️

Alright enough excuses, I present to you, the next chapter!

Chapter Four:

The morning went by slowly. Sam tried to show some perkiness that he didn’t have, and Dean was, well Dean. He didn’t seem to know Sam was sick.

Sam didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. He so desperately wanted to tell Dean, but knew nothing good would come from it. They would still have the case to finish, and Dean would be down a man, and there was a high chance Dean would get frustrated or even angry that Sam was sick. He wasn’t exactly known for being a star patient.

He just had to get through today. Take some pills, and try his goddamn hardest to get a break through with the case. He had snuck some aspirin when Dean was in the bathroom which helped a little with his sore throat and headache, but not so much the tiredness and sneezing. But that he could deal with.

“Remember you're sick” Dean told him as they headed down to get some breakfast, and see who they could talk too to coax information out of. Sam’s eyes widened and he felt panic spike,

“What?” He breathed. He had been doing so well, he had hardly sneezed today and if he did he either stifled them or managed to stop them altogether, and sure he had yawned a couple times, maybe had to suppress a cough or two,

“Hailey thinks you're under the weather, remember? It’s the whole reason we got the room in the first place, probably best if we keep the act up,”

Sam let out a sigh, he had completely forgotten about being fake sick.

“Yeah, right”

Well at least it wouldn’t be too hard for him to “act” sick.

SPN SPN SPN

As the brothers sat down to eat, Dean was giving Sam a once over. He was waiting for Sam to let him in on his heath situation. He had a very high suspicion that Sam was sick. The coughing last night should have been a red flag on its own, but with excessive sneezing, and wanting to go to bed at 6:00, that led to one possible explanation. Dean gave Sam an opportunity to say he didn’t feel great when asking about the coughing, but got nothing out of him. Maybe he was reading too much into this, maybe Sam wasn’t sick, and it really was just the cold and fatigue getting to him. But then again Sam had freaked out when Dean told him he needed to act sick.

Along with not admitting when he was sick, Sam just didn’t like being sick. It was something both Brothers had in common. Their father often got frustrated when they became sick. (Like it was their fault in the first place.) Whenever Sam got sick as a child it was Dean that would look after him. Not that was a problem, in fact Dean rather enjoyed it. He was good at it, and it made him feel wanted, like knowing he could make Sam feel better. But the problem with it was that their dad would be a man down for a hunt and get angry at Sam for being sick, (as if it was the kids fault) and take it out on Dean, which would then put him in a foul mood, and sometimes his pent up frustration would be put out on Sam. And of course the older they both got, even when Sam didn’t need looking after their dad would still make him stay behind, and on rare occasions it would put a halt to his plans, such as a night out with the hot girl of the week, and or an outing with some new friends of his. He always felt bad after his outbreak of anger, and tried to make it up to Sam by being extra nice while he recovered.

Dean had really hoped Sam was gonna confess when he asked about the coughing last night, but was disappointed when he didn’t get one. It wasn’t like Dean wanted Sam to get sick, but he really didn’t want to go back down the lying path. It was a dangerous route. There was also the danger of Sam not being fully up to speed, with his soul just being fixed back into place. Yup, Dean definitely needed to keep a close eye on his brother.

But all thoughts were pushed to the corner of his mind when a waiter came over to take their order.

SPN SPN SPN

Sam grinned as Dean practically ran over to the food, the waiter explained how the buffet worked and then in a blink of an eye Dean was gone. Sam went up to go follow him when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he tensed and his mind went into alert as he turned around.

He was greeted with a smiling Hailey, who looked a little embarrassed.

“Sorry Sir, didn’t mean to startle you,” she apologized, ”I just wanted to give over some information your partner wanted, but he seemed just a little preoccupied” Sam smiled briefly at that and backed out of Hailey’s grip on his arm.

“Don’t worry about it,” he reassured her, sniffing quietly, “so what did you want to tell my partner?”

“The rooms that were occupied by the people who were killed,” Hailey had a strange look on her face when she said killed, like the word was hard to get out,

“will be used around 1pm and the cleaners will need the room from 12pm to get it ready. So if you wanted to take a look around I would do it before noon.”

Sam swiped at his nose as he nodded his head in understanding,

“That’s great,” he said, gratefulness in his voice at the gesture of help.

“The other rooms of the victims are already in use, these are the only rooms left” Hailey added before handing Sam two keys, which he took and pocketed them in his coat pocket, and as he did so, without any warning, he felt this pricking itch in his nose, he didn’t have time to do anything other than quickly twist away from Hailey

“HITChSCs, hihehhHEHh” he needed to sneeze again, but he really didn’t want to. Not in front of Hailey at least. He frantically rubbed his quivering nose, while trying to calm his desperate hitching breath. He willed the itch to die down just to finish the conversation.

“Bless you,” Hailey said, “still feeling under the weather huh?”

Sam flushed a little as he forced himself to face Hailey again, who had a look of sympathy on her face.

“A..hih..a little, hehhiiiIHIh,” he felt the itch come back with a vengeance and this time he couldn’t fend it off. He quickly excused himself, again, from Hailey’s presence and ran off to the bathroom, his breath hitching wildly.

Once in the safety of the bathroom, Sam finally stopped resisting. Sort of,

“HITX,hehhHHIIEHTCXz….HETGX….guhhhih…ngghhhHHUUHUP’tzx….”

He first tried stifling into his fist, hoping to be semi quiet and get the fit over and done with, but all he did was make things worse. His eyes were starting to tear up, and he was getting stuffy from all the sneezing, but his nose still wasn’t done.

“hehhhHEHihh….HhiiIheh..HIHUhHEHH,” Sam felt rather uncomfortable. His nose was twitching madly, he was on the brink of sneezing, but he didn’t want to give in to it. To lose control. He may not be as loud as Dean when sneezing, but he could still be pretty loud, and he really didn’t want to make a mess of his jacket.

“HIHHIHH..HEEEH..HEH…HEH..HIH..HIH,” his breath was hitching wildly, his nose was spamming, only increasing the need to sneeze. And Sam couldn’t do anything but blindly grab a tissue from the counter and take one last sharp intake before,

“HEHHHUR’TECHSzsSc…..HUR’TECHZSSCSs HETCHSCz, HEH..hhhhIHUR’TECHSZSs”

Sam groaned as his throat felt like daggers were forcing their way down. And before he could recover from his fit, he fell into a round of coughing, that left him gasping for air and tears in his eyes.

He was a mess, his nose was running, and there was the threatening urge to start coughing again. He lowered the tissue and tossed it into the trash, before grabbing another one to blow his nose. It was a fruitless attempt, but it did send him into another round of throat scratching coughing, making him hold back a groan of pain. Chucking the tissue away, he went and washed his hands, and splashed some water onto his face.

Sam looked into the mirror and didn’t like what he saw. His whole face looked saggy, and he was far too pale for his liking. At this rate Dean would be able to figure out he was sick with one look. He sighed. Sam wished it was easy to say he was sick, to tell Dean. But he knew being sick is the last thing Dean needs. Sam also knew he had been in the bathroom for far too long. He gave one last wistful look at himself in the mirror before heading back to Dean.

SPN SPN SPN

Once out of the bathroom he saw Dean gorging down on sausages, bacon and egg. As he headed over to him, Dean looked up and sort of half smiled around his fork.

“Where were you?” Dean asked around a mouthful of food.

“Bathroom,” Sam said, clearing his throat, as he sat down. Dean looked at him skeptically.

“What the hell were you doing in there? Reapplying your makeup?” Dean said, snickering at his own joke. Sam sighed, not feeling up to Dean's lame jokes. He responded by giving a bitch face and mumbling,

“I don’t wear makeup,”

Dean responded with an all knowing look before going back to his food, slightly smirking. Sam just sighed and rubbed at his head. His headache got worse every minute that passed. He longed to go back to the room to get some Tylenol, but knew that he couldn’t. Not without it seeming suspicious. Trying to block the throbbing pain, he told Dean about what Hailey told him, and the room keys he was given.

“Awesome,” Dean replied after Sam finished his story, “we’ll head over and see if we can find anything,”

“I doubt we would, the killings didn’t happen at the hotel, and we have nothing to connect the victims together, or any reason why they would have checked into the hotel,” Sam said. Not really intending the sharpness in his voice. He was just getting fed up with having no leads on this case.

SPN SPN SPN

It took a while and a lot of empty promises to get Dean to leave the buffet, but eventually Sam managed to drag Dean over to the lifts

“You take room one, I take room two. ” Sam said, pushing the up button on the lifts. Dean nodded taking the key,

“Call if you find anything.” Dean added as he stepped into the lift. Sam nodded in agreement, as he too stepped in.

SPN SPN SPN

Dean watched Sam go down the hallway of rooms before heading off to room one himself. As he walked down the hallway he found himself thinking about Sam. He didn’t say anything at the table but Sam looked pale. And his voice sounded a little hoarse. All the signs were there, Sam was sick. Without realizing it Dean was thinking of where the nearest pharmacy was, and what stuff he would need to get. And what he would need to do to slowly break down Sam's wall of “I’m fine” to get him to admit that he was sick and needed to rest. And if this illness kicked Sam on his ass, who he would call to take over the case. Maybe Bobby would know someone. But as he thought about all of this, a horrible thought occurred. What if Sam didn’t want Dean to take care of him. What if Sam didn’t want to tell Dean, so Dean wouldn’t mother hen him and treat him like he is incapable of looking after himself.

I don’t mother-hen him too bad Dean thought trying to reassure himself. He only makes sure Sam takes enough medication, drinks enough fluids, gets enough rest, and doesn’t over work himself. Dean groaned mentally when he realized he could go over the top at times. It wasn’t his fault though, It was his job, take care of Sam! And if Sam didn’t like that too freakin bad. But then again Dean did want their relationship to get better and go back to the way it was, pre-hell and all that shit, so maybe he did need to step back and let Sam do what he needed to do. Show that he can control his itching need to take care of him. But he could still go get all the stuff needed for a sick Sammy to be comfortable. And just leave them on his bed, not make a big deal out of it. He could do that, he just needed some kind of excuse to leave and go get them.

As Dean found the room, he entered the key and stepped into the room. It was the same layout as their room, just with a different view. It looked normal. Maybe Sam was right, there could be nothing here, and they were just wasting their time. Still Dean went and walked around looking for anything that screamed supernatural. He walked into the bathroom and checked the draws and cabinets. Finding nothing he walked back into the main room and his attention was shifted over to the lounge area. He wandered over and then spotted a small rectangle of paper on the floor, underneath the glass coffee table. Picking it up, he raised his eyebrows in surprise,

“PapyrusCo?” He said out loud. It was a business card for some company. There was a phone number and an email on it too, Dean looked under the table again to see if he could find anything else.

Coming up with nothing he pocketed the business card. He didn’t think much of it, but he would take anything at this point. He took one more sweep around the room, making sure he didn’t miss anything, before leaving, before pulling out his phone to call Sam.

SPN SPN SPN

15 minutes earlier:

Sam gave one last glance at Dean before heading down the hallway to find the room. Finally out of Dean's sight he pawed at his nose, trying to kill the itch. Whatever he took this morning was wearing off because he felt even worse. His body felt slow and his mind was foggy and sluggish. All he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep for all of eternity. Maybe go make Dean get the ice lollies he loved to soothe his throat, and get a warm thick blanket that would suppress the never ending shivers of cold that worked its way up his spine. He would happily take Dean mother henning him right now. It meant he didn’t have to think and he could just be sick knowing that Dean would make sure he was ok. Yeah sometimes it was annoying, but at least it showed how much Dean really cared, and Sam could really use that reassurance right now. As he moved and forced his legs to work Sam could feel the fatigue pulling him down, but he continued down the hall till he reached the room.

“HUP’TESCHUsSs”

He groaned, barely having any time to cover his nose, but still feeling his throat being torn at the impact. He sniffed a couple times before entering the room, starting his investigation. The room was similar to the brothers room, except the beds were a deep scarlet, instead of green. Sam began roaming around; he opened drawers, wardrobes, and checked under the bed. Looking for anything that had supernatural written over it, with a side of shapeshifter. Finding nothing he checked in the bathroom looking in all the hiding spots and most obvious ones. As he was checking one of the cabinets arms outstretched into it, he paused when he felt the urge to sneeze, it grew quickly out of his control, and he bent his head down aiming for his arm,

” hhhhhhiiiiiiIGNXZ…hhhhhhhEH” He pulled that arm out completely of the cabinet and clamped it around his nose

“HEPTGx…hehhHIIHHHHEHUR’TEsCHuscs” He coughed lightly, wincing from the way his head punched his insides. He sniffed when he felt his nose run freely. Reaching into his pocket he sighed with relief when he found his handkerchief. As he blew his nose gently, feeling the soreness starting to make a home, he spotted some white against the redness of the bed. Frowning, he headed over to the bed, running the cloth under his nose one last time before pocketing it.

Moving one of the pillows he found a white envelope, he frowned when he saw that it was addressed to the same hotel he was in, Comfort Suites Canal Park. He turned the envelope over and saw the return address,

“PapyrusCo?” Sam said out loud in curiosity. He was about to open the envelope when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Reaching down he saw the caller ID was Deans,

“Hey” Dean's familiar voice said, coming through the receiver.

“Hey” Sam responded, “you find anything?” He asked, clearing his throat quietly afterwards.

“Nope, nothing that yells supernatural. But I did find this business card for some company called PapryusCo. It might be nothing, but it’s the only thing out of place in that room and-,” Dean ranted on.

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed at the name PapryusCo. He picked up the envelope and reread the back before cutting Dean off.

“Wait you said a company called PapryusCo?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I found an envelope from PapryusCo, addressed to the hotel, '' Sam said.

“Huh”

“Yeah, huh”

There were a few beats of silence, both Winchesters thinking, in this time Sam’s nose decided to act up too,

“Shit” he muttered quietly, before his breaths started to become uneven,

“Hhhhhhhh…hhhhhehh…”

“Sammy? You good?” Dean asked, worry ever so slightly seeping through his voice.

“Yehhhhhhhiih, givhhhh, give me a sechhhh.. a second, sohh sorry!”

Sam lifted the phone over his head and covered the phone speaker with his other hand. Then he turned his head to his shoulder and buried his mouth and nose there,

“Hhhhhhheh hup’INgx..hhhgahheH’TInGx” his body shook as he stifled, wanting to be as quiet as possible. He stayed in the awkward position as he felt the itch die down into a lingering dull feeling. He ridded off it with one swipe of his hand, rubbing his nose.

He brought the phone back down to his ear and gave a small,

“Sorry,” there was a moment of silence before a quiet,

“Bless,” was heard, “everything ok?” Dean asked

“I’bm fine,” Sam replied, but winced at the hints of congestion in his voice. He sniffed a couple times, but it didn’t help, it just made his head feel very full and stuffy. Not wanting another wave of silence Sam spoke up,

“Do you thignk that PapyrusCo is related to any ob thigs?” Sam prayed that Dean couldn’t hear the congestion in his voice.

“I don’t know man. I mean it could be nothing, but it could also be everything.”

Sam understood what Dean meant. This could finally be their breakthrough that has been long awaited,

“Do you think that maybe this is how all the victims are related?” Dean continued. Sam considered it for a brief moment,

“No,” Sam said, “we habe intervbiewed all the victims fambilys, and none of thebm mentioned anything about a company called PapryusCo,” Sam heard Dean sigh frustratedly on the other end,

“But it’s the only thing that makes sense! In both of the victims rooms there is stuff on this company. We should at least look into it” Dean argued. Sam just sighed in defeat,

“Yeah I guess so. I’ll meet you back at our room”

The brothers said their goodbyes before hanging up. Sam sat down on the bed and rubbed his eyes, and slowly moved up to his head, gently massaging it. Research was the last thing he wanted to do right now. But if he was to keep up his act of being handy dandy, then he would need to. With one last tired sigh, Sam stood back up and headed off back to his room.

SPN SPN SPN

When Sam entered the room Dean was already there, sitting at the small desk, computer open. He grinned and waved Sam over,

“While your slow ass was taking its sweet time arriving, I looked up the name PapyrusCo, and the odd thing is I can’t seem to find any-“ Dean trailed off as Sam got closer and Dean could clearly see the pale worn out look on his brother's face. He looked tired, and his nose looked slightly red, like Sam had been rubbing at it. There was also the fact that Sam was obviously breathing through his mouth, and he seemed more slumped than normal. Eyebrows knitting down, Dean was giving him a once over, worry settling in his stomach.

“What’s wrong with you?” Dean asked, “you look like crap.”

Sam snorted at that before dumping himself down into the chair opposite Dean, before saying,

“Yeah well I feel like crap”

And voila! Hope you enjoyed this, and thank you so much to everyone that has read it, and left a comment! I appreciate it all!! Have a wonderful day 🥰

December 17, 2021

*rubs hands together*

Oh yes, now we're getting to some caretaking!

I love the progression of sickness and the stuffy speaking! Looking forward for more

December 25, 2021

@Seeker Thank you for your kind words!!! there is tons of caretaking to come, so I hope you enjoy it! 😄

Authors notes: This chapter is more on sick sam, and big bro dean, not too much on the case, (that will be in the next update :)) There is a lot more stuffy talk, and some swearing, so be warned! Also i'm not used to using fahrenheit for temp, so i hope I did it right lol! Please excuse any mistakes as well 🙈 Anyway enough talking,

Chapter Five:

Keep cool keep cool keep cool keep cool was Deans mantra as he stared at Sam, disbelief plastered on his face. Did Sam just confess he didn’t feel good? That was very unSam like. It was bordering on the line of worrying, it could take days before Dean could get Sam to fully admit to feeling ill, even when they both knew Sam was sick. So something must really be off if Sam admitted it on the first day.

But if Sam had admitted it already, then that meant he was feeling really bad and was most likely super vulnerable. A sick Sammy means a weepy Sammy, who is very easy to piss off, (more than usual). If the cards were played wrong then Dean was going to have an angry, 6ft tall, (not to mention contagious) little brother.

As he stared at his brother, he couldn’t quite form words. There were a million things he wanted to say, things he should say, but the voice in the back of his head told him to play it cool, don’t get out of control, just let Sam be. Show that Sam was the one with control in the situation, So he opted for,

“Have you taken anything?” He asked the question with curiosity and tried not to show the worry that was traveling through him.

Before Sam replied there was a moment of difference in his eyes. Before Dean could figure out what it meant, it was gone, replaced with fatigue.

“Yeah I took some aspirin earlier, I think it’s worn off though,” Sam gave a small smile, attempting a joke, Dean decided to play along,

“Oh really? Wouldn’t have noticed,” Dean gave his own smile, but it faded when Sam’s smile dropped completely at his words.

Not sure what to say, Dean awkwardly looked away, but turned his head again when he heard Sam take a sharp intake of breath,

“Heh…hhhHUP’TEsChUSs…hhhihhHU’TUeScHss” Sam sneezed into cupped hands and sniffed wetly afterwards. Dean winced at how miserable Sam looked and sounded.

“Bless you,” he offered, “How bad is it?” He asked. It was an honest question, mainly so Dean could figure out how far along the process of sick Sammy they were. Not only that but also to make a mental shopping list of all the supplies Sam would need in order to recover. But judging by the look on Sam’s face, he had taken it the wrong way.

“It’s fine, really, it’s not that bad, just a small headache, I think I’m just really tired. I’ll take some more aspirin,” Sam rambled on, looking guilty with a small hint of worry, that Dean did not like.

“Hey hey,” Dean said, holding up a hand to get Sam’s attention and to put a stop to his restless movement, “it’s ok Sam,” he said gently. That seemed to do something to Sam, because he sort of crumbled and rested his head in his hands, slowly rubbing his temples.

“Everything hurts,” he whispered. Dean hated how vulnerable Sam sounded, like it pained him to even talk.

“Well if that’s the case, you might need something stronger than aspirin. How does Tylenol sound? maybe some NyQuil?” Dean asked, and was pleased when that got a reaction of out Sam,

“We have NyQuil?” He asked, with some hope.

“No, but I could go get some?” Dean offered, it becoming a question, leaving the final decision up to Sam.

But instead of giving a definite yes or no, like Dean expected, Sam looked confused and even a bit hurt. Dean could see him struggling with what to say,

“I don’t mind if I have to,” Dean added, hoping to ease some of the discomfort Sam was showing. It seemed to help a little, for a Sam gave a small,

“Ok,” and looked at him with lingering uncertainty, but Dean just smiled,

“I’ll be back in a few.” And with that Dean grabbed his coat, and keys and headed off to find the nearest shop that would hold the Sammy survival sick kit.

SPN SPN SPN

Once Dean was out of the room, he fell into a round of furious coughing. Sam had been holding back a fit for a while, not wanting to worry Dean, he saw the face Dean had when Sam sort of told him he was sick. He didn’t know what came over him. It just kind of came out before he knew what he was saying, like the little brother in him broke free, wanting to have his big brother take over the wheel and just fix everything. He felt some small relief when he said something to Dean, but soon regretted it as his brother just stared at him. All he could think was that he had fucked up. That he should have just kept his mouth shut and power through the day. He even felt the fear start to settle into his stomach when Dean asked him how bad his illness was. He started to panic, thinking Dean was mad at him, because he started to go on rambling embarrassingly, saying he was fine and just needed more aspirin. He was not fine though and as he said it, he knew aspirin wouldn’t really do much to help him at this point. He needed stronger stuff, which is why he perked up at the name of NyQuil.

But that happiness was short lasted when Dean made his statement about going to get some medicine a question. Sam was surprised to say the least. Normally Dean didn’t leave it up to Sam, about what kind of medication he wanted, so he was shocked when Dean allowed him to say yes or no to Dean's offer. Though he didn’t think he would have said no, he wasn’t lying when he said he felt like crap. His body aches had gotten worse, his head was pounding profusely, his nose was constantly blocked up, but continued to be unbearably itchy, having him one, have the continual need to sneeze, and two making him breath through his mouth, which caused stinging dry lips and an awful taste in his mouth. He was also painfully aware of how often he would swallow, as for, every time he did, he felt like he was swallowing sandpaper. He could barely think straight, let alone decide if he wanted to make Dean go out into the freezing cold, just so he could get his sick little brother something to help with his common cold. He just wanted to let Dean take the steering wheel and, well, be his big brother. He would happily take Dean's mother henning right now, as long as it meant he could sleep, and ease some of the unfortunate pain he was in.

Sam gave a tired sigh, which caused,

“Hhhhihh,HUP’TEsCHSSws,huhhhhhiiiehHE’TUCHSs”

He bent forward with cup hands around his nose as he sneezed, feeling the wetness on his hands he grimaced in disgust.

Oh jeez, now that’s just nasty

He stood up, with slightly wobbly legs as he headed off to the bathroom to wash his hands. The last thing he needed was to cover the room with his germs and make Dean sick. After giving his hands a good scrub, he sniffed unconsciously and moved back over to the laptop sitting rejected on the table. Before he sat down, he shivered, and then realized how cold he was. He steered himself over to this duffle bag and pulled his sweats on, with a comfy long sleeve top on, and then he headed over to the wardrobe remembering seeing something that could have resembled a blanket.

Grinning when he found it, he threw it over his shoulders and started his retreat back to the computer when he spotted the thermostat. Making a quick decision he turned the heating up and then finally walked back over to the table.

Pulling the blanket over his shoulders more, his body let out another tremor, before Sam opened up the computer to see where Dean had left off on his research. He vaguely remembered Dean saying something was odd when he looked up the company’s name. So opening the search web he typed in PapyrusCo, and was greeted with several websites talking about the company, news reports, and the actual companies website. Sam stared at all of this, there looked to be tons of info on this so called PapyrusCo, so what was Dean talking about?

Curiosity getting the best of him, and maybe just a little bit of the cheeky little brother inside of him, he went to the search history and started to giggle to himself (which then turned into a cough) when he saw that Dean had looked up Papyrus.com instead of PapyrusCo. It was such an innocent mistake that Sam could help but laugh over it, thinking of all the glorious moments in which he could bring this up to Dean. No wonder he couldn’t find anything. Feeling his nose twitch he pulled a corner of the blanket over his nose and sneezed softly, before he began to click on some websites.

SPN SPN SPN

After what felt like hours he rested his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. The words on the screen were starting to blur together making him feel rather dizzy. He hadn’t found much, from what he could tell, the company was rather new and hadn’t done much yet. It was a paper company (big surprise) and was looking for a more eco-friendly way of making paper that didn’t involve large amounts of trees being destroyed at a time. They had many programs trying to get people to replant trees, and spread awareness. As far as Sam could see the company was legit. But it didn’t answer any questions, if anything it raised more. Why did they find PapryusCo stuff in both of the victims rooms? What has the company got to do with any of the killings, and how, or even is it related to the hotel? All of this made Sam's headache worse, and he could feel his head protesting every time he started to think too hard.

Sam shivered once again, and tried to pull the blanket more firmly over him, he looked out of the bedroom window and saw the sun was beginning to set. He looked over at the door, and wondered where Dean was. He could really use some of that NyQuil right about now. He was a complete mess. There were crumbled tissues all over the desk, his nose was sore and stuffed, and it didn’t help that he felt like he needed to sneeze every 2 minutes. His head was pounding and every light particle that filtered hrough his eyes caused more pain. And on top of that he just couldn’t seem to get warm. Sam was 90% sure he was running a fever.

Dean had been out for a total of 2 hours, claiming roads were bad. Sam didn’t care what the holdup was, as long as Dean came back with meds.

“HUT’CHETSEsW….hehhhehhHHIII heh” Sam rubbed angrily at his nose. It had been playing a game where it would refuse to get rid of the itch that was living happily inside of him. He couldn't shake the, “oh god I’m gonna sneeze” feeling, and hated when he was finally granted relief, but then couldn’t sneeze for the next 20 minutes as he sat in agony trying to research.

Where the hell are you Dean?

And as if Dean was waiting outside the door, posing for the moment Sam thought those words, Dean marched into the room, snow falling out of his hair.

“Heya Sammy, sorry it took me so long, fucking snow, and people not knowing how to drive. Nearly killed myself several times trying to get you this stuff!“ Dean ended on a joke, smiling as he held up the shopping bag as proof. His voice in that casual, confident voice that could always convince Sam to believe everything he said.

Sam watched as Dean took in the room and saw the moment when Dean's eyes landed on him. The obvious concern filtered through his eyes,

“Shit Sammy, you ok?”

Sam smiled pathetically, feeling his dry lips scream in protest,

“Bever felgt bedder”

Dean stared at Sam for a few more moments before he rummaged through his bag walking towards Sam. He then placed two different bottles on the table.

“I got you NyQuil, and Tylenol, didn’t know which one you would prefer. I also got,” he paused while reaching into the bag, “Cough drops, green apple flavored, pack of tissues and Gatorade, the red kind.”

Dean stood presenting his findings proudly. Sam looked up at Dean and smiled grateful, before leaning forward and grabbing the NyQuil and pouring himself some of the liquid. He made a face of disgust at the taste, to which Dean then passed the Gatorade his way. Sam just shook his head,

“I don’t wandt the red onde,” Dean gave a look of confusion,

“But you love the red flavor!” He exclaimed,

“It loogks doo mugch likge.. likge-” Sam couldn’t say it, the words getting stuck on his tongue, body filling up with shame, looking at the red liquid in Deans hand brought back some not to fond memories. Sam looked at Dean waiting for the moment realization hit,

“Oh fuck!”

There it is. Sam smiled apologetically.

“Son of a bitch! I didn’t even think Sammy-“ Dean said with clear regret and self hate dripping off his voice.

“How,cougld,you,bahehhh,bavhegh…huhhhhHUP’tEcHsus sniff sniff have knowbn?” Sam scrubbed at his nose, wishing the NyQuil would kick in, like now.

“Bless you,” Dean said softly, before throwing the red Gatorade in the bin, giving it a hated look.

“Do you want me to go and get a different one?” Dean asked, guilt obvious in his voice. Sam shook his head slightly,

“Bo, I’m fine witgh judst wader”

Dean nodded in understanding, and then sat down on his bed,

“So did you find anything about PayrusCo?”

Sam stared at Dean, shaken by the change of subject,

“Come on Sammy, you don’t think I know that if I leave for 2 hours you won’t go and try and research something?” Dean said grinning. Sam just rolled his, to which he immediately regretted for it caused a small dizzy spell.

Sam waited for the room to stop spinning, before he filled Dean in on everything he had found.

SPN SPN SPN

After Sam had gone through everything pausing every now and then to sneeze, Dean was left with the same questions as Sam.

“So whad bow?” San asked, grabbing a tissue to try and blow his nose.

“I guess we keep searching, there has to be something that connects everything together. Why don’t you see if you can find anything that relates the victims to the company” Dean said. Sam hummed in agreement,

“Whad are you goindg to do?”

Dean gave him a cocky grin,

“I’m going to sit here and watch this massive ass TV”

Sam gave him a bitch face before begrudgingly looking back at his computer.

SPN SPN SPN

Three hours later Sam was about ready to scream. He had found absolutely nothing, and was finding it stupidly hard to focus when he could hear Dean laughing from across the room. He had found some comedy skit and was clearly enjoying himself, while Sam was suffering. NyQuil had kicked in, but he still felt miserable, and for some reason no matter what did he just couldn’t get warm. He was freezing cold and just couldn’t get comfortable. He had no energy and his body felt like a stone weighing him down. And it ticked him off that Dean was sitting on his bed living his best life. Couldn’t he see that his little brother was in agony?

Speaking of, Dean had almost been avoiding him. Any chance he got to leave Sam be, then he would take it. At one point Sam had run out of water, and Dean immediately offered to go downstairs to the lobby and get some more. But Dean made it a question, like it was up to Sam whether Dean was allowed to go some water. The same thing happened when Sam was shivering and Dean asked him whether he would like the thermostat up.

Eventually he caught onto Dean's little game. He was giving Sam control, letting Sam call the shots. It made Sam smile, because after all these years Dean was letting Sam take control over his own well-being, Instead of Dean driving Sam up the wall with his mother henning. But then that smile disappeared because that’s not what he wanted. And well if that didn’t piss him off. He finally got what he thought he wanted, to be able to control what he needed, be the grown up not the kid, but then all he wanted right now was for Dean to call the shots, make sure he had everything he needed. He didn’t want to have to worry about anything. He just wanted Dean to be well Dean.

His head hurt too much to think straight, and when he thought about it, he didn't know what he needed. He had taken NyQuil which had helped a bit, but not a much as Sam thought it would. He was tired but knew sleep would never come, not when there were people to save.

Ugh

Why did he have to get sick now? He sighed out loud, hoping to maybe get some of Dean's attention. Much to his dismay he didn’t even get an eye glance. Instead he got up and went to throw away the newest pile of used tissues, his blanket dropping to the floor. As he took a step forward the room began to spin dangerously. He felt extremely light headed all of a sudden, and put his hand on the table to steady himself. After a few moments the room was still spinning, and it was starting to make Sam feel sick.

“Deabn?” He rasped out.

“Hmm” was Dean’s only reply. Sam blinked trying to steady the world but found himself getting worse. Panic spiked as he started to freak out.

“Deabn sombthing is wrobg”

Sam could hear the bed creaking as Dean got up and made his way to Sam. By the way the floor rattled, Sam assumed Dean half ran.

“Sammy? Sam what’s wrong?”

Sam felt strong and familiar hands grip his shoulders, as Sam began to swerve along with the world.

“Fe’l sick” Sam whispered. He could feel his legs ready to give, and was extremely grateful for Dean's support.

“Yeah I can see that kiddo, need to sit down?”

Sam nodded slightly, eyes squeezed shut, as he clumsily sat down on the floor, Dean kneeled down next to him, one hand on Sam's arm to ground him.

“Just breathe through it Sammy,”

Sam leaned his head back against the table and tried to breath but his stomach was doing flips and turns and refused to settle.

“Gon’a be sick..”

“No you're not, you just need to breathe,” Dean said gently. Then he put his hand on Sam's stomach and started to rub his hand in small gentle circles. Sam continued to breathe and after a few minutes his stomach settled, the smooth circles Deans had been doing were performing miracles, and soon the world straightened itself. Dean seemed to notice when this happened because he removed his hand, and Sam was surprised when he found himself missing it.

“You ok?” Dean asked, one hand still on Sam’s arm. And as Sam opened his mouth to respond, his nose twitches violently and he snapped forward at the waist with a loud,

“HUTCTSHUSs..hheh.. HUP’TUSCHSs”

Sam felt Dean tighten his grip on his arm, and then there were two hands pulling him back up into a sitting position,

“Bless” Dean said quietly.

“Thagnks” Sam responded with a wet sniff.

“Need anything?” Dean asked. Sam looked up at him,

“Water?”

Sam shook his head,

“Meds?”

“Doh”

“Food?”

Another shake of Sam's head.

Dean opened his mouth to suggest something else but Sam beat him to it,

“Just stob,”

It was Deans turn to look at Sam,

“Stop what?” He asked in confusion. Sam closed his eyes again,

“Just stob, trying to gibve me control, it’s bot helgping, I just- I just want you to..to-“

“Stop?” Finished Dean. Sam opened one eye looking back at Dean, a small grin tugging at his lips.

“Yeah,” he breathed.

“What do you want me to do then?” Dean asked, resettling himself on the floor,

“I-I wandt you to be, you,” Sam said, the words struggling to come out. But Dean understood, just like he always did.

“Ok Sammy,” he said softly, and reached out to brush away Sam’s bangs, his hands resting on his forehead. Sam leaned into it, moaning softly.

“Shit Sam, your burning up”

“Hmm?” Sam questioned, too busy enjoying the feeling of Dean’s hand on his head, it felt warm and soft.

“No wonder you nearly passed out, stay here,” Dean mumbled, mainly talking to himself. And with that he stood up and started to move around the room, too fast for Sam to keep up with, but he grinned all the same. This was the Dean he wanted.

SPN SPN SPN

Eventually Dean found what he was looking for, and headed back to Sam, with a glass of water, Tylenol, and a thermometer. The kid had scared the living crap outta him, he had looked as pale as some of the ghosts they had hunted, and looked like he was going to drop dead any second. Then Sam had practically begged him to stop doing his little thing of giving Sam the say in everything. Dean found it amusing, he finally gave the kid something he had been wanting for years, and when he gave it, Sam didn’t want it. Typical little brother move.

Settling back down next to Sam, he put the thermometer in his mouth. Sam grumbled in response.

“Try and keep it under your tongue,” Dean told him, Sam complied. They both sat on the floor waiting for the device to beep, it got awkward very quickly. Dean started to drum his fingers on the wooden leg off the table when he heard the obnoxious beep of the thermometer. Sam pulled it out for him, and Dean saw his eyes widen. Dean then snachted it out of his hands, and felt his stomach churn when he saw the numbers,

“104°,” Dean said out loud, “Fuck Sam, why didn’t you say it was this bad?” The worry in Dean's voice came out in anger, but as Dean looked at Sam, he seemed to be as shocked as him.

“Sorry” Sam croaked, “I don’ knowb whabt habbened, I’vb been really cold all day,”

Dean gave Sam a sympathetic look, before opening the Tylenol and handing Sam two pills, and the glass of water,

“Here takes these,”

Sam reached up with a shaky hand and took the pills, and when he reached for the glass, Dean decided that maybe it was best if held it. As Sam took some small sips, and swallowed the pills, he shuddered, staring up at Dean with wet dewy eyes. With a hesitant hand, Dean reached up and gently placed his hand on the back of Sam's neck in comfort.

Sam closed his eyes leaning into the touch, Dean smiled softly, as he began to lightly massage the area. They stayed like this for a few peaceful moments, Sam with his eyes shut. Dean worried that he had fallen asleep until Sam wrenched forward with deep chested coughs, bent at the waist. Dean held on to him, giving him support as his body shaked, slowly rubbing his hand up and down Sam’s back.

Sitting there holding onto his brother as he hacked up a lung, Dean felt useless. He knew Sam was sick, but didn’t know he was this sick. He had seemed fine yesterday, sure a bit sniffly, but then so had he been, with the cold and everything. He didn’t know what they were supposed to do about the case. There was no way in hell though that Dean was going to let Sam hunt when he was like this. He would need to call Bobby and see if anyone could come in and help out.

“Jeez Sammy, what you trying to do? Cough up your whole respiratory system?” Dean teased, byt the worry was clear as day in his voice, for after a couple of minutes Sam didn’t show any sign of stopping his coughing fit, Dean was getting concerned that Sam couldn’t breath.

Eventually the coughs subsided leaving Sam to be able to take in a shaky breath, but Dean could hear the rattle in his chest as he did so. Then Sam’s body decided it had had enough, for he crumpled onto Dean, leaning into his chest. Dean sat there, momentarily frozen as he took in the fact that his brother was practically sitting in his lap. But then the big brother inside of him broke free, and Dean wrapped his arms around his brother, putting one hand in his hair, and the other resuming the small circles on his back.

“God that hurt” Sam rasped. Dean winced at the sound,

“Need some water?” He asked. Dean felt Sam’s head nod against him.

Dean reached out to the forgotten glass of water on the floor, and then held it up so Sam could take a drink. After a few sips, Dean put it back on the floor, and felt Sam’s forehead. Frowning when it still felt extremely warm. Suddenly, Dean felt Sam stiffen, and then felt him trying to move, trying to push himself off of Dean.

Dean looked at him confused and tried to pull Sam back down, ignoring the small feeling of hurt, when he heard Sam’s breath go uneven,

“hhhih..Deabnhhh, gobnhh, gobba hhh snehi isnezhehHhHHEH”, Deans eyes widened when he understood and helped prop Sam up, just as he tipped over,

“HUP’TESCUShsh..hhhhiihhhhhhEHHEP’TESCUSEWSCsZs! HUp’TeSchUS! HEiP’CHusTesHuc!” Sam was left panting just a little afterwards, before slumping back against Dean.

“Bless you,” Dean said, not quite sure what else to say. They sounded painful and Dean bet they felt even worse. The two brothers sat like that for a couple more minutes, with Sam gripping onto Dean's flannel tightly, as Dean rubbed his back reassuringly. When Dean felt Sam slowly start to drift off, he patted his leg,

“Nuh-Uh Sammy, you're not falling asleep here.”

Sam groaned in response.

“Come on sasquatch, bed.” Dean said quietly,

And with that, Dean helped Sam stand and make his way to the bed. Once there he got Sam under the covers, and turned off the bedroom lights. Dean then proceeded to set an alarm on when Sam would next need another round of meds, before getting himself ready for bed. He only fell into a light sleep when he was sure Sam was ok.

Thank you so much for reading! oh and also MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I hope your day is filled with joy and happiness!

December 26, 2021

🥰

December 26, 2021

Best Christmas present eget!!😍

December 30, 2021

@Seeker 😍 so grateful that you are reading!!

@blueprint Awweee thank you so much for reading!!! I hope you had a merry Christmas!

A/N: Okay, so I know I said this chapter would focus more on the case........but I lied. 🙈 Sorry not sorry! To be honest I really didn't mean for it to turn into what it did, but hey, i'm not complaining. This chapter is literally pure fluff of Dean being an awesome big brother and Sam be sick. There are several spoilers for season three and some language, so be warned.

Chapter Six:

Dean was roused from his slumber when he heard his alarm go off. He quickly turned it off, not wanting to wake Sam up. Leaning back against the pillows he sighed and rubbed his eyes, wondering why he had set the alarm in the first place. Then he heard Sam shift in his sleep and let out a small cough. That was enough to kick Dean's brain back into motion, as the memories from last night came running back. He sat up and looked over at Sam.

He looked awful, even in his sleep. His hair was all damp and flying everywhere. The covers were half off of him, and his face was shiny with sweat. Dean hated it. Hated seeing his little brother like this, it reminded him of times when he would look through a big metal door and see Sam chained to a bed, withering in pain. He knew that Sam was in a bad place when all of that happened, the kid had tried to explain it to him enough times, but it didn’t stop the anger that came with the memories. Anger at himself that he couldn’t do anything to help Sam, anger that no matter what choices they made, what happened was going to happen anyway. All due to gods stupid plan. When Dean thought about it, Sam was always being set up for failure. Being fed the vile demon blood at only 6 months old, forcing him down the hunting path, killing off his girlfriend, all these different things, just to get Sam to say yes to Lucifer. Just thinking about this sent a wave of emotion through Dean, he had to swallow several times after a large lump seemed to settle in his throat. But all of that was over now, they had saved the world, Michael and Lucifer were in hell, and he had his little brother back. Everything was great. And the common cold? That was nothing, Dean could deal with that.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Dean was shaken from his inner chick flick moment, when he heard Sam start to shift uncomfortably in his bed. He frowned when he saw Sam showing signs of a nightmare. Dean held his breath, praying that Sam would just fall back asleep, but when he let out a small whimper, Dean stood up and walked towards him, gently shaking his arm,

“Sammy…”

Sam's eyes knitted down in fear as he tossed towards Dean's voice.

“Sam, wake up!” Dean shook Sam’s arm harder and turned on the lamp.

“D-Dean?” Sam squinted and looked around the room, dazed.

“Yeah. You…you awake? You ok?

Sam sat against the pillows rubbing his eyes, and trying to still his ragged breathing, “uh…yeah. Yeah, I’m awake, I was… I was dreaming… I guess.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Dean said, as he stood by the edge of Sam’s bed. “I bet the neighbors could hear you,”

Sam pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes and groaned. But noted there wasn’t much congestion in his voice anymore, which was a bonus.

Dean reached over and placed his hand on his forehead, “you feeling ok, buddy?” He asked, his tone turning worried.

Sam feebly pushed his hand away, “I’m fine Dean, just need sleep”

Dean scowled, “yeah, you look like a million bucks right now,”

“Shut up.”

Dean shook his head as he walked to the bathroom, but hesitated before he closed the door. He hadn’t been able to tell if Sam had a fever from the touch on his head, which was a good sign, meaning the Tylenol had worked. If Sam had a fever it wasn’t very high. Yet. “Look Sam, you gotta level with me here, man. Are you really ok?”

Sam’s shoulders sagged a little and he sighed, “I don’t…I don’t know. I don’t feel as bad as I did earlier, but I don’t… I feel really…off.”

“Yeah, alright. Try and get some more sleep then, see how you feel in the morning.”

“Night Dean.” Sam watched as Dean shut the door to the bathroom, hearing the soft click. He reached over and turned off the lamp, before leaning back against the pillows, engulfed in darkness. He knew Dean was worried, and had good reason too. He knew he felt bad, but a 104 fever? That was medical attention worthy. He tried to ignore how he was feeling, telling himself he would be ok in the morning, that this was just a flux. But he knew he was kidding himself. He just hated feeling useless, and the overall sick feeling. It didn’t help that feeling like this reminded him of the times he put himself through withdrawals, he knew it wasn’t the same, but with a fever and the whole red Gatorade facade he had those memories running wild in his head.

But it was something else fueling his dreams. Thinking about a time when he was lost and alone, made him think about the reasons behind it, and then memories of cold oak and what happened after Dean sold his soul began popping up. Once that train of thought got started, it was pretty hard to stop it. That was an event that was seared into his mind and would never go away. He found most of the time it was sitting dormant in the back of his memory, but sometimes something would trigger it to come forward and he would have a hard time stashing it away again. Like right now.

He sighed wearily and closed his eyes, trying to think of anything besides hellhounds. He rubbed lazily at his nose, but regretted it when he felt an itch work it’s way up his nostrils. Groaning he rolled over, with his face in his pillow,

“HURmmPpf! HEruMMpPF!” The sound being muffled in his pillow, he re-rolled onto his back sniffing quietly, and let sleep claim him.

A few hours later Sam sat bolt upright. He drew in a quivering breath, tensing when he felt strong hands grip his shoulders. “Dean?” It came out in a hoarse whisper as he took in his brother's face. He felt like total crap.

“Yeah, I’m right here…you were dreaming again.” Dean had never made it back to his own bed. He had sat on the desk and basically scrolled through unopened

websites on the computer and checking on Sam.

Dreaming…Sam tried to still his breathing and stop shaking. Dreaming,dreaming, dreaming… he repeated to himself. Not real, not real… but it was real. It had happened. And it could very well happen again. The way he was feeling compounded with the horror of reliving that day, even in a dream, was more than Sam could handle right then. He just felt so awful.

To Dean’s complete shock, Sam dropped his head into his hands as a few tears escaped the corners of his eyes.

“Oh, Sam, hey-hey-hey…no, Sammy-“ Dean took Sam’s face and tilted it up to meet his gaze, “what is all of this? Huh?” Dean’s voice was soft as he thumbed a tear off Sam’s cheek.

Sam ducked his head to avoid his brother's scrutiny- “I-I don’t-“ he shook his head, the words getting stuck in his throat.

Dean still had a hold on Sam’s face, and he began to feel Sam’s forehead again. Sam was trembling. “Aw Sammy, you're shaking, and burning up.”

As Dean pressed his hand onto Sam’s cheek to gauge his temperature, Sam leaned into the touch slightly and closed his eyes. Dean frowned, this was the second time Sam had given into Dean and his obsessive temperature checking, which just showed how badly Sam must be feeling, if he wasn’t even attempting his stubborn-Sammy attitude, by pushing him away. Sam’s breath wavered as he fought the sudden onslaught of tears.

Dean shook his head, pulling Sam into him, and the minute he did, Sam fell into his chest, trying with everything, but failing, to hold back a sob as he clutched Dean’s t-shirt. Dean rubbed his back gently and whispered to him, “Ok, it’s ok, Sammy… it’s ok. You're alright…you’re alright”

Dean tried to sound convincing, gentle and reassuring all at the same time, but found it increasingly difficult when he felt his own urge to cry, after feeling the tears soak through his t-shirt and the heat radiating from his little brother's body.

After a few minutes he could feel Sam start to settle down a little. His breathing evened out and he only shivered every now and then.

“S-sorry…” Sam said as he slowly began to pull himself together. He leaned away from Dean, keeping his head down and wiping his eyes. His energy was completely gone. He could barely stay upright anymore, “Don’ feel good”

Dean rubbed his arm lightly and tilited his head, trying to meet Sam's eye, “Yeah, I know you don’t…”

“I just- why? Why me?”

Dean chuckled softly at the whine in Sam’s voice.

“Why did it hit so hard? And of all tim-hhheh, of allhhi, ti-hhehh” Sam had a hand wavering in front of his face as his breath hitched,

“HhhehiiHUP’TEsCHusw!” He kept his face in his arm, and Dean wasn’t sure whether it was out of embarrassment or to see if he was going to sneeze again. Probably both.

“Bless you”

“Thangks”

Great, now I’m congested again! Sam whined internally.

“I jubst hate felbing likge thisb”

“I know Sammy”

Sam finally looked up at Dean, his watery hazel eyes rimmed with red. As Dean stared at them he heard every unspoken word. He lifted up the covers a bit and motioned for Sam to lie back down. Sam obeyed and weakly shifted down until his head hit the pillows. Dean then began rubbing slow, gentle circles on his stomach, like he did when Sam had his dizzy spell.

“This feel ok?” He asked.

“Mmm” Sam nodded.

“Good. Close your eyes and get some rest. You’ll feel better if you get some sleep. I’m gonna go get you a drink, and something for the fever alright? I think I saw a vending machine on the ground floor with some Gatorade, I’ll go get you the non red kind yeah?”

Sam smiled weakly at that.

“You close your eyes and I’ll be right back.”

Sam did as he was told, and Dean went off to gather his medical arsenal.

SPN SPN SPN

Dean stood in front of the vending machine staring at all the different flavors of Gatorade. He didn’t know which one Sam would like, there were at least four different options, blue, orange, white, and green. Now that the red flavor was out of the picture, Dean didn’t have the faintest idea on which one his brother would like. In the end he just bought one of each and balanced them carefully as he made his way back up to the room.

As he waited for the lift to arrive he heard someone call,

“Agent Knowles?”

It took a second for the fake FBI name to register in his brain before he turned to look who called ‘him’.

“Err..yes?” He asked. Dean was facing a man who was tall and thin, with a black hair that was combed and gelled back neatly. He looked to be in his late 50’s, and he was wearing a black suit with a blue stripe tie, and a name tap at the corner that read- Phil Mclauglin: Hotel manager

“Hi, I’m the hotel Manager and I just wanted to come see how you were doing. It’s not everyday we get FBI agents at this place.” He said with a tight smile

Dean returned the smile, “Yeah, tell me about it. My partner and I are doing great, thanks.”

Mr. Mclauglin nodded slowly, before looking at the large amount of Gatorade Dean was holding.

“It’s for my partner,” He explained.

“Ah yes, Hailey mentioned that he was feeling a little…unwell”

Dean narrowed his eyes a little at the tone of the man’s voice, it was emotionless and static, with a hint of something Dean couldn’t figure out, but nonetheless didn’t like.

“Don’t worry he’s fine, just the whether getting to him,”

Mr. Mclaughlin smiled his tight smile again, “Well let me know if there is anything I can do to help you.”

Dean gave a dense nod, and as the manger began to walk away, Dean called out,

“Have you ever heard of PapyrusCo?”

Mr. Mclauglin stopped in his tracks, and turned around with a strange look on his face, like he was trying to control his emotions, after a few seconds he responded perfectly calm,

“No, never heard of it. Why?” Dean merely shrugged,

“No reason.”

And before either man could say anything else, Dean's elevator dinged at its arrival, stepping into it, Dean watched Mr. Mclauglin walk away as the doors slid closed.

SPN SPN SPN

Back in the hotel room, Dean set up a little station on the bedside table. It consisted of Tylenol, all the different flavors of Gatorade, some saltines he had found in his duffel bag, a bowl of water and a washcloth. He sank down on his own bed, and only intended to close his eyes for a minute.

He woke an hour later to a rustling sound. Sam was tossing and turning in his bed. Then the whimpering started, and then-

“Dean! DEAN NO!”

“SAM!”

Sam gasped, his eyes opened as he frantically looked around, trying to take in his surroundings which had suddenly changed. The hellhounds. He knew they were coming, he just couldn’t see them. Or were they already here? Had Dean made the deal yet? His mind was so clouded with sleep and fever that he couldn’t process all the thoughts rolling around in his head. Dean. Dean! He had to warn him- or save him- or-

“Buddy what are you dreaming about?” Dean asked quietly, sitting in front of him and holding him by the shoulders.

“Dean…” Sam tried to yell, but it came out more as a strangled whimper. He tried to get the words out, but he couldn’t still the panic rising in his chest long enough to form a coherent sentence, “Dean, don’t- you can’t- I”

“Sam… Sammy calm down. It’s ok, come on. Deep breaths, man, deep breaths” Dean kept his voice as calm as he could as he held onto Sam. He gripped the back of Sam’s neck and held onto one arm while trying to anchor his gaze, but Sam’s eyes were all over the room. He was radiating heat like a furnace and clinging desperately to Dean's shirt as tears streamed out of his glassy, red rimmed eyes.

Sam swallowed back a sob, almost choking over his tears as he just kept talking over his brother, frantically begging him not to go through with the deal, “No- Dean, don’t let them take you- you can’t go-“

Dean pulled him into his chest, and cradled his head in the crook of his neck, holding him steady as Sam trembled and sobbed on his shoulder. “Sammy…” he whispered, “Little brother, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you. Slow it down… deep breaths, that’s it, I’m here, I’ve got you.”

“I don’t want them- t-to take you…I’m so sorry, Dean, please don’t…”

“Sam….shhh…..nobody’s going to take me away, we’re safe…ok?” Dean didn’t know what else to do other than to keep holding him and whispering to him. He forced back his own tears as best as he could. Every sob that came from Sam, ripped right through his heart. “Oh man…we gotta get this fever down.”

Eventually Sam seemed to settle a bit, or perhaps he had just run out of energy. “C’mon, Sammy….you’re ok. Just a bad dream.”

Sam’s breathing began to even out, and Dean could hear him taking careful, measured, breaths between sniffles.

“That’s it…there we go,” Dean murmured, “just relax, you’re ok.” Dean let him sit there for a few minutes to regain his composure before pressing him further for what he needed to know. “You ok now? Huh?”

Sam nodded, but couldn’t lift his head from his brother's shoulder.

“We gotta get some Tylenol in you, bring that fever down.” Dean cringed when he realized that the Tylenol was behind him, and he had a big lump of a brother on him, stopping him from moving. But looking down at Sam, Dean didn’t have the heart to move him just yet.

Sam just breathed, not showing any signs of moving from the comfort of Dean.

“Sammy…you never answered my question…”

Sam swallowed and tried to sit back. He managed to lift his head about an inch, before it fell back where it was. “Mmm?”

Dean gave him a gentle squeeze, “Stay put Sammy. Your dream, what was it about?”

There was a long pause, in which Dean thought he would have to force his way to get an answer, and Sam tried not to let the panic overwhelm him as he remembered dreaming about hellhounds coming to take his brother. Again. He sighed knowing that Dean was waiting for an answer and honestly, Sam was too tired for anything but the truth.

“About you… and when…the h-hellhounds…” Dean felt Sam shudder and swallow back more tears that threatened to start back up again.

"Hey, hey... easy. Alright..." Dean tightened his grip on Sam and ran his hand over Sam's head. "Sam, why are you thinking about that? That was a long time ago."

Sam made a soft strangled sound, like he was trying to say something but couldn't. But after a minute and a couple of breaths, he asked, "What? Do you think I'm... just going to forget that?"

Dean rubbed his back. "No, Sam. I know you're not going to forget it." His voice was tinged with regret. "But why are you dreaming about that now? I'm fine, that's all over, Sammy."

Sam shook his head, his voice breaking. “I-I lost everything t-that night”

“No you didn’t,” Dean reasoned, but then he felt Sam grip on tighter to him,

“I lost you”

And boy if that didn’t make Dean want to go hide in a corner, curl up in a ball and cry he didn’t know what would. He swallowed the abnormally large lump in his throat, and tightened his hold on Sam just a little.

“A-and knowing t-that there was…nothing I could do…. And that it was my f-fault that you made the deal-“

“Ok, let’s stop right there,” Dean interrupted, suddenly realizing where this conversation was going. He gently lifted Sam off his shoulder, moved back so he was facing him and cupped his chin. "Look at me."

Sam reluctantly met his brother's gaze. Dean buried the anguish he felt seeing tears in those eyes as he continued. “It was my choice to make the deal, and I don’t regret it one bit, ok?” After a second he added, “I would do it again too if it came down to it.”

It wasn’t until Sam's eyes widened, and tears pooled within, that Dean realized his mistake.

“But I- I’m sure it won’t come to that, we’re safe I promise. Hey maybe even after this case we take a little vacay? Go to vagus or something, tons of hot chicks there,” He ended with wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“What if-“ The puppy dog eyes were out.

“No,” Dean almost had to break Sam's gaze. That look just killed him sometimes. "Sammy, 'what if' is not going to happen. Now, listen- this is what we're gonna do right now. We're gonna bring your temperature down, and you're going to get a little rest. Then tomorrow we'll see how you're doing.”

Puppy dog eyes still there... What else does he need? Ah... "And I'll stay right here with you, ok?"

Sam finally looked down and nodded. This meltdown had taken more energy than he had to give.

Dean reached over and wet the cloth in the bowl of water. "We're also gonna clean up this face... all right?." Dean wiped Sam's eyes with the cold water. Sam just leaned into him and didn't fight it. "That's it... feel a little better?"

Sam nodded.

"Ok. Let's get you medicated and off to dreamland. The good dreamland, though, got it? No more of this hellhound crap." He handed Sam the pills but hesitated when picking up the Gatorade.

“Hey Sam, which flavor do you want?”

Sam looked over at him,

“We have blue, green, white, or orange?”

Sam narrowed his eyes in concentration, as he looked thoughtfully at the different flavors. Dean huffed,

“Dude it’s not rocket science,”

Sam gave him a tired, bitched face, before saying, “The orange one.”

Dean nodded and handed him the orange one, Sam took a gulp and swallowed the pills.

Dean pulled the covers up over Sam, and propped himself up on the pillows beside him. He wasn’t too surprised when Sam rolled over and curled up right next to him. Dean lifted his arm, and Sam pressed his head right up to his side. Dean lowered his arm to Sam’s shoulder, and rubbed his back affectionately.

“Dean?” Sam whispered

“Hmm?”

“I won’t go through it again. The deal. I can’t…. I’ll chain you to a fucking room made out of iron, cover you in salt and goofer dust if I have too.” He said with so much conviction, and protectiveness that it made Dean’s heart twinge with adoration.

Smiling sadly, Dean ran his hand through Sam’s hair gently,

“No more bad dreams ok Sammy? Just sleep, I’ll be here in the morning.”

Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day where ever you may be! ❤️

December 31, 2021

I loooove when they share a bed. Sam just needs big brother to keep away the bad dreams 🥰 I love it (sorry I can't leave more detailed comments at this time!)

January 2, 2022

@Seeker I love when they share a bed as well!! I feel like we missed out on so much platonic brotherly love! And please do not feel bad about the whole comment thing, I'm beyond grateful that you even left one in the first place 😆

A/N: Heeellloooo my fellow readers! As promised this chapter has more on the case (But I still left in some brotherly stuff cause I can't seem to write without it lol!) There is some language within, so be warned! :))

Chapter Seven:

The rest of the night went, thankfully, more smoothly. Sam slept for a couple hours, and then woke up startled, but not completely freaked out, which Dean counted as a bonus.

Dean was dosing against the headboard, and sleepily opened his eyes when he heard Sam take a sharp breath, “Sammy?” He whispered, “you ok?”

“Het’CHus!…hu’TUsh!” Was the reply.

It was the saddest, most pathetic sneeze Dean had ever heard. There was no force behind them and Dean could tell that Sam had no energy to put into them. It made his heart ache with pain, this just going to show how sick Sam really was. It was worrying.

“Hhhhehh…hEp’TEush” It was then, Dean registered that Sam had sneezed on him. Still curled up at his side, Sam snuffled into Dean’s shirt. Pulling a face of disgust, Dean sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that his immune system was up and running, but looking down at his brother, seeing the lines of pain over his face, and feeling the heat that was coming out of him, Dean couldn’t stay grossed out for long.

“Bless you,” he murmured.

“Dean?”

Dean rubbed his shoulder, “I’m still here. Bad dream?”!

Sam nodded and rubbed his nose, looking confused and completely exhausted, “Why are…am I sick?”

“Yeah, you're sick, kiddo… c’mon, it’s ok Sammy. Just go back to sleep,” Dean shimmied down till he was laying on his back, and guided Sam’s head into his shoulder, yawning. He kept an arm around Sam, “I’m right here.”

He felt Sam relax and curl in closer to him, before he felt sleep claim him again too.

Sam stirred a couple more times during the night, but settled again when he realized Dean was right next to him. Dean dosed him up on Tylenol each time he woke up, if enough time had passed. The first indication that things were getting better was the sleepy-bitch face directed at Dean around 4am, when he suggested the most recent dose of Tylenol.

At around 8:30 Dean woke up from his own dream. He was being pulled, held under a lake. He was drowning, he couldn’t breathe….Dean woke with a gasp, blinking in confusion when he found he still couldn’t breathe. Sam was sleeping soundly with his head and shoulders on Dean’s chest, and his arm stretched out over him, still radiating heat.

Dean smiled fondly at the sight below him. He couldn’t think of a time when Sam last curled up into him, it had to have been when they were kids, after a hunt gone wrong, or Sam turning too Dean for comfort after a nightmare. Sighing, Dean smiled. Despite everything they had gone through, here they were together, and alive. Dean rubbed up and down Sam’s back when he felt him stir.

“Morning sunshine!” He said cheerfully, sitting up ever so slightly.

Sam lifted his head up, hair sticking out in all directions, eyes squinting from the sunlight. He looked a little pale, but there was some more colour to his cheeks. Sam yawned and brought a hand to rub at his eye, but then stopped short, his breath going uneven.

Dean looked over at him with raised eyebrows, Sam sat there hand wavering, in front of his face, eyes shut, as his mouth hung open, taking in deep ragged breaths. Chest expanding every time. Then suddenly his head tilted back just a little and he ducked into his elbow,

“HUP’TESCUsHs! HIHEHHHUP’TUSHCUsw! Huhhhhhiii, heh”

“Woah, bless you,” Dean exclaimed, putting a hand on Sam’s back, sitting up all the way.

“Sniffff ugh, thanks” Sam then let out a deep chested cough that sent him doubling over. Dean quickly grabbed the Gatorade on the side table, handing it to his brother. Sam grabbed it gratefully and took several long gulps before handing it back.

“What time is it?” His voice sounded hoarse and by the way Sam winced as he spoke, Dean imagined it hurt worse than it sounded.

“Just turned 8:30. How ya feeling?”

Sam looked up to him through his bangs, “still feel like shit,” To prove his point, Sam twisted away from Dean throwing his elbow over his face, letting out a couple of harsh sneezes.

“Bless.”

Sam nodded his head in thanks.

“How does breakfast sound? Maybe with a side of meds?”

Sam grinned weakly,

“Sounds great…. Do you think this place serves oatmeal?” He asked shyly. Dean couldn’t help but grin at the way Sam looked so young and innocent.

“Sure Sammy, I’ll see if I can get you some,”

Sam smiled at that, and smoothed back his hair. Putting every misplaced hair strand back in place. Dean shook his head and stood up from the bed, stretching,

“Never understood how you do that,”

“Do what?”

“The hair thing,” Dean motioned with his hands what Sam just did to his own hair.

“Oh that. I don’t know, just do,” Sam shrugged. Then Sam looked down at the bed where Dean was just sat. Then looked back up at Dean. His head leaned just a little to see the empty, untouched bed on the other side of the room. A look of confusion on his face.

“Did you sleep in my bed last night?”

“Yeah” Dean replied simply.

“What? Why?”

“Cause you asked me to, you idiot,”

“No I didn’t!” Sam argued back, going slightly red as the memories of last night came back to him.

“Yes you did!” Dean teased, sensing Sam’s discomfort.

“Did not,” Sam grumbled.

“I’m pretty sure your exact words where, “please Dean, don’t go,”

Sam gasped, mortified, and threw a pillow at him,

“No I didn’t! you’re a friggin jerk!”

Dean laughed. In all fairness Sam did say that when he was dreaming about hellhounds and completely out of it. But he doesn’t need to know that.

Sam hid his head in his hands groaning in embarrassment. But smiled when he could hear Dean give an authentic laugh. It felt like years since he had heard Dean laugh like that. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed it. Sniffing every so slightly he looked back up at Dean who was pulling some fresh clothes on.

“You shouldn’t have done it though,” Dean looked at him confused,

“Done what?”

“Stay with me, you’re gonna get sick now,” Sam said guiltily. Dean gave him a sympathetic look,

“No I won’t, big brothers can’t get sick.” Sam glared at him, “besides you’ve already sneezed on me, so I’m probably already contaminated.”

Sam stared at him, mouth open in shock, “I sneezed on you? Fuck dude! I didn’t- I’m sorry!” He rambled, guilt and embarrassment fumbling into one.

“Hey, it’s no biggie, you’ve done worse to me.” Dean said easily.

“Yeah, yeah I have. Much worse” Sam said bitterly, laying back down on the bed. He sniffed angrily when he felt tears spring up in his eyes. Dean noticed,

“Hey now, no Sammy… I didn’t mean it like that,” Dean crossed back over to Sam’s bed.

“Yeah you did,” Sam choked out. And turned away from Dean.

Dean sat at the edge of the bed unsure on what to do, he hadn’t meant to cause this reaction out of Sam, but he should have guessed Sam was still all emotional. He reached a tentative hand, and placed it over Sam's forehead, checking for fever. Sam grumbled at him trying to push his hand away,

“Dude, stop!”

“Sam…” Dean warned. Sam stopped struggling, and rolled over so Dean could reach him better, but didn’t hesitate to show how annoyed he was.

“You're burning up again kiddo.” Sam propped himself up on his elbows surprised,

“I am?” He then placed his own hand on his forehead and removed it upon feeling his own heat, “huh,”

Dean chuckled before handing Sam more Tylenol, “Alright Sammy, Tylenol time!” Sam took it without complaint, “Atta boy,” he praised. Sam just rolled his eyes, before blinking them sleepily.

“Try not to go to sleep ok, Sammy? Let’s at least attempt to get some food in you. I’ll go down and get you some oatmeal, yeah?”

“K’ay” he responded, fighting to keep his eyes open, “M’ ti’rd…”

“Yeah I know you are kiddo, I’ll be back in a bit,”

With that he pulled a jacket on and headed to the elevators.

SPN SPN SPN

Walking down the hallway, Dean came across two housekeeping ladies talking, he slowed his pace when he heard them talk about Hailey,

“Did you hear what the boss did to her last night?” Said Cleaning lady one.

“Yeah, gave her a real stern telling off. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the boss so mad,” responded cleaning lady number two. Dean cocked an ear, hiding behind a wall, listening,

“Serves her right, blabbering off to those FBI folks,” cleaning lady one pointed out.

“Always was a soft heart, one of these days it's gonna get her killed,”

“I bet you anything she will turn us all in.” Remarked cleaning lady one.

“Hmph, not much good it will do her. Boss will just kill her off before she has the chance, just like he will do those agents before they figure anything else out.” Cleaning lady number two said confidently.

“How much do you think they know?” Asked the First Lady,

“I heard the short one asked the boss about PapyrusCo,” the second lady said.

I’m not that short, grumbled Dean, but continued eavesdropping, feeling a tight knot of panic start to tie itself together in his stomach. He wasn’t liking where this conversation was going.

“If only those people had accepted the offer the Boss gave them, there would have been no need to kill anyone.”

“Shame”, cleaning lady number one said remorsefully, “and to think our clan has gone straight, and one measly little paper company comes along and ruins it all.”

There was a couple moments of silence and Dean thought they had left before they started back up again,

“Well at least those FBI folks will be dealt with tonight.” One of them said, Dean was losing track on who was saying what.

“Thank god. The last thing we need is word getting out to hunters that a pack of shapeshifters are running a hotel.” The other said.

Dean gasped silently, as what they said hit him. He then heard them start to laugh as they rolled their carts down the hallway towards the elevators. Dean stayed still till he made sure they were gone, before heading back to his room at a run.

Bursting through the door, he woke a sleeping Sam, who looked at him with concern,

“Dean?” He said, sounded far worse than when Dean had left, “What's wrong?”

Walking over to his duffel bag, Dean began throwing his belongings in,

“We gotta go Sam, pack your stuff.” When Sam made no sign of moving Dean barked at him, “Now Sam!”

Sam’s eyes widened at his brother's tone, but shakily got up, trying to gather his stuff.

“Dean, what's going on?” He asked again.

“Their shapeshifters, all of them!” Dean cried out, helping Sam chuck his stuff in his duffel, before heading to the bathroom to grab a couple boxes of tissues, and shoving them in his own bag.

“Who?” Sam asked, weakly throwing on a coat.

“I’m guessing the entire hotel staff!” Dean then proceeded to tell Sam about his encounter with the manager and the conversation he overheard with the housekeeping ladies.

Sam stared at him shocked, but couldn't dwell on it long before Dean was ushering him out of the room. Making their way hastily down the hall, Sam called out to Dean,

“Dean! Slow down a second,” Dean turned to find Sam leaning against a wall, looking extremely pale.

“Sam? Sam! Hey don’t pass out on me buddy,” Dean said sternly, but his worry for his brother was clear, “Come on we just need to get to the car ok? It’s not safe here, we are completely outnumbered and have no plan, no weapons, and I’m one man down.”

Sam looked at Dean with a hurt expression on his face.

Dean sighed,“You know I didn’t mean it like that Sammy. Look at you though, you are in no shape to fight, let alone fight a whole clan of shapeshifters. You can hardly get down the hall without having a dizzy spell,”

“I’m fine Dean,” Sam said with determination, as he pushed himself off the wall and walked towards the elevators.

“Oh yeah sure, I bet you could run a marathon right now,” Dean muttered under his breath.

Making it down to the lobby without an incident, they quickly headed to the doors, and as they climbed into the impala, Dean realized Hailey wasn’t at the check in desk.

TBC

---------

Thank you for reading!! There will be about 2 more chapters after this one, I am hoping to finish this story before school starts back up :))

January 3, 2022

So much hurt/comfort my heart is exploding!! Love love love!!! Also, YOU WROTE SICK SAM!! 😍 Hardly anyone writes sick Sam and he's my fav!! Keep up the fantastic work! Really enjoyed reading it!!

January 3, 2022

This is so good! The brotherly moments actually made me cry and then you devoloped the case story as well! You rock, thank you !

January 6, 2022

@LostGirl2.0 Oh my gosh, I can't believe you have read my story!!! Ahhhhhh!!! I feel kinda honored to be honest, I mean your Remus story was so freakin good, and then reading your SPN story has opened doors I didn't know I needed open, not only that but your writing is extremely professional! So thank you so much for reading! Also yes sick Sam is the best, and I agree no one writes sick Sam, and the stories I did find, I read them super quickly and wanted more 😅 I hope you continue to enjoy!! 🥰

@blueprint Ahhh thank you so much!! haha oops didn't mean to make you cry...........(I mean maybe I did... just a little 🤫) I'm really glad you are enjoying the case as well!! It was harder than I thought it be, other people make it look so easy 🤷‍♀️. But thank you so much for reading, it really means a lot to know you are enjoying it!! ❤️

A/N: My school has given me an extra week off due to Covid. With Omicron being as a bad as it is, my school is getting more covid tests to give to the students and stuff, which i'm super glad they are doing. And I get an extra week off which is a bonus. With that being said I get more time to write!!! This will be the second to last chapter I hope you enjoy :))

Chapter Eight:

“HUP’TECShSH!”

Sniff

“H’EPTUSsuSs!”

Sniff sniff

“Hhhhhehhhii…hhhhhHHUP’TUSHCHSsSEs! HEHHHH HEH HHIH hhhhi sniff sniff….damgit” Sam complained rubbing angrily at his nose while chucking another used tissue into the trash can Dean had so conveniently placed by the motel bed. They had arrived at this shit house three hours ago, after Dean’s hasty pack-all-of-your-stuff-and-move-your-ass stunt. Dean was silent during the car ride, the only noise was Sam’s sneezing which seemed to have skyrocketed. He couldn’t go a couple minutes without sneezing at least once.

He wished they hadn't left the hotel. He understood why they did. But we would happily take the risk of shapeshifters if it meant they could have a room with fucking heating. Sam had every blanket the room had to offer with his own jacket, thrown over him, and he was still freezing. He was one more shiver away from asking Dean for his coat. But Sam bit his tongue on that idea because Dean was one more sniffle away from losing it.

It was obvious that Dean was getting annoyed at Sam's constant sniffing and sneezing, and he was clearly stressing out over the whole shapeshifter thing, and was most likely pissed that Sam had stopped helping. But in Sam’s defense he did help out for a little bit, before he felt or lack thereof feeling in his hands from the cold, and the constant sneezing to the point where he couldn’t read a few sentences before going off into a fit.

They did however figure out who the so-called “boss” was from the cleaning ladies conversation. They decided it had to be the hotel manager, Mr.McLaughlin, it was the only conclusion that made sense. Leader of a clan of shapeshifters and manager of a hotel in Duluth Minnesota. Sam also did some vigorous research on PapyrusCo again to see if he missed anything the time. He stumbled across an article, hidden deep within the dark ends of google, about PapyrusCo looking to expand their company and set up factory locations in Minnesota. He tried reading it, but that’s when the sneezing was getting worse so Dean took over.

“HUT’USscHs! Hhhhhiiie…hehhHUP’CEStShsw! Sniff sniiiifffff”

“Sam…” Dean glared at him from over the computer, “for god's sake blow your nose, sniffing isn’t going to help you”

Sam looked at him with wet dewy eyes, “i’vb triebd thab, ithhhhhh…HU’ECCSSsuS it doesgn’t helgp.” But one look of Dean’s angry glare sent Sam reaching for the tissue box, he gave a fruitless blow of his nose and gave Dean a “see!” look before chucking it in the bin. Dean just sighed and rubbed a hand over his mouth, leaning back in the chair.

“So I’ve read the article and it doesn’t explain much. It doesn’t say where the company wanted to place factories, it just says they want to do it within Duluth Minnesota ‘due to the large amount of lush forests available’.” He ended by closing the laptop and hanging his head down, running his hands from the back of his neck through his hair, before looking back up at Sam.

“I don’t know what to say man, I mean if we know where the shapeshifters are, then we should just go gank them and be done with this case.”

Sam gave a thoughtful look, “We can’t jusbt gangk themb Deabn. We still arenb’t entirely sure thab the wholge stafb are shabeshifgters.” Sam gave a light cough at the end and made a face of discomfort.

Dean stared at him, mouth slightly open, “I-I’m gonna pretend I understood all of that.”

Sam glared at him, until his face went slack and he blindly grabbed for a tissue, throwing it over his face,

“Hhhhhiiih…HEH’TESHcUSh! HU’TSUPsChUsw!” Sam tried to blow his nose again but groaned in defeat when nothing happened. He slumped back against the bed headboard and pulled the blankets more firmly over him. Sniffing pathetically.

“Dibn’t you say thab the cleabning ladies said thabt ifb thehhhehhhi-thehh people hadhhhiih accepthhHHIh- acceptedhhh thehhhiii th-hhhuhhhHEH”

“Sam, sneeze first, talk second” Dean told him. It was already hard enough to understand his brother with his congestion, but him trying not to sneeze and keep talking made it almost impossible.

“HUP’TESCHSSsh! TU’SHUSCHSss!” Not having time to grab a tissue he lifted his shirt up over his nose, and dropped it back down afterwards sniffing in relief.

“Bless you,” Dean said, standing up he headed over to the fridge and grabbed a beer, “you're not having one,” he said, after seeing Sam’s face waiting for Dean to throw him one. Sam looked at him confused and a little bit hurt.

“Whabt? Why?” He asked exasperated.

“Because you're sick, that’s why.” Dean said, like it explained everything. Which it did, “you can’t drink if you’re sick,”

“You dringk all the timbe when you're sick” Sam argued back.

“Yeah well I’m older, and you have Gatorade right there!” Dean walked over to his bed opening his beer and taking a sip, “you were saying” motioning for Sam to continue his earlier conversation.

“Rigbt, the cleabning ladies said thabt ifb the people had justbt accepted the bosses offper then they wouldbn’t habe needed to die, plubs didn’t you say they wengt straight?”

Dean nodded as he began to understand Sam’s point, “Yeah, so do you think PapyrusCo was looking to buy off the hotel or something, and that didn’t sit too well with the shifters?”

“It”sb a possibility. It coulbd explagne why we found PapyrusCo stufb in the two rooms.”

“True,” Dean agreed. But after a moment’s pause he added, “I’ve been thinking about that, doesn’t it seem a bit odd that the two rooms we checked just happened to have PapyrusCo information? I mean obviously the shifters were trying to keep their killings on the down low, it took us a fucking week to even figure out that all the victims had gone to the same hotel,”

“Do you thignk someone helpbed us?”

“Maybe,”

“Bugt who?”

“I don’t know,” Dean admitted.

The boys sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds were Dean drinking his beer and Sam sniffing.

“HhhuhhhHEHHHHUP’TEUSCHSSs!” Sam groaned as a particularly strong sneeze sent him doubling over. “Ughhhh, whegbn can I tabke more Tylenol or NyQuil or sombethign?” Sam half wailed.

Dean looked at his watch and gave Sam a sympathetic look, “not for another hour yet Sammy, sorry.”

Sam rubbed his eyes and coughed. In doing so the blankets fell off of Sam’s shoulders, and he tried pathetically to pull them back up, but all he ended up doing was tangling himself up. He looked over at Dean, with large eyes and small pout on his face as he whimpered in defeat.

Dean chuckled quietly at the sight in front of him before going over to help Sam. Untangling his brother, he helped pull the blankets securely over him. Sam looked at him with a grateful smile, before leaning over the bed so his head rested on Dean’s stomach.

“I hatbe this,” Sam complained, shifting closer to Dean. Dean ran a hand through Sam’s hair,

“yeah I know you do”

“HUP’TESCHSSsh!” Sam twisted violently away from Dean, as a sneeze crept up on him. “Sniff god sniff sobrry”

Slumping back into Dean, Dean placed his chin on Sam's head, wrapping his arms around Sam.

“Bless you,” he murmured. Sam shivered into Dean, and he felt Dean’s hold on him tighten ever so slightly.

“Hailey!” San said suddenly.

“What?”

“It musbt habe been Hailey. She wasb the one who gavbe me the room cardbs, and the one who insibsted we stayed at the hotel.”

Dean’s eyes widened as the pieces slowly came together.

“And those cleaning people said that their boss was mad at her for something,”

“She evben told me to hubrry up and get in the roomb before the cleaners did-“ Sam broke off on a cough, leaning away from Dean as he struggled to get a full breath in. Dean reached over for the Gatorade and held it ready for whenever Sam was done.

But Sam didn’t show any signs of stopping. He was now bent in half as his body shook, Dean placed a hand on his back and bent down to his level. He felt a panic surge through him when he saw Sam was a deep red and hardly any air was going in him.

“Sam? Sam breath man”

Sam tried but it only resulted in more coughing. Dean felt a shaky hand reach for his arm, and Dean started to really panic. He started pounding Sam on the back,

“Sammy? God dammit, Breath!”

And then finally Sam took a sharp intake. His chest rattled at every intake, but at least he was breathing. Sam leaned back onto the bed, all energy completely evaporated.

“Now is it time for more meds?” Sam rasped, a silent begging in his eyes. Begging for Dean to say yes, and take away just the edge of pain. His congestion seemed to have been moved during the coughing fit, which Sam wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Dean looked at his watch, there was still about half an hour before it would be time, but Dean didn’t care. After that incident he wasn’t willing to risk anything.

Rushing up he grabbed both the Tylenol and NyQuil, handing Sam the Gatorade as well. Sam swallowed both with a grimace, Dean assumed it was hell on his throat.

“How are we supposed to do this?” Sam whispered. Lying back down on the bed.

“Do what Sammy?”

“Finish the hunt? I can’t do anything lying here, I would be useless on the actual thing, and you can’t go in there alone. I can’t back you up.” Sam looked up at Dean with wet hazel eyes. Looking at him for guidance and comfort.

“I don’t know Sam. I guess we will have to call in another hunter, have them take over.”

“But-“ Sam was cut off from whatever guilty speech he was going to make about forcing another hunter to come finish their hunt, when a loud knock on the door interrupted him.

The brothers stared at the door, and looked at each other. Dean put a hand on his lips to signal Sam to stay quiet, Sam nodded as he continued to stare at the door. As Dean made his way to the door, he stopped off by the weapons bag and grabbed his silver knife.

At the door, Dean opened it a crack, so you could only see half of his face, Sam completely out of view. His knife was hidden at the ready. Looking outside he fought back his shock,

“Hiya Hailey, what are you doing in this funky town?”

She stood before him with a gun aimed at his face.

SPN SPN SPN

Sam was already on edge when Dean opened the door but then he said Hailey. And if their suspicions were correct then Hailey was a shapeshifter, he was already halfway to the door when Dean said funky town. That bitch was aiming a gun at his brother. Stopping he changed directions and shakily headed towards the weapons bag. He fought the way the world shifted and turned, and clumsily reached for his gun, regretting standing up so fast, he unloading his gun, refilling it with silver bullets. Breathing heavily he sniffed and ran his wrist under his nose. He could hear Hailey speaking, she sounded different. Not like a shapeshifter about to kill someone. But he didn’t care, all he cared about was getting Dean someplace else or at least more protected. Tuning her out he walked up along the wall for one, balance and two, so he wouldn’t be seen, he ended up on the side of the door Dean was hiding his knife. Carefully reaching down, Sam grabbed the knife and switched it out for the gun.

And before even Sam could comprehend what was going on, Dean had his gun aimed at Hailey’s face.

“You make a move, and I will pump you full of silver,” he growled.

Sam smiled when he heard Hailey’s short gasp. He could only imagine what her face looked like, but he assumed it was priceless.

“You're a hunter…” she whispered, speaking more to herself than Dean. Her gun was taken easily from her grasp as Dean stepped aside and allowed her to walk in, the gun still aimed at her.

Dean handed Sam Hailey’s gun, and gave him a concerned glance, when he saw Sam struggling to remain upright. Sam tried to smile reassuringly, but seeing as Dean’s face didn’t change and his eyebrows furrowed, then Sam mustn’t have been as confident as he thought he was being.

“Are you going to kill me?” Hailey asked. Breaking apart the moment between the brothers. Dean turned to look at her, and stepped out in front of Sam, in a protective stance.

“Depends.” Dean said, completely emotionless, “From what I can see, you and your band of shapeshifters own a hotel and kill people. Am I close?”

Hailey looked around nervously, clearly surprised at how fast “Agent Knowles” had changed his tone towards her.

“I can explain,” Hailey started, “We never meant for any of this to happen, I swear! Would you believe me if I said we had gone straight?”

“Nope,” Dean said with a grin, and pulled the safety off on the gun.

“Dean..” Sam said softly, putting a hand on his arm, “Give her a chance.”

Looking up at Hailey he asked, “Who’s we?”

“My clan. You had the part about us owning a hotel right. And yes we are shapeshifters, but I swear to you, on my life, we are not killers.”

Dean scoffed at that, “Oh yeah? You tell that to the two people you killed and their family’s.”

Sam gave him a warning glare, before looking back at Hailey, nodding for her to continue,

“They weren’t supposed to die, Mr. McLaughlin, I guess you could call him our boss-“

“Ha! I knew it was him!”

“Dean for the love of it all, shut up!” Sam cried out, pushing off the wall in annoyance. But Sam just ended up losing balance and tripping over his own feet. In an instant, Dean had his arms around Sam's wait, holding him up, as Sam gasped against the onslaught of dizziness.

Hailey took a step towards them, concern visible on her face,

“Stay there,” Dean growled, giving her a death glare that made her stop. Then Dean turned his attention back to Sam, and his whole attitude changed. His face softened and with gentle hands got Sam to sit down, Dean knelt down next to him. Removing the gun and knife from Sam’s hands and chucking them on the bed. Ignoring the flinch it brought out of Hailey.

“Hey hey…Sammy? Dude You alright?” He asked quietly, trying to ignore the fear in the pit of his stomach. Sam had suddenly gone really pale, his eyes shut as he took deep labored breaths. Sweat shining on his forehead.

“Mn’fine De’n, ju’t a little d’zzy” he looked up at Dean and tried to give him a smile, but instead he ended up doubling over with a stifled,

“Hi’GNX! HE’IGX! h’EGtnx!”

Moaning softly afterwards he laid his head on Dean’s shoulder.

“Alright ok, hang on buddy” Dean murmured to him. With soft and practiced hands, Dean lifted Sam off his shoulder and had him lean against the wall, quickly moving his sweaty bangs off his forehead. Sam leaned into the touch and nearly fell over again. Dean was really starting to regret giving Sam those meds. He was completely out of it.

Standing back up again, Dean faced Hailey, “Talk,” he said, “And it better be good.” He added motioning towards the gun on the bed.

TBC.....

A/N: Thank you for reading! One more bit to go after this one! Have a wonderful day, and stay safe!! 😆

January 9, 2022

Hellllooooo my fellow readers!! The day has finally come! The. last. chapter! ahhh it was a long but very rewarding journey, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone who gave this story a chance!! From those who left a comment, to all the silent readers, I appreciate all of you! ❤️ I hope this last part is satisfying, and that you enjoy it! Having this be my first case fic, i'm rather proud of it, I know there is tons of room for improvement, but hey this is a start! So, without further ado, I present to you.....

Chapter Nine:

Looking at Hailey’s face, Dean tried not to feel bad for her. She was looking at him like he was the monster and not her. But in her world the hunters would be the monsters.

“It was my fault in the first place that any of this happened,” she said remorsefully, “I was shedding my skin one day in the staff restroom-“

“I’m sorry, shedding your skin?” Dean cut in with confusion. He looked over at Sam, who had his head leaned back against the wall, his eyes barely open. Dean seriously doubted he was even aware of what was going on.

“Every Shapeshifter has to shed their skin at least once a week. It keeps our skin moisturized, and if you don’t then it gets all dry and itchy, plus it starts to smell. It’s just uncomfortable. So I was shedding my skin that day in the staff bathroom, and for some reason both PapyrusCo workers walked in. And as you can imagine they freaked out, started screaming, and threatened to call the police,” Hailey explained.

“Everyone knew that if the police got involved then so would the news and then hunters. And well a couple of the older shifters, including Mr. McLaughlin went to reason with them, but one thing led to another and before we knew it they were dead on the ground.”

Dean rubbed a hand over his face. He was now sat on the bed closest to Sam, as he thought about what Hailey just said. He still wasn’t sure whether to kill Hailey and run for it, or trust that there is some truth in her words.

“So are you going to kill us? I mean we both know that all of you at the hotel are shifters.”

Dean turned his head in shock, as he looked over at Sam, who had somehow managed to form a mostly coherent sentence. Sam was now sitting up more attentively, his curiosity clearly winning over the amount of drugs in his system. Dean smiled proudly, even sick and tapped out on drugs, Sam was able to work.

“This mess is my fault, so everyone voted that I should fix it.” Hailey motioned towards her discarded gun on the bed.

Dean stood up and took an unconscious step backwards towards Sam, “You didn’t answer his question.”

Dean could hear Sam shift behind him, slowly standing up. Hailey’s eyes stared at both brothers, her eyes glistening,

“Mr. McLaughlin told me to deal with you two, then handed me a gun. You tell me what I’m supposed to do. You guys were just supposed to be FBI agents, not hunters! I-I don’t want to be a killer-“ she broke off with a stifled sob. Her words grew stronger with emotion, as she pleaded with the both men.

“We are peaceful people, I swear! We didn’t like the old way of life, it's why we sought a life out here, where we could live in harmony with everyone else. It was my fault anyone had to die in the first place,” she said, her voice thick with self- loathing.

Sniffing a few times, Hailey wiped her eyes.

“I don’t even know your names.” She said, her voice breaking, trying to stop the tears that kept threatening to fall. Dean sighed quietly. What was up with this hunt? He was looking forward to killing something, but from Hailey’s confession he wasn’t sure if he should be killing anything. Deciding to take pity on the girl he said,

“I’m Dean, and this is my brother Sam.”

Sam waved from behind, smiling a little. Hailey waved awkwardly back.

“I’m really sorry for dragging you into this.” She said sadly. And for the first time since Hailey arrived, Dean didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t good with the whole empathic thing. Out of habit he looked over at Sam, who already had his face morphed into a sympathetic look.

“It’s ok.” He said hoarsely, “We all make mistakes.”

Dean didn’t like the way Sam looked away from him at that last bit. With hints of shame in his eyes.

“Is that why you tried to help us?” Sam asked. Hailey merely nodded.

The three of them stared at each other. An uncomfortable silence covering them. The only noise was Sam's breath that began hitching.

“Hhhihh…hehsor-HUh….sorry!” He turned quickly away from both Dean and Hailey, cupping his hands over his face.

““Hi’GNX! HE’IGX! h’EGtnx!” Dean put a hand on the back of his neck, feeling Sam’s body tremble with every held back sneeze.

“Bless you,” offered Hailey. Smiling slightly at Dean’s display of affection towards Sam. After a second of regaining his posture, Sam turned back around, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Sorry.” He croaked.

“What if you left?” Hailey said suddenly, both brothers giving her a questioning look.

“As in you just leave and don’t come back. I’ll say I dealt with you, my clan will be happy, and everything will go back to the way it was. No one else has to die.” She explained, smiling proudly.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, neither one sure on what to say. But within that moment they had one of those silent agreements, no words needed.

“We’re gonna need to think about it,” Dean told her, speaking for both of them. With that Dean grabbed Sam’s arm and guided him outside.

The second the motel door closed, Sam pitched forward into his shirt with a desperate,

“HUP’TESCHSSsh! TU’SHUSCHSss! HUP’TESCHSSsh!”

“How long have you been holding that back?” Dean asked, slightly amused.

“A while,” Sam admitted, blushing slightly. Dean couldn’t help the laugh that forced its way out of him. Sam smiled himself before looking away, out of embarrassment. All it did was make Dean laugh harder.

“Stop laughing, jerk.” But even Sam was shaking his head, chuckling

“You have such a weird mental block when it comes to sneezing in front of others.”

“No I don’t,” denied Sam.

“Yes you do.”

“No I don’t!”

“Deny it all you want, Sammy. It doesn’t change anything.” Dean had to duck from a weak punch. A little too weak Dean thought.

“So what are we going to do about Hailey? Are we going to trust her?”

Running a hand through his hair, Dean sighed as he was brought back down to reality.

“Yeah I don’t know. I mean we were in that hotel, and until I heard those cleaning ladies, I had no clue that the place was filled with fucking shifters.”

“That’s either a good thing or a really bad thing.” Sam mused.

They both stared at the motel door, each lost in their own thoughts.

“Alright, let's think about this logically,” Sam began, “Other than now, there haven’t been any stories, tales, or even signs that there are a group of shifters living around this area. That has to prove something.”

“Like what?” Dean asked. Crossing his arms for warmth. He was beginning to get really cold, having only come out in his jacket, and looking at Sam, he realized the idiot didn’t have anything on, just a long sleeved top, and some thin sweats. It was dark, but Dean could tell he was shivering, and his lips looked a little blue. Not good. Without thinking about it, he pulled his own jacket off and tossed it to Sam.

Sam looked up at him with curious but large eyes as he caught the garment. Dean just nodded, and he knew it was worth giving up the warmth, from the grateful and almost loving smile that was being directed his way.

“Maybe this truly was just a massive mistake, from one tiny slip up, like Hailey said.” Sam continued, “I mean we could just let this one go?”

Dean frowned at Sam, “let this one go? Sam, there’s a whole hotel filled with monsters that could turn at any second! They say they have gone straight, that they don’t kill, but the second the opportunity arrived they killed two innocent people!”

“They were just defending their home Dean! You heard Hailey, she’s clearly beating herself up over what happened, and she has given us an out, I say we take it!“ Sam said, his voice raised a little.

Dean narrowed his eyes, “Take it? Sam, they're dangerous.” His voice was low, trying to control the anger that was slowly building.

“So they slipped up once, you would have done the same thing if you were them, and you know it!” Sam replied, sensing Dean's anger.

“Well I’m not a shifter Sam, and that certainly doesn’t- Sam?” Dean stopped his train of thought when he saw Sam lean against the motel wall, raising a fisted hand to his mouth as a savage cough took over him.

Dean waited for it to pass, and each second he waited he gradually realized that Sam wouldn’t be any help in a fight. Whatever virus he had was really kicking his ass. He needed time to recover, not be forced to take on a whole group of shapeshifters. Even if both of them were in tip top shape, it would be a challenge. Maybe all they can do is take Hailey’s offer, and come back another day, in better health and better prepared.

After Sam’s coughing had finally subsided, Sam stayed leaning on the wall, energy depleted. He turned his head so he was looking at Dean, wet hazel eyes looking at him. Dean sighed knowing that he had lost. One look in those eyes was all he needed.

“Fine, we’ll leave, but Sam, if I catch even a wind of a hunt that is even remotely close to shapeshifters in Duluth-“

“Yeah, I know.” Sam said, cutting Dean off, “I know, and I promise if it comes to that, then we will do it your way.” His voice was all broken after the amount of pressure his throat had been through, but Dean knew Sam would keep his word.

“Come on back inside, this cold air won’t help cure you.” Placing a hand on Sam’s back, Dean gently shoved him back into the motel room.

Hailey stood up from one of the beds, after the brothers walked back in. Dean was the first one to speak.

“We’ll go.”

Hailey smiled brightly, and headed towards the door, picking up her gun on the way, but Dean grabbed her arm stopping her. Leaning in towards her ear he whispered,

“But if any of you step out of line, we’ll be back. And I don’t think I need to tell you what would happen if we did.”

Hailey nodded quickly, and slowly backed towards the door.

“Thank you,” she said, “You won’t regret it, I promise.” And with that she was gone.

SPN SPN SPN

Once Hailey had left, the brothers packed up their belongings, and hit the road again, Sam falling asleep not 10 minutes after. Dean looked over at him, and smiled at the innocent sight. He wasn’t thrilled with letting the shifters go, but he was ready for when they slipped up again.

He pulled up at a motel, just outside of Duluth and booked out a room for the next couple of days. Waking a groggy Sam, they made their way into the room, where Sam flopped onto the bed. Dean shook his head, and pulled a blanket over his brother, fondly pushing back his bangs, checking for fever, surprised when he couldn’t feel one. Seemingly satisfied that Sam was ok for now, he changed into some more comfortable clothing and got into bed himself.

He only intended to sleep for a couple hours, but he didn’t wake till nearly 11 the next day. He woke with a start realizing he'd fallen asleep and that he hadn't checked on Sam in hours.

“Sammy?”

Sam sleepily opened his eyes. "Hey,"

"Hey, yourself," Dean said softly as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "You doin' ok? You been up long? I'm sorry... I fell asleep."

Sam grinned, his eyes only half opened. "Good. You needed it. 'm fine. C'n take care of m'selfhhhhi…HU’CHus! he’TUsh!” Sam jerked his head down into his elbow, with soft sneezes, looking back up bashfully

"Yeah. I'm sure you could perform a triathlon right now and then stop off to pick up groceries on the way back." Dean felt his cheeks and forehead.

Sam laughed weakly and closed his eyes for a moment, deciding it wasn't worth the effort to try to stop Dean's mothering.

"Tylenol time for you, kiddo. Fever's getting up there again."

Sam just held out his hand and took the pills Dean offered.

"Atta boy. No arguing." Dean smiled.

Sam just rolled his eyes, which he slightly regretted when he felt like his brain was doing flips in his head.

"All right, you gotta be starving. I'm gonna go pick something up to eat, pretty sure I saw a diner on our way here... I'll figure out something easy on your stomach, but I think you'd better eat something."

As Dean stood to go, Sam looked pleadingly at his brother, like he wanted to say something. Dean sat back down and studied his expression. "What do you need, Sammy?" he asked, laying his hand gently on Sam's stomach. As soon as he started the light, careful circles, Sam's expression softened and his eyes closed again.

"Ohhh... ok," Dean laughed.

Sam let out a quiet, contented sigh but didn't open his eyes as Dean continued gently rubbing his stomach.

"You know, you can just ask me if you need something," Dean said, his voice surprisingly gentle.

Sam opened one eye and looked at him suspiciously. Dean just gazed back at him, his face full of sincerity, but Sam wasn't sure he was buying it. "Yeah. Asking my big brother for a tummy rub won't get me years of ribbing," he answered weakly.

Dean grinned sheepishly. "Look, Free Pass on this one, ok? Anything you want, Sammy. And I promise I'll be good. Until you're better, of course, then we'll go back to me kicking your ass, ok? C'mon, I'm serious. I just want you to feel better, so you let me know if you need something, got it?"

Sam smiled, gratefully and closed his eyes again, sinking back into the pillow. Dean kept rubbing for a few more minutes.

"There. That feel a little better?" he asked after a while.

Sam nodded. "Thanks."

"It would probably help if you ate something, don't you think?"

Sam looked doubtful.

"Think you could try?"

Sam sighed. "Yeah, not too much, though."

Dean then spent the rest of the day getting Sam some food, changing the bedding while Sam showered, and making sure the nightstand was well stocked with crackers, drinks and more Tylenol.

When Sam came out of the bathroom, he faltered with a sneezy look on his face, raising his arm, he left it hanging there as he felt the itch grow and finally became strong enough to relieve it,

“HITChz! hehh hu’HETIXH!HEHHH, huu’HETXHSC!”

“Bless you!” Dean called out.

Sam smiled when he saw the sight of his bed all made up and the nightstand packed full with all the goods. God, he loved his brother

Dean pulled back the covers and motioned for Sam to get in. "C'mon, back to bed."

Sam complied and didn't try to stop Dean from tucking him in. He felt pretty awful and he'd decided he was going to put this Free Pass to good use.

"Dean," Sam started weakly as Dean pulled the covers up to his chin and felt his forehead for the hundredth time that day.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Thanks... thanks for doing all of this."

Dean shook his head. "Just doin' my job, Sammy. Just want you to feel better."

Sam looked at him, his eyes welling slightly. "I know. And I do. I do feel better, Dean. Better than I've felt in... in a long time."

Dean smiled at him and pushed his hair out of his eyes, heart swelling at the sight of his little brother, "Yeah... well, you'd better get some more sleep, or you're gonna feel like crap again."

Sam smiled and closed his eyes, knowing that Dean would be there when he woke up, and that thought alone guided him into a deep, happy, slumber.

THE END!

Thank you so so much for sticking with me, I hope you all have a fantastic day!! I'll just be here, dealing with post-story blues. 😅

January 10, 2022

So cute! I love the belly rub! Sweet brother time and case complete, absolutely awesome

January 11, 2022

22 hours ago, Seeker said:

So cute! I love the belly rub! Sweet brother time and case complete, absolutely awesome

oh my gosh!!! Thank you so much! Seriously thank you for leaving reviews throughout, I loved hearing what you thoughts! ❤️

Minnesota (SPN SAM)

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