Title: On Borrowed Time

Series: Supernatural

Genre: Romance/Humor

Rating: NC-17/M

Words: 3,412

Disclaimer: If I owned Supernatural Dean would get mauled by a cat in every episode. Why? Because he looks like a cat person. Everything that has a copyright or trademark belongs to the person that holds said copyright or trademark. So all in all… I own jack shit. Except anything I make up… But that's because I'm awesome.

Pairings: Hinted and Eventual Dean/Castiel : Sam/OMC

Warnings: AU, Homosexual Relations, Sexual Relations, Language, Violence

Chapter Specific Warning: Mild Abuse [Neglect/Animalistic Treatment]

A/N: This is my first stab at a Supernatural story… I'm using the Supernatural Wiki site, but I'd love people if they could help me out with characterizations. Like if you have a random character profile laying around with Sam and Dean's quirks, ect. and stuff… I'd love you! Trying to keep them as in character as possible.

As the warning states this is an AU, I'm not following the storyline to the letter. Things may change or be altered from the normal flow of things. This is based around the general time of the Apocalypse however there will be no specifications.

…

…

…

"So why are we taking this thing? Can't you just kill it?" Dean snapped running his fingers through his hair. His leather jacket held the lingering scent of cigarettes and stale beer, looking at the Hunter standing before him he raised a brow waiting for an answer. Pressing his tongue against the inside of his lower lip he looked off to the side in a nearly exaggerated motion before glaring at the older man that was gesturing to a metal door at the end of a dark hallway. "No… Of course not."

"Your father was the next in line to take it… Seeing as he's dead it falls on you two. And no… We can't kill it. The damn thing survives anything we throw at it. It seems to reset every hundred years, so be glad you get it right no… It went stupid again." The older Hunter sneered. His peppered brown hair grimy and stinking of something neither Winchester wanted to place. Scars crisscrossing his face and neck as he gestured roughly towards the door again, voice rough from loss of sleep as Mac pointed again with a snarl towards Sam. "It shape shifts…"

"I ain't touchin' it." Dean put his hands up as Sam looked towards him. Grinning as Sam pursed his lips with a look of annoyance, Dean could only shrug as he smiled. "Your face is going to freeze like that someday, bitch."

"Fine… I'll get it." Adjusting his jacket Sam stormed off towards the door, with each step he became more and more unsure about the action he'd just chosen. Heart pounding as he reached for the heavy metal door of the panic room turned holding cell, a loud clang on the inside had him looking back towards Dean as his brother gestured for him to open it. Furrowing his brows Sam muttered softly to himself. "…Jerk."

"So… Uh… What is it?" Dean looked over at Mac as Sam slowly started unlocking the heavy door. The older Hunter looked at him with a cautious regard before just shaking his head. "Don't know… Should have figured. You at least got a care manual?"

"We have a compilation of notes… Apparently if you bring it in front of a Demon, the Demon'll exorcise itself before the damn thing can even get close to it." Mac turned his dull blue eyes towards Dean as the younger man gave a soft 'huh'. Crossing his arms over chest the old Hunter looked towards Sam as he unlocked the final bolt. "It doesn't have a name…"

"A monster without a name… A little cliché don't you think?" Dean tilted his head to the side as he rolled his eyes towards the older man. The look on the man's face just had him nodding quietly. "Right… You don't care."

The door was heavier than Sam had anticipated as he pulled hard. The heavy rush of air as the room decompressed had him sucking in a breath as the air was knocked out of his lungs. Heaving the door the rest of the way open he looked into the darkness, brows knitting as he leaned forward only to jerk back at the soft clang and rustle of the creature inside. Turning slightly he looked back at his brother and the other Hunter. "Dean-"

"Hey! You're goin' in by yourself Samantha… You want to be more self sufficient and all that shit." Dean held up his hands grinning at the annoyed look on Sam's face as he refused to take the task from the younger Winchester. Leaning forwards a bit he squinted. "Hey Sam… Is that an extension cord?"

"A wh- Dean!" Sam gave a yell of surprise as his legs were yanked out from under his body, flipping himself over he tried to get a grip on the closest thing he could. That thing being the siding of the heavy metal door, the noisy creak drowning out the heavy footfalls of his brother as the door slammed shut when his grip was lost. He could hear Dean yelling and banging on the door as the automatic locking mechanisms were triggered by the heavy slam. "… Dean. I can't see…"

"Just… Find a light switch! That thing's chained up isn-" Dean's voice was drowned out by a loud humming as the ventilation system clicked on. The banging quickly softening to a dull thrum before silencing completely as Sam felt the grip on his ankle loosen and slip away. Swallowing as something above him started vibrating, eyebrows knitting for a moment as his mind started to work. Vibrating? Tilting his head to the side he finally heard the soft purring. Something wet trailing along his cheek as he lay in a stupor.

"Light?" It wasn't goin- The light's clicked on as a small male tilted his head. Tattered denim blue jeans hanging low on his hips with dirt and who knew what else caked his hair and skin. The creature looking at him for a moment before its eyes turned the same shade of green as his own eyes. Sam looked around the room at the creature's habitat. There was a large pile of thick wool blankets to one side of the room that looked suspiciously like a nest, a rawhide bone laying a few inches away from his body, and a pair of bowls with something rank smelling in them. Putting his hands under his body he pushed himself up to look at the creature again.

The creature was sitting with its knees drawn up to its chest, resting it's head on its knees with a small tilt as it watched him. When Sam furrowed his brows the creature mimicked the expression, when Sam held up a hand it followed suit. Tilting its head it crawled over cautiously, putting a hand out as if it were pawing at Sam. Its form was humanoid in every way, at least from what Sam could see. Its soft brown hair was greasy and matted. Sam just sat on the ground as the creature leaned in sniffing him curiously, almost like a dog, only to find himself laughing as it coughed and snorted trying to rub the smell from its nose.

Sam sat in silence for a moment watching the creature watching him, when he would tilt his head the creature would follow quickly picking up the mannerism and incorporating it into its own gestures. A open smile found a way onto Sam's lips as he looked at the creature in awe, it was learning at an accelerated rate. Looking off to the side as his mind whirled he gave a silent chuckle, the potential for the creature's learning capabilities were probably limitless if it had been around for so long. Looking up as the heavy door was slammed open Sam just raised a brow at his sweaty adrenaline high brother. "It's not eating me."

Softly biting his tongue Dean looked at his brother, Sam was just sitting on the floor across from the creature that had pulled him feet first into a pitch black room as if he was right at home. Slowly nodding he just chuckled. "Right… You done playing house?" The creature tilted its head before narrowing its eyes as it launched itself at Dean with a hiss, the black whip like tail seeming to materialize again as the creature scratched and hissed at the elder Winchester as it took the adult male to the ground in a hard tackle. "Shit! Sam get a gun!"

"A gun's not going to help… Remember! Um… Come!" Sam threw his arms up not knowing what else to do. The creature paused for a moment, it's grip on Dean loosening as the seemingly male creature stared at Sam before looking back at Dean with its teeth bared. Much to Sam and more so to Dean's shock the creature crawled over towards Sam crouching at the tall male's feet with curious eyes. "Huh…"

"Come? What the fuck Sammy!" Heaving himself to his feet Dean straightened his jacket as he whipped around to point at Mac. "We are not taking that thing!"

"Jealous it likes me more?" The creature was reaching up towards Sam's jacket trying to get into his pockets. Sam cracked a very Dean-like grin as his brother growled at him. "Come on… It'll be fun. He's harmless."

"Harmless to you…" Dean muttered as Mac just turned and walked away after jerking a thumb towards the exit. Shaking his head he frowned with a heavy sigh. Turning his gaze back to his brother he just gaped as Sam offered the creature his jacket.

"Dean… It's learning… It's learning really fast. In just a few minutes it was able to mimic every movement I made. It's like… I don't know what it is… This is just…" Sam was slowly shaking his head in awe as the creature pulled on his jacket, cracking a smile at how big his jacket was on the small framed humanoid. It was a soft tan with a thin nearly adolescent frame; it didn't look as if it weighed more than a hundred something. Now that its eyes had shifted back to their original color he noted the soft copper flecks in the creatures grey eyes. Sam's brows knitted as his eyes fell on the heavy leather collar around the creature's neck. The thick leather collar had inscriptions of some script he'd never seen on it before, the metal piece where a buckle usually resided was a solid piece of black lusterless metal he couldn't place. "Let's keep it."

"Are you shitting me!" Dean whipped around with annoyance written on his face as he looked at his younger brother.

…

…

…

Dean just groaned in annoyance as he laid out across the motel bed, glaring up at the ceiling as Sam sat at the rooms table with a heavy leather book open as he absently handed the creature sitting on the floor beside him a piece of his salad when it would paw at him or whine. Wrinkling his nose he finally sat up. "Dude! Wash that thing! It reeks."

"Huh… Oh… Uh, right. I was… I was going to and I got caught up reading this… It's just fascinating. For something that they've had for so long they really haven't compiled anything on it. They just kept it locked up in a room…" Sam turned the page again as he scanned them. The creature hummed softly as he nudged Sam's leg, purring happily when he was rewarded with the rest of Sam's salad. The loud creak of Dean's bed had Sam looking up at his brother, grinning sheepishly. "Right… Give it a bath."

"Yeah… Because it stinks. And it's sleeping with you. I don't want that thing anywhere near me. If I'm lucky it'll eat you." Dean snapped rolling over on his side after he flopped back down. Grumbling to himself as he slid a pillow over his head, he hadn't slept right lately seeing as Castiel had developed a habit of standing above him until he woke up when the Angel wanted something important. Dean closed his eyes as he mumbled about creepy Angels, moving his pillow as he looked towards the bathroom. "Don't use all the towels. I want a shower in the morning."

Sam just rolled his eyes as he looked at the creature that was currently poking around the items lying on the side of the bathtub. The door clicking shut as Sam pushed on it softly, the creature popping his head up to look at Sam for a moment before putting the bar of soap into its mouth. Sam could only laugh as the creature quickly spit it out wiping at its tongue with a whimper. "It's too bad you can't talk… I'm sure you'd say some interesting things. Come."

The creature looked at the bar of soap with a soft growl before crawling over to Sam with wide eyes as the tall male patted his chest signaling for him to stand up. As the small creature stood watching Sam's hands undo the front of the ragged denim it only tilted its head in confusion trying to figure why the other creature was undressing it. When Sam stepped back the small creature slid back to the ground on all fours, balancing itself on the balls of its feet as it watched Sam adjusting the water.

Patting the side of the tub Sam watched the confusion flicker across the creature's face. "You've never had a bath before… Not that you can remember at least. Come on… In. It's warm." Sam dipped his fingers into the water swishing it around, apparently the creature's curiosity won out between common sense and coherent action as it launched itself into the water effectively splashing Sam. Sam pursed his lips as he looked down at his wet clothing, sighing softly he let go of the small annoyance at being drenched. "If what Mac said is true… Your brain reset itself a couple of days ago. All you have are the basics… What's this?"

Tilting its head to the side the creature looked up at Sam with curiosity as Sam tilted the collar up catching the edges of the tattoos that were scarred into the fragile flesh. Throat working cautiously the creature looked up at Sam as the tall man examined the tattooed flesh with a frown.

"You really are old… I can only read one of these… Ataram…" Sam jerked back as the creature jerked up, the word seeming to trigger something it as the small male looked up at him expectantly. Sam sat back on his heels as he knelt in front of the tub tilting his head with a soundless chuckle. "Ataram… Is that your name?"

The creature leaned forward putting its head against Sam's chest, gazing up at him expectantly. Licking it's lips for a moment before the creature leaned back with a tilt of its own head as it mimicked Sam's annoyed face. Something Dean had chuckled about earlier, the elder male had looked at his sibling with amusement before commenting on his epic 'bitchface'. After a moment the creature wiggled around waiting for Sam to say something else.

"Ataram…" Sam watched with curiosity lighting his eyes as the creature stopped moving. The cre-Ataram seemed to perk up at the name. Reaching up onto the sink Sam felt around until he found the plastic cup that was often left for water, dipping the disposable cup into the water he poured some down on the creatures head. "Stay…"

…

An hour later Sam was still drying as he lay across the second motel bed. Ataram curled up at his side, hair clean and no longer matted as the creature snored softly. Fingers absently working through the being's hair as Sam looked over at the salt lines which hadn't seemed to affect the small creature. Ataram gave a soft sound as he curled into the warmth of Sam seeming to fail the 'personal space' rule that Dean snarled at Castiel for consistently. Dean was snoring away like the dead as he lay sprawled out in an awkward manner, drooling over the dirty bedspread as Sam wrinkled his nose trying not to imagine what he'd find under a black light.

Looking up at the ceiling Sam sighed, they'd be moving towns again in the morning. Bobby apparently had found something interesting that they needed to check out. Closing his eyes Sam just listened to the rough sound of his brother snoring as he tried to find sleep, which didn't seem to be within his grip as the hours wore on. Finally Sam gave up on sleep deciding that he'd fall asleep in the car if he could manage to tune out Dean's obnoxiously loud music for once.

Sam jerked awake as Dean started yelling at Ataram, the small male curling into himself as he clutched Dean's jacket hostage. "Dean… You're scaring him!" Having himself off of the bed he yawned as he brushed past his brother, holding his hand out as he crouched in front of the terrified creature. "That's Dean's jacket… You can wear mine."

Ataram looked down at the jacket in his hands with a soft whimper before holding it out to Sam. Crawling out of the corner he buries his face against Sam's chest as the tall male sat down with a soft thud, watching as Sam just looked at Dean with amusement all over his face.

"I'm not even going to ask- Hurry your ass up and get ready Gigantor… I'm hungry." Dean slipped into his jacket as he nudged Sam with his foot. Staring at Sam until the other male heaved himself to his feet. Pausing for a moment Dean looked down at Ataram. "Are those my pants?"

"Does he look like he'd fit mine?" Sam asked over his shoulder as he hauled a clean pair of jeans and a plaid shirt. He busied himself changing his clothes until he heard Dean hit the ground as Ataram started hissing at the elder Winchester. "Ataram… Leave him alone."

"You named it!" Dean tilted his head back as the creature stopped trying to rip his throat out. Shaking his head he thought back to all of the times their father had snapped at him for letting Sam bring home a kitten or a puppy. "You… Are un-fucking-believable…"

"It was already named… That thing's older than Latin. And Sanskrit… And about every other language on this planet. There's symbols on his ne- neck. Under his collar." Sam finished zipping up his pants as he padded across the dirty carpet to tilt Ataram's collar up showing Dean the array of words and symbols. Sam let the collar fall as he fixed the hastily buttoned shirt he'd put on. Leaning over Dean he smiled sweetly. "I'll get him to move if you let me drive…"

"Not on your life…" Dean hissed narrowing his eyes at his brother as he shoved Ataram off of his chest, not even caring as the creature gave a soft whimper skirting around to hide behind Sam. Dean lunged at the table before Sam could even think to grab the keys. Holding up the key to the Impala he watched his brother as he pointed said key at the younger Winchester. "I wouldn't trust you with my Baby if my life depended on it. Not after last time."

A/N: Ataram means Source. It's not spelled perfectly, I couldn't do the little symbols over the A's. It's in Tamil which I've never heard of before I started writing this.