Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or the characters but I have managed to make them into something they hunt but in a good way.

(This is part of an arc about a living doll that is killing people so each chapter will continue from the end of the one before it.)

Warning: This is based in an alternate universe where the boys are shapeshifter twins that were adopted by John and Mary after their real parents, close friends of the hunters who were killed by Gordon. They are later adopted by Bobby after the Winchesters are killed on a hunt. He does know they are shifters and has raised them as Hunters, like their adopted parents had been doing while teaching them to be good shifters and how to hide what they are from others.

No, the other hunters don't know they are shifters and they are good at acting human but are fully shapeshifters not human genetically but raised to behave as human by their parents. No, there will be no Lucifer, Michael, or vessel, or leviathan plots in this storyline just the boys hunting as Hunters and shifters.

Yes, there will be Wincest but I will keep it brief and romantic as possible. This isn't that kind of story.

Plot: Dean tries to get through to Sam and calls Bobby to let him know what has happened. Bobby wants to help, Sam is hurting right now.

Preview of next chapter: Boys find their lives changing even more and they adapt to it in true Winchester fashion.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sam sat at his laptop staring, not typing. Dean was trying to keep Sam busy but it wasn't working.

Sam had three modes now: sleeping, crying, staring, and also clinging, to Dean.

Usually in a certain order: staring, crying, clinging to Dean, and falling asleep into his shoulder.

Dean hadn't slept in three day. He hadn't drank in three days. He'd barely eaten in three days.

Sammy was breaking and so he was breaking, and damn if it felt like he wasn't shattering under the weight of Sam's pain at the same damn time as he was.

They had a psychic sort of connection, they always had. They felt each other's feelings and knew when the other was in trouble. They could even see out of each other's eyes at times as well as pick up on each other's thoughts.

Right now that connection was wide open between them and it was crushing them both beneath it. And Dean didn't know where he began and Sam ended anymore.

So, he betrayed his promise to Sammy.

He called their father.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Dean, what's wrong? Is your brother hurt?" Bobby asked concerned, Dean was upset, extremely so. "Is it the case?"

"The case is over. The doll is dead, the warlock that made it is dead, too. I sent an email with all the details a few minutes ago. You can get the details from it." Dean said curtly but then apologized, "Sorry, I sounded nasty there. I would just rather not talk about the case anymore, if you don't mind, Dad."

"Agreed, no offense taken. I'll read it later." Bobby was even more concerned now. Dean wasn't usually so curt with him, something had went wrong, "What the hell is wrong, Dean?! Please tell me?!" He hollered upstairs, "Ellen, come here! It's the boys!"

Dean groaned, and cried a little, exhausted and tired of it all. "One of the victims was a girl Sammy liked; he blames himself for her dying. He's not listening to me but he seems to need me close right now." Dean cried some more, "We aren't sleeping, barely eating, and damn it, we're breaking together, Dad!" He cried into the phone, so tired and in so much pain, Sam's pain and his own. "We need you, Dad, all of you."

"Come home, Dean. We're here." Bobby pleaded then felt fear enter his heart at his son's next words.

"I can't. Sam's not in any shape to go anywhere. He's…well, breaking and it will only make it worse if I move him now." He sighed as Sam began to thrash around on the bed again, "Fuck! Dad, can you come to us?" Dean watched Sammy thrash hard, locked in a nightmare again. Sam fell to the floor and hit the corner of a table, and Dean said quickly, "Just come here! I have to go, Sammy's hurt now." Then he hung up and ran to help Sammy back to the bed and to check his head.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ellen, we have to go right now! Sam's hurt!" Bobby grabbed the keys to the truck and shouted, "Let's go! Screw the bags, just come down and we're leaving right the fuck now!"

All three of the others ran down, weapons bags over their shoulders, a Hunter always kept one packed , just in case. It sat by their beds and waited to be grabbed, even retired Hunters did it. It was a lifelong habit they never lost.

They quickly locked the door and windows, renewed the wards, and peeled out of the yard like a bat out of Hell. Their boys needed them, fuck the clothes!

They could be there in two hours.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dean pulled Sam back up on the bed and cleaned the head wound, it was small and he stitched it up. Sam didn't even flinch, he just stared ahead, eyes staring into Dean's with muted pain.

"Sammy, can you hear me? Sammy!" Dean pleaded and Sam jerked a little, waking up out of his trance.

"I'm here…now." Sammy said leaning into him and breathing his scent. Dean made him feel strong but it ate at him, the losses, so much so that he hung his head in despair.

"Come on, talk to me." Dean pleaded. Sammy needed to talk to someone, even if it wasn't to him. The problem was, Sam wasn't talking to anyone right now; he was avoiding the topic.

"No. Stop asking, Dean." Sam didn't want to talk. Talking made it real, talking made it hurt more.

"Nope, Sammy, not going to. Talk to me, Sammy." Dean pushed, and Sam rolled his eyes in frustration, clearly Dean wasn't letting this go anytime soon. His eyes watched Sam now, begging him to talk to him. "Love you, Sammy, you're my little brother, let me help you? Please!"

"Gah! Stop hovering!" Sam moaned, Dean just smiled softly and held him again. Sam sighed long-sufferingly, but had to let him, it was the only way to make the pain fade right now. He needed this but he still didn't want it to talk about it.

"You need to talk to me, Sammy. Or someone else at least. I'd rather it was me, but that's your choice. Please, Sammy, you're not the only on hurting here! I'm breaking with you, damn it!" Dean said sadly, unable to fight it anymore. "Please Sammy!" Yeah, he was wheedling it out of Sammy. His motto in life where Sammy was concerned, if all else failed, wheedle wheedle wheedle, eventually Sammy would cave and tell him what was wrong. Sometimes after beating each other senseless but they would end up talking about it at least.

"Dean…" Sam sighed softly, caving per usual. Dean was being overprotective, hovering , and persistent. Needless to say, Sam knew he couldn't defeat all of them all at the same time…and Dean knew it!

'Finally!' Dean thought then groaned inwardly as knocking sounded at the door. Maybe he shouldn't have called Dad in quite yet, damn it! Sam was just finally talking to him about it!

"It's nine at night! It better not be a 'date' of yours, Dean!" Sam said moaning, then had a thought, 'Please let her be clothed, for the sake of all things pure, be clothed this time!' The last one had been naked and he had practically ran out of the room to save his sanity. He knew what they would be doing!

He peeped through the peephole and groaned, eying his annoying brother with a bitchface. He had drawn his gun to shoot if an enemy was at the door but now considered shooting Dean now instead. He however opened the door and turned to glare at Dean anyway. "Dad." He moaned, "You called Dad! I asked you specifically not to."

"Yeah, I pocket dialed him accidentally, sorry, I had to tell him after that." Dean lied but Sam rolled his eyes again. Sam didn't believe him. Dean shrugged and Sam nodded. It was so 'Dean' so why fight it? It wouldn't stop him from doing it, he knew better than to try by now.

"You're such a crappy liar, Dean." Sam said sitting down on the bed again, knowing Dean had to have been really worried to call Dad this way.

"Son, we got here as soon as we heard. You should have called us in sooner!" Bobby growled and softened instantly. Yeah, he knew why they hadn't. Sam had needed Dean more but Sam had known they would worry about him more if they knew. He didn't like to worry them, so he hadn't wanted to call them in.

"Sorry. It's just…" Sam felt it hit him again, and fought the pain, "Not talking about the case, Dad. I can't." Sam eyed his father with pleading eyes now, praying Bobby wouldn't make him either.

"Not the case, Sam, about you, what's bothering you? Talk to us, we love you, son!" Ellen pleaded and Sam reached out a hand and pulled Dean to his lap, surprising everyone.

"Need to touch him, it takes the pain away, hurts less with him here. Our connection, I feel it more this way. Don't leave, Dean, please?" He looked up into Dean's face and his brother nodded, putting one arm around his neck pulling him into his side and the other taking his hand firmly, Sammy cried now, sobbing again. "No going."

"Not moving, Sammy. Not budging. Just helping you. Like I said, whatever you need, bro. I will do it." Dean pressed a light kiss into his hair. "No, Dad, not together like that. He just needs…contact…for our connection to work better for him right now, he needs this." Dean's eyes pleaded for Bobby to understand and Bobby nodded.

"If he needs it, do it. I know you have a connection, a psychic one and touch always strengthens that. It's the same with Missouri's, touch makes it more powerful." Bobby understood that what others saw as too closeness was just their connection needing more once in a while, especially when one was hurting, even as children they had done this. It was a twin thing for them, and it was a Sam and Dean thing. He never questioned it; he just accepted it, like now. The others did, too.

They went to move away but a quiet voice stopped them.

"Stay." Sam whimpered and cried, "Need you, too." The others stayed and moved close again.

"Talk to us, Sammy. Please?" Dean pushed and Sam nodded, head still against Dean's chest.

"It hurts to talk about it. Hell, it hurts not to. Hurts no matter what." Sam began, and paused, breathing in his brother's scent and it calmed him. As shapeshifters, they used scent more and, well, Dean's was his scent of choice. "I invited her for a drink. Then she was killed for it." He cried softly now, starting to break again, the pain eating at him but Dean keeping it away enough so he could talk about it.

"The others I had not control over, but her, I could have saved her, Tina Walker." Sam cried some more then stopped. Dean removed his shirt, already damp with Sam's tears and handed it to him, Sam wiped his eyes with it, and kept it close to use again, leaning his head back into Dean's bare chest and not caring, not feeling safe unless touching him right now.

"The mom and her son, they were screwed from the start. It was hard to watch her kill him, then realize for herself what she had done. Then she destroyed herself and his body, and I can't help but feel like we could have done more." Sam admitted and the others nodded. A Hunter's thought. They all had one of their own. Every Hunter that was any good had that thought at some point. It kept them human and reminded them what they were fighting for. It sometimes gave them something to fight for even.

"Sammy, listen to me." Dean said pulling his tear-stained face up to look at him, "Did you make her say she'd come drink with you?" Sam didn't answer. "Answer me or nod, either works." Sam shook his head.

"Did you bring the doll and tell it to kill her?" Dean asked holding Sam's face looking up at him, keeping his attention now.

Sam shook his head.

"Did you make the warlock put his mother's soul into the doll?" Dean asked firmly.

Sam shook his head again.

"Did you tell it to lay in wait then attack her?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head, the pain lessening now.

"So how is it your fault, Sammy? Tell me, how is it your fault?" Dean asked softly, kissing his hair again, Sam breathing his scent in again, feeling it easing the knot that was surrounding his heart that had been there since…Sam thought about it…since Tina had died.

"If I…" Sam began, then thought, no, calling her had not made it his fault, she could have said no.

"Well, If we had realized…" Sam began again but stopped… there was no way they could have known the truth about the doll or that it would break pattern and kill one night early.

"But I…" Sam began and clamped his mouth shut as he realized he couldn't have done a damn thing to stop it and that nowhere in all the shit that they had just seen and been through, could he find where he was to blame for her death, or anyone else's.

Dean waited for Sam to finish realizing the truth of his words for himself. He watched the pain fade and light fill his eyes as he realized the truth. Their connection let him feel Sam's pain fade a little and Sam's heart lighten.

"It may not have been my fault and there may be no blame that I can find for myself, " Sam said firmly and the grief that the pain had hidden came forward, along with the memory of her face smiling at him, the way she had met him and the act that she had used to keep her roommate from setting her up with a 'neanderthal'. The feel of her lips on his and regrets that they had never had their date. They never got to make love, Sam knew they had both wanted to but would have waited to do it. Her voice saying that maybe after the drink they could get a bite to eat together, he had happily agreed to that. "I miss her, so damn much! I really liked her." He sobbed now, his grief coming out in waves of tears and pain, "It hurts so much! I miss her so fucking much!" He collapsed against Dean now and held his waist in a death grip, and wailed like his heart was breaking and would never stop doing it ever again.

Dean rocked them as best he could, He cried as well, breaking with his brother and in turn, feeling that joined breaking , fixing them at the same time, even as it shattered them, their pieces falling together and mixing, healing them, and separating each piece and putting the healed pieces back into the one they belonged to.

"Don't cry, Sammy, don't cry." He said, tears in his eyes. "It's over, bro. It's okay to miss her, it really is!"

Sam soon fell asleep, holding Dean and still not letting go, even in sleep. He had cried himself to sleep again and Dean let his brother pull him down to the bed, cuddle into his back, and fall into a sleep, finally free of most of the pain now but still grieving.

"He's been doing this for three days, Dad. I'm used to it. He cries, he…cuddles, and he sleeps. I don't mind. I think he'll finally be back to normal soon; he seems to have gotten most of it out now. You guys really helped me there. He needed us all there before he could break through it." Dean smiled gratefully, using his free hand to take Bobby's, Bobby hugging him and Dean smiled, "Thank you for coming, Dad. We really needed you guys, all of you!"

Bobby let go of Dean's hand and Ellen took it now, using her other hand to stroke some hair out of Sam's eyes at the same time, "We were glad to come, son. We wanted to be here for you."

Jo was next, "Love you, bro, Sam, too."

Ash followed suit with an awkward hug, trying not to disturb Sam. "We're here for you, both of you."

"Thanks, I mean that. We appreciate it. Don't leave, okay? Sam will want to see you in the morning." Dean yawned and rolled over, both brothers pulling the other firmly to each other, pressing into each other in a tight line. Dean's head settling into Sam's crook of his shoulder while Sam's settled into Dean's, their bodies and hands mirroring each other. "Love you guys."

"We love you both, too." They all said and smiled. Sure Dean had said they had needed their family to help Sam but they all knew the truth. The truth that was their sons; the truth that would always be pure Sam and Dean.

They had never needed them, for this or anything else; they had only needed each other and the closeness to connect them. Over and over, they had found that closeness and it connected them, throughout their lives so far and probably in the rest of it.

They knew the truth the boys would never know or admit if they did.

Sam would always need Dean more than anything or anyone in the world, and Dean? Well, he would always need Sam the same way. Only they could heal each other, could reach each other no matter what.

Everyone else was just on the outside looking in.

Both boy slept, wrapped against each other and not minding. There were no nightmares and there was less pain. Grief made Sam restless but Dean's strong arms and hands smoothed it from his mind with a kiss to his forehead and a brush of finger across his brow, and the whispered, "Shhh, it's okay, Sammy, I'm here, I'm here."

They were brothers and yes, they were often too close, closer than any brothers ever had been in the history of brothers, but it was their way and they had never cared what others thought about it. Even if they had known, which they didn't, they still would have told the person to fuck off and done it anyway.

Dean would be there for Sam however he needed him and Sam needed Dean all the time.

Sam would be there for Dean however he needed him and Dean needed Sam all the time, too.

It was that simple. There could never be Sam without Dean nor Dean without Sam.

The bad guys knew it, other hunters knew it, and most of all, their loved ones knew it.

And loved them anyway.

Damn they really loved those boys!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day Sammy was indeed feeling better.

He woke up to find Dean in his arms and smiled, his brother was so relaxed now, finally. He hadn't seen him so relaxed in days. He just let him stay where he was. Dean eventually woke up and saw Sam awake watching him sleep. He smiled happily back up at him. A hand lay on his chest and Dean didn't care how it looked.

"You okay, Sammy?" He said softly and touched his face, so happy to see Sam smile again.

"Yes, thanks to you." Sam responded and smiled, not letting him go yet.

"Anything for you, Sam. Anything." Dean vowed again and Sam nodded, feeling the same way about Dean.

There was silence now as Sam tried to voice a thought.

"I want to attend the funeral, Dean." Sam said softly, "I know you didn't know her that well, but I want you to come with me. I…need you with me. I won't be able to handle it without you." He bit his lip and Dean made him stop, using a finger to pull the lip from under his teeth.

"I'll go, Sam. You know that." Dean said softly, "They'll come too." He eyed the others who nodded eagerly. They would happily go with Sam.

"I'd like that." Sam said and smiled, he hadn't even thought to include them in the decision, just Dean, but he did need them, too. So he smiled at them and nodded, knowing he needed Dean but wondering why he needed them less now.

He knew the answer.

Dean knew the answer.

The others probably did, too.

Animals mated for life. Imprinted. They found the one they belonged with and stayed theirs.

Dean was his life mate, their connection was divine.

"Dean, you're my life mate. Brother or not, I will always need you and love you, more than anyone else." Sam admitted, their closeness explained and accepted.

"Yeah, I know. You're mine, too." Dean admitted and smiled, "Women may come and go, men, too. I know you're bi, Sam, I've always known , don't worry, it don't bother me. Still your brother, too."

"You're still my brother, too." Sam said, happy to still have a brother, he needed his brother in his life, he balanced him out.

"I have a confession to make." Sam said after a while, the silence filling up with things needed to be said and he had to say them. "I feel alone, all the time. I'm so afraid that I will never find anyone to like or even love me. So afraid I'll die alone on some hunt, unloved and alone." He closed his eyes and tried to hide his face in the pillow. Dean wouldn't let him; he made him look at him again.

"Not going to happen. Even if I sleep around or marry someone, you, too. Even if you don't find anyone again. You have me. I'm your life mate. As shifters, that's what we do. We're not human, Sam, you know that. Humans form those relationships but we don't. We mate for life. We find our other halves and that's that." Dean kissed his cheek and smiled, wiping the tears away. "I will still flirt and sleep around. You will find someone, too. Someday soon you will but we will always be it for each other, brothers or whatever we are now." Dean said softly again, and sighed, "You're never alone, Sammy, ever." He pulled out of his arms a bit but kept the contact. "You will always have me. If you die, I'll be by your side dying with you. Always with you, always yours."

"But brother's too, right?" Sam wouldn't break that part, not even for the life mate issue.

"Still brothers." Dean reassured him.

Then there was silence again, but the gulf between them was gone. Neither felt it and rejoiced.

"We're never having what Ellen and the humans have, are we?" Sam said sadly, being shifters and not human had made it that way. He felt that hope die and mourned it.

"No. " Dean said sitting up more and Sam joined him, taking his hand and holding it, sharing their pain as the last hope at being anything other than shifters died. "We don't get that."

There was silence again. Then Bobby and Ellen spoke to them from the next bed.

"But you will have each other and that's a hell of a lot more than what most humans and shifters ever get in their lifetimes. That's what matters more." Bobby said and smiled, "You're not human, either of you. I knew that when I adopted you. Your true parents were life mates, too. We knew this may happen, saw it happening and let it. We even knew when it started clicking into place."

"Really?" Sam said, pulling Dean beside him again and kissing his cheek, liking him there. "When was that?"

"When you graduated." Ellen said and smiled, "You called us over to you when we arrived but, when Dean came in, you rushed to hug him. You also touched more after that, got a little too close each time. We figured you would figure it out soon enough. As long as you need us, we don't mind." She really didn't, at least they wouldn't be alone.

Shifters were always alone, they were weaker that way. They always died alone, too.

Her sons would not suffer that fate, she wouldn't let them.

"I still will be with others, Sammy, you know that, right?" Dean had to make sure Sam knew it didn't change that part. Sam smiled and kissed him on the mouth now, softly but with love

"Yeah, I know. I will do that, too." Sam smiled, feeling happier than he had in years. "You will be my mate, though, and my brother. I will love only you, until the end of time."

"My mate, my brother, and I will love you for all time too." Dean agreed and smiled, blushing.

Sam looked at him curiously.

"What about…um, sex?" Dean finally got out. Eventually it might happen. Or would that be out of line? He was still learning here.

"It will happen, according to the book your true parents had left with Mary and John. It finishes the bond, makes it permanent. Your parents wrote it would happen between you. It's why we gave you so much time together, otherwise the bond would be too weak between you, the final bonding wouldn't…lock in right." Bobby explained, they had waited for this.

"So you knew we would be…together?" Dean asked and they both nodded.

"Yes, still our sons, still love you." Ellen said smiling, "We're still your family, your parents, your brothers and sisters are still just that. We're all just…happy your bond finally clicked in place. We are so happy for you!" She sighed, "It doesn't change anything about you, just the fact that you aren't feeling so alone anymore, especially you, Sam. We almost told you all this earlier. We were going to tell you after we got here yesterday, but then it clicked in place and we didn't have to."

They all dressed and went to leave, the shifters still holding each other and watching them go.

"Meet us at the diner here by the motel, after you're done. We love you. So happy for you." Bobby said and they shut the door behind them softly.

The shifters just looked at each other and smiled, leaning into each other and touching foreheads, eyes meeting and searching the other's face, fingers softly touching their faces, and each other's bodies. "Sammy, we going to do this?" Dean asked, moving his lips closer, almost touching Sam's, afraid now. He could feel the bond pulling at him to complete it but he had to know if Sam felt it too, if he was ready to complete it. If not, they could wait. They had the rest of their lives to complete it. They had each other and no longer felt so alone, that was enough for him.

"Yeah, I think we are. Are you okay with that?" Sam said nervous also. He felt the bond pulling them to finish it.

"Yeah, I am." Dean said and put his lips against Sam's but didn't do anything else, letting him decide the pace. Sam's lips opened and his tongue tested Dean's softly. His hands hesitantly reaching to pull him closer and their clothes being removed slowly as well.

Their bodies lay down again, like when they had slept before, but this time the bond joined their souls between them. The touches got more certain and they felt the need for more come enter their hearts. Dean lay Sam beneath him and prepped him, worshipping him and loving him, the bond building more between them. He entered him and made love to him, carefully and lovingly, the power building as well, strengthening them as well.

When Sam had came and Dean had came, Sam lay Dean down and did the same to him, loving him completely now, the bond sealing their souls to each other, permifying their life-mate bond, and when he came and Dean came, it was together; the power tying them together and it filled them with warmth and the certain knowledge of who they really belonged to now, each other.

They cuddled afterward, kissing softly and whispering words of love they had never expected to say or mean. The bond between them permanent, not even death could break it. They no longer felt alone and knew this was the right thing for them. They also knew that they would do this again, along with being with others. They were forever, but the others were temporary. They accepted this and smiled.

"I want to sleep like this with you every night now, Sammy. It feels like I should." Dean requested and Sam kissed him and nodded, he felt the same and said so too.

"Mate." Sam said so softly Dean almost couldn't hear it, said so reverently and happily, that Dean had to smile.

"Mate." Dean said and the words whispered between them, so much promise in that one word. No longer alone, and no longer separate. Sure they wouldn't have a family or marriage as humans got, their kind never did. They accepted that and knew it didn't matter anymore. They would hope for it once in a while but knew they would let that pass, too.

They were shifters not human. They didn't get what humans got but they would have this, forever they would have this.

It was enough.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

They joined the others soon enough, holding hands and separating, one to sit by their Dad and the other to join their Mom, the semi-circular booth holding their whole family now. They now faced each other from opposite sides of the table and blushed, but smiled, too. Eyes meeting and love shining in them now.

They ordered lunch and talked about the case, it no longer hurt Sam so much to talk about it, Dean either. Bobby was not happy they hadn't called him in to help but understood why they hadn't. It had went pear-shaped and the boys had to rush to fix it, there had been no time to call him in.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The funeral was not that easy. It nearly broke Sam to see Tina's coffin being lowered into the hole and Dean was mesmerized at the darkness in the depths of that earth. It hurt him and he felt Sam's pain as his own, their connection making it so. Sam held his hand in a vice grip and he let him. He needed Sam's comfort, too. He had wanted to save her, and wanted her for Sam.

Later on, the Impala followed the truck back home and Sam cried in the front seat, his head buried in Dean's shoulder as Dean drove; Dean's other arm rubbing his back, soothing him as best he could. The pain still had the power to hurt Sam and probably always would.

But now he would be there to help Sam bear it, too. He wouldn't mind that part at all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Weeks later:

It was Toledo. Dean had tried to set him up again, this time with a smart girl. Sam reflected that Dean's radar was getting better. Dean, surprisingly, found a smart one too, although she was still a bit bimbo-ish.

They had not made twin comments but let the guys decided the pace of their meeting , not touching until the guys were ready for them too. Both brothers appreciated that part, touchy chicks were such turn offs and Dean wouldn't be with anyone that drove Sam away like that.

They had sex with their 'dates' that night and, after the girls left, Sam went to Dean's bed and cuddled up to him, and they slept, smiling happily.

Brothers and Mates, forever belonging to each other but sharing their lives with others.

Ultimately, no matter who or what came along, Dean was Sam's and Sam was Dean's.

Nothing would or could ever change that.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Please forgive the Wincest, It just wrote itself in, sorry.

I will try to keep it brief as I can in this story, I really will.