A/N: Thanks go out on this one to twinchoasblade and Psylocke23 for your amazing reviews. You people are much loved by me right now. You've made my day! Because of work this evening and the inability to post tomorrow, here's the rest of this story. Hope you'll all enjoy and drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you!

Chapter 10

"Sammy!" Dean dropped his pizza to the floor and the three of them sprinted for the bedroom where Sam was resting. The bed was empty. "Sam?" Dean looked around the room to find Sam huddled in a corner just off the tiny bathroom. He had his good arm wrapped around his drawn up, hospital pajama clad knees and was wheezing audibly. Dean approached him slowly. His face was covered by his hair and nearly pressed into his knees. "C'mon Sammy. It's okay. Need to get you back on the bed. You're gonna pull your stitches."

Sam huddled tighter, shying away from Dean. His immobilized arm was now pinched between his bare chest and his knees, blood beginning to seep through the previously white gauze at his shoulder. "Stay away." He whispered. "Dean don' wanna… hurt you. Stay away."

Dean reached again and Sam flinched further, moaning a little in pain. He became pale. "C'mon Sammy, you're not gonna hurt me. C'mon, you're bleedin', let me help. Katie's not gonna be back for a few hours. Let me help."

"Dean." Ruby warned quietly. Dean ignored her.

"Sammy, let me help you. I don't know why you think you're gonna hurt me. I don't know what the hell that demon has made you think, but he lied. You'd never hurt anyone Sammy."

"Dean." Ruby tried again. Sam reached his good hand up to his shoulder, where the blood had seeped through the gauze. His fingertips came away red. He gasped.

"On my hands." He whispered brokenly.

"What, Sammy? Yeah, you're bleedin' a little bit. Let's get you cleaned up."

"On my hands. It's on my hands. On my hands."

"Okay, it's okay. Let me wipe it off." Dean reached for his handkerchief and Sam's bloody hand.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Sam screamed. A burst of energy came from the mentally disturbed young man and caught Dean full force, propelling him backwards into the wall. He fell to the floor in a cloud of drywall dust, pinned there by the force that held him in its grasp. He grunted in pain and Ruby rushed to him.

"I tried to tell you something's not right here."

"Shut up Ruby." Dean grunted and looked past her as something caught his eye. He looked about in amazement as things that had decorated the room were now floating in lazy circles about the room. Sam pushed himself upright and was leaning against the wall. His eyes were wild and roaming about, his hair still obscuring them from Dean's view. Bobby tried walking slowly up to Sam, his hands raised to show he meant no harm.

"Sam. It's okay. It's me, Bobby. You're safe with us. Dean's here, Ruby too. Let us help you Sam. You need to relax. You've been hurt pretty bad kid. You need rest. Just let us help you."

"Bobby?" Sam looked at the older hunter, confused. "Bobby?"

"Yeah, kid. It's me. We're here to help ya." Bobby had nearly touched Sam's shoulder; literally within inches of getting Sam to calm down. Sam shrank back from the touch.

"NO! Joshua said he was there to help me too. He hurt me. You're here to hurt me. It's a trick! STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Sam raised his head as the three looked on. The breeze that had arisen seemingly out of nowhere blew the hair out of his frantic features.

"No!" Dean cried out. "NO!" He stared on in horror at Sam, his nightmare rushing to the forefront of his mind with enough force to shatter his control. Dean's eyes flooded with tears he was unable to stop. Sam's eyes were that nightmare shade of yellow.

Another invisible blast radiated from Sam and forced Bobby to the floor. He landed with a grunt and was propelled backwards to land next to Dean at the base of the wall. Sam slid back down the wall he leaned heavily against, too weak to stand. The objects still floating around the room gained speed as Sam curled in on himself. He pulled his frame into an impossibly tiny ball and began rocking back and forth. The floating things swirled, gaining speed with the energy that seemed to pulse in the room. Ruby stepped forward, walking up to Sam, dodging the objects that flew at her. Sam raised his head and she allowed her power to surface, turning her eyes black. He gaped at her openly, still shaking and rocking, with his good arm wrapped around his legs, holding them in a crushing position against his hurt arm and broken ribs. He wheezed. She knelt down before him and the floating objects continued to swirl in the air even as he fixed his terrified gaze on her.

"Aindri?" He whispered. She knelt close to him and put one hand soothingly on his good arm. The other hand reached into her pocket. She withdrew something from her pocket that Dean recognized.

"Ruby." Dean warned quietly. He felt the force holding him lessen and he pulled the Colt and leveled it at her back. "Do it and that'll be the last thing you do." Sam's attention shifted from the brother he knew he was destined to hurt, to the black eyes of the woman in front of him that meant something to him now. He saw the gun, that gun, leveled at her back and panic surged through him. He flinched and the gun was ripped by an unseen force from Dean's hand. Dean cried out in pain. Sam turned confused yellow eyes back to Ruby.

"Aindri? Why are we here? What is going on? I though we were finally able to rest." Ruby took Sam into her arms and held him, tears gathering as he curled into her and held her tight about the waist with his good arm like a small child would after a nightmare.

"Yes, Akshay, I told you we were finally able to rest. I have something to do here now though. But you need to rest. It's time for you to rest. Leave Sam Winchester in peace, brother. You can't stay inside him. He can't handle the things that happen to him. Others are using you to hurt him. You can't let that happen."

"No, I can't allow myself to be used to hurt someone. I did that too often so long ago."

Ruby touched the crystal to Sam's chest. His body arched in her arms and he cried out. She sobbed as she watched something akin to lightening course through Sam's body from the crystal. "You need to leave him now. He's only safe if you rest." Sam's body jerked as the crystal pulsed with light and changed colors in her hand. The light shone from between her fingers, pulsing red, then black, and then turning yellow. It grew dark. Sam stilled and sagged against her, out cold. She pulled the crystal from his chest and pocketed it. The objects crashed to the floor, many things breaking as they hit. Ruby lifted Sam's head from where it had lolled over his arm and held his forehead against her own. "I'm sorry I put you through this Sam. I couldn't lose him again. I should have known someone would use him against me. And you."

Dean and Bobby were released from the walls completely and Dean made his way over the debris on the floor to kneel beside his brother and the person he had no hope of ever understanding. "What did you do?"

Ruby looked up with tear filled eyes. "He's just Sam now. Before, I…I suppressed my brother's essence inside Sam but I didn't remove it. I couldn't bear to lose him again. I had hoped that Sam would embrace him and they would become one. I never… never meant for someone to use him against Sam to destroy him. I should have known. I'm so sorry, Dean." Ruby shifted unconscious Sam in her arms and handed him to Dean. "He's gone now. Sam is just Sam now. You have your brother back, free and clear." She fell silent and turned from the scene.

Sam stirred in Dean's arms and he looked from Ruby to his brother when he felt the movement. "Sammy?"

"D-dean?" Sam whispered. His eyes flickered but didn't open.

"C'mon Sammy, you can do it. Wake up." Sam's eyes opened. Dean breathed a sigh of relief. "Sammy." Pain glazed hazel orbs blinked up at Dean. Dean looked up to thank Ruby for giving him his Sammy back. She was gone.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Last chapter up next. Please review.