"Dean, I'm not seeing anything…" Sam said, after they had driven around town for about 20 minutes.

"Dammit," Dean growled. He was hoping they would finally have some luck, but they still couldn't catch a break. "Alright, find a motel…"

"Wait, I see something," Sam said. Dean craned his neck to try to see what his brother saw, but he couldn't move enough to see it. Alec was asleep, leaning against him with his head resting on his shoulder. He wasn't about to mess up Alec's sleep. Sam sighed though and said, "It's just an animal clinic…"

"That'll work," Dean said as fast as he could. They couldn't be picky now.

"…Ok…if you say so," Sam muttered. "You better wake Alec up."

Dean ran his hand through Alec's hair, and then patted his chest. "Alec, c'mon, we found a place to fix your leg." Alec groaned, but he didn't really wake up. "That Tylenol didn't do anything," he said to Sam. Alec was burning up. He could feel Alec's fever through his shirt; he just didn't know how to bring it back down.

"Well, they aren't going to have anything in there for him," Sam grumbled. "In case you forgot, this is an animal clinic-"

"They have scalpels and gauze and disinfectant…what else do we need?" Dean asked.

"Oxygen, IV fluids, anesthesia," Sam listed off. "Not to mention blood."

"He can't even have normal blood," Dean argued.

"He's going to need something. He's lost too much to keep going," Sam said.

"He can have my blood. It'll be fine," Dean said. He didn't care what it took, he was going to make sure Alec was going to recover from this.

"Dean, you lost a lot of blood too," Sam pointed out.

"One thing at a time, Sammy," Dean muttered. He shook Alec's shoulder this time and said, "Alec, c'mon, you gotta wake up so we can get you inside."

Alec finally frowned and his head turned on his shoulder. "Wh-where are w-we?" Alec whispered with his eyes still closed.

"We found a…clinic," Dean said.

"O-o-ok…"

"C'mon, you gotta wake up just a little bit more," Dean urged. "I don't want to carry you, but I will if I have to."

Alec's eyes slowly opened, but he blinked sluggishly as he tried to wake up the rest of the way. He didn't try to move yet, but that was probably better since Dean knew he'd be in some serious pain once he did. "W-we're at the V-vet?" Alec asked, spotting the sign for the animal clinic.

"Um, yeah, but I think it'll have what we need," Dean tried to reassure.

Alec laughed a little, "Th-that's f-funny."

Dean shook his head, "You think the worst things are funny."

"B-but it is f-funny," Alec argued. "I-I'm a c-cat t-too y'know…Y-you always n-neglect m-my c-cat DNA…"

Dean rolled his eyes and reached over to hit Sam's arm, "Get out so you can help me." Alec was just laughing and joking, but he still hadn't moved. His muscles had to be killing him from his seizures, and he wasn't sure Alec would be able to walk at all, even if his leg wasn't hurt.

Sam opened the back door and asked, "Do you think you can scoot forward?"

Alec blinked a few times, but then barely shook his head no. "I d-don't think I-I can m-move…"

"Sam, hold him up," Dean said. Sam grabbed Alec's hands, and he managed to get out. "Alec, this is gonna hurt…" Alec's tortured cry of pain almost made him stop, but he had to get his little brother out of the car so he could patch up his leg. "Alec, hey, c'mon, you gotta stay with me," Dean pleaded. Alec was barely conscious as he hauled him out of the car. And he did pass out a few seconds later once they were clear. "Alright little brother, we're gonna save your steps, ok?"

Alec didn't answer, but that was ok. He bent down a little, and then tipped Alec over his shoulder. His little brother didn't fight him or argue with him about being carried since he probably didn't even realize what was happening yet. He was still out, but at least he was getting a break from the pain.

"You got him?" Sam asked, running over to his side.

"He's heavier than he looks," Dean said. "But yeah, I got him." He slowly walked over to the back door of the clinic with Alec over his shoulder.

Sam ran ahead to disable any security systems and to pick the lock. Dean just prayed that this place had what they needed. He could make do with what he needed to, but he hoped that they at least had some local anesthetic so they could try to numb Alec's leg before he dug this metal out. He didn't want to put Alec through more pain, but his hopes weren't high that he would be able to accomplish that.

Alec started to come back once they were inside. Sam led the way down a hall, and he followed him to a room with a metal table in it.

"No…" Alec breathed out. "No, I'm sorry…"

Dean quickly, but carefully, got Alec off of his shoulder and slowly helped him stand up. Alec's eyes were wide with panic, and he was staring at the table. "Alec? You ok?" Dean asked, gently shaking his shoulder a little.

Alec tensed and his shaking got worse, "I'm sorry, I can't do it this. Please don't do this. Please…"

"Dean, what's going on?" Sam asked.

"I don't know…I think it's a Manticore thing," Dean said. "Get everything ready…I'll try to snap him out of it."

Alec suddenly started to struggle against his helping hands, so he automatically tightened his grip, which made it worse. Alec fought harder to get away and started yelling, "No! No, I won't do it again! Please don't do this! NO!"

"Alec!" Dean yelled to be heard over his little brother. He moved so he was in front of Alec, and he loosened his grip on one of his shoulders. He wished he could let Alec go completely, but he needed help standing and wouldn't be able to hold himself up if he let go. "Alec, hey, look at me," Dean said, having managed to get Alec to stop yelling. Alec very slowly took his eyes off of the table to look at him instead. He looked so scared and young; Dean really didn't want to put Alec through this, but he didn't have a choice. He gently cupped the side of Alec's face to make sure he would continue to look at him and soothed, "You're not there. You're with me and Sammy and we just gotta take care of your leg, and then we'll leave, ok?"

"O-ok…" Alec whispered.

He pulled Alec in for a hug, and his little brother practically collapsed against him. "It's alright, I've gotcha," Dean reassured, wrapping his arms around Alec. He could feel Alec's shoulders shake with his silent sobs, but he just let him get it all out. He didn't know what all Alec had been through at Manticore, and part of him didn't want to know. His little brother was one of the strongest people he knew, and that place had nearly broken him. But he wasn't there anymore, and Dean would make sure nothing ever took him away again.

"Th-they had a-a t-table like th-that…" Alec whispered after a few minutes. "Th-they n-never put you o-out w-when they op-operated…Th-they just str-strapped you d-down…" Dean kept his arms around Alec; his voice was muffled against his chest, but it was easier for him to talk like this. "It h-hurt s-so bad…S-some k-kids died b-because th-they couldn't t-take it…"

"We're gonna try to find something to numb your leg," Dean soothed. "And you don't have to watch. I'll blindfold you if you want…But I don't think we're gonna be able to find anything to put you out completely…"

"I-I don't know…" Alec said. "I-I don't know if I-I'll be able t-to h-handle being b-blindfolded…"

"It's ok," Dean said softly. "Looks like Sammy's lookin' for everything we need…You think you're ready to sit down?"

Alec quickly shook his head no. "N-not y-yet…"

"Ok, that's alright," Dean said. "Do you want to find a motel instead? We'll leave right now if you do."

"N-no," Alec said. "I'll t-try th-the blindfold…"

"Alec, you don't have to," Dean reassured. "We'll just grab a bunch of this stuff and take it with us."

"N-no I j-just…I th-think my f-fever's too h-high…I k-keep seeing…I th-think I'm h-hallucinating…" Alec whispered.

Dean gave his little brother a small smile and ran his hand through his hair, "Ok, we can try it."

"I think I've got everything," Sam said.

"Get me something to use as a blindfold," Dean said. Sam's mouth popped open in surprise, but he nodded after a minute and grabbed a cloth and brought it over to him. "Alright, close your eyes, kiddo…" He didn't want to do this, but if it would help his little brother get through this, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He carefully put the cloth over Alec's eyes and tied it at the back of his head. "Does that help?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Alright, I'm gonna help you over there, ok?" Dean asked. Alec nodded, so he steered him to the table and helped him get onto it. "We're gonna get you a pillow real quick, you just try to relax, ok?"

"Ok," Alec said.

"Sam, where's Henriksen?" Dean asked. He went over to the sink and washed his hands while Sam grabbed a pillow that he'd found and carefully put it under Alec's head.

"I told him to keep watch," Sam said. "I found enough stuff for an IV. And I found this just in case…" Sam walked over to him and showed him a bottle of chloroform.

"Seriously?" Dean asked, shooting a quick look to Alec. He definitely didn't want to use that to knock Alec out. He'd watched movies where they had used that stuff, but it didn't look pleasant.

"I couldn't find anything else," Sam whispered. "And this is only if we have to."

"He's not gonna go for that," Dean said with a shake of his head. He didn't want to go for it either.

"Dean-"

"Did you find a scalpel and everything?" Dean asked before Sam could go on. They couldn't afford to argue right now. Alec needed that metal out of his leg and they were wasting time arguing about it.

"Yeah, I put it all by Alec," Sam said.

"Ok, I'll work on getting the metal out and you keep him calm," Dean said. "You might have to hold him down 'cause he can't move while I'm doin' this…"

"Hey, it's gonna be alright," Sam reassured. "Alec believes you can do this and so do I."

"You know if I mess this up, he'll never walk again," Dean said, his eyes shooting up to his brother's.

"Dean, you can't think like that. I know you're gonna be able to do this," Sam said. "Now, c'mon, we gotta do this while this place is still closed."

"What about his blood?" Dean asked. He wasn't stalling; he was just making sure all their bases were covered. "He lost a lot and this is gonna make it worse."

Sam sighed, "You can give him one bag, but that's it. And I don't think you should do it until after we get the metal out."

"He could bleed to death before then! If I hit something, then it's over," Dean said.

"Or you could pass out from giving too much blood, and he might bleed out anyway. You know more about this than I do. You were always the one that patched me and Dad up. You've gotten bullets outta both of us before and you didn't kill us then," Sam said.

"Fine…" He brushed by Sam and walked back over to Alec. "Alright kiddo, you ready?" Alec didn't answer him so he said, "Alec, c'mon man, you gotta talk to me."

"Y-yeah…" Alec finally replied. He was shaking pretty badly again, which was just going to make this harder.

"Sam, grab his pills and the milk," Dean said. "I think he should take a couple more just in case."

Sam ran and grabbed what he asked for and carefully helped Alec take the pills with a drink of milk. Hopefully that would help keep off the seizures if Alec passed out. He kind of hoped Alec would pass out since that would save him some of the pain, but at the same time, he wanted Alec to keep talking to him, reassuring him that he was still alive.

Dean slowly sat down on the stool Sam had found and examined Alec's leg. There were two pieces of metal; one was up by his knee, and it was big enough that it was jammed in at his knee and up into his thigh. The second piece was lower; it started just below his knee and stopped at about the middle of his calf. The second piece didn't look as deep as the first one, and he didn't have to worry about hitting Alec's bones as much, so he decided he'd start with the second one first.

"Alec, I've gotta cut your leg some so I have some wiggle room, ok?" Dean asked. Sam was up by Alec's chest; he had his hand in one of his hands and his other hand was on Alec's shoulder to help keep him calm.

"Ok," Alec breathed out.

Dean took a deep breath as he grabbed the scalpel, and then carefully cut a little bit below and above the piece of metal. Alec tensed when the blade cut into him, but he didn't show any other sign that what he did was hurting him. He carefully pulled on the metal to see if he could just pull it out, but Alec took in a sharp breath when it didn't just pull free.

"Dammit…" Dean muttered under his breath. This was going to be harder than he thought. He tried pulling at the top to see if he could find where the metal was getting caught at, but Alec's leg started bleeding when he moved it. His blood welled up and made it impossible to see what was going on. He grabbed some of the gauze Sam had found and pressed against Alec's leg. He had no idea what he was doing, and he was just hurting his brother more. But he couldn't stop now; they didn't have any other options. He was Alec's only chance at making it out of this alive.

He started from the bottom this time, and he actually had a little more success this way. He saw where the metal was getting caught at, and he carefully cut Alec's skin to free it. He had to go slow so he wouldn't just rip Alec's muscles to shreds, but it just made it that much more painful for his little brother.

Alec was trying his hardest to keep his sounds of pain to himself, but he couldn't keep them all in. Dean would almost flinch any time Alec whimpered in pain, and he had to stop completely when Alec's cry tore at his heart. Sam was trying to comfort Alec as much as he could, but he would look back at him and give him a reassuring nod every time Alec let a sound slip past his lips.

It took him a long time to get the first piece of metal out of Alec's leg, and he had no idea how he was going to do the second one. This one was supposed to be the easy one; the other one was deeper and in a worse spot than this one.

But he knew he was getting ahead of himself. He pulled the first piece free and dropped it on the little tray Sam had found. He carefully cleaned out the gaping tear in Alec's leg before he stitched it up.

"One down, one to go, little brother," Dean said. His voice was rough, but at least he could try to reassure Alec.

"G-g-good…" Alec weakly replied.

"This one looks a little harder than the last one, so it's probably gonna hurt worse," Dean warned.

Alec nodded that he understood, so Dean started the process over again. But this one was a lot worse than the last one. It was deeper than the first and more jagged. He couldn't slowly work it out like he had on the last one and he couldn't just yank it out since it had more that it could tear. Instead, he cut deeper into Alec, unsure if he was even helping or just causing more damage.

It didn't help that Alec's small whimpers and cries of pain had become more frequent. He was trying to keep it in, but he could only take so much. He'd endured this pain since the crash, and on top of it, he'd had seizures. His body had a breaking point, and they had pretty much reached it.

"Dean, he needs a break," Sam whispered. "And you do too. You've been at this too long."

Dean nodded and slowly set the scalpel down. He washed his hands that were covered in Alec's blood, and walked back over to his little brothers. He carefully took off the blindfold to see if Alec was doing any better; he didn't look great, but his eyes focused on him after a moment which was a good sign.

"Hey kiddo, how ya doin'?" Dean asked.

Alec tried to smile and said, "I-I'm o-ok…"

"Look at this hunk of metal that was in your leg," Dean said, helping Alec sit up so he could see it.

"W-whoa…" Alec breathed out.

Alec couldn't help his wince as he moved him back down. "Alec…we found something that'll knock you out…It'll give you a break from the pain."

"And it would be easier on Dean," Sam threw in. He glared at his little brother for telling Alec that; he didn't want him to know how much easier it would be if he would just pass out.

Alec looked at him, silently begging him to tell him the truth. "Alec, I just want what's best for you. I don't want you to be in pain, but if you feel better while you're conscious, then I want you to stay conscious."

"D-dean…"

"The only thing we've got is chloroform," Dean said before Alec could keep going. He wanted his little brother to know everything before he decided. "It won't keep you out for long, but it might give me enough time to get the other piece of metal out without hurting you too badly."

"Y-you'll have t-to yank it o-out," Alec said. "Knock-knock me o-out and p-pull."

"You sure?" Dean asked, running his hand through Alec's hair.

"Y-yeah…"

"Alright," Dean said. "Sam…" Sam grabbed the bottle and poured some onto a piece of cloth before he handed the cloth to him. "Ok kiddo, take deep breaths, ok?" Alec nodded, so he carefully held the cloth over Alec's nose and mouth. Alec took a deep breath, but then looked up at him.

Dean frowned and pulled the cloth away. "I-I don't f-feel any d-different," Alec whispered.

He looked to Sam and asked, "Why isn't this working? This stuff is supposed to knock him out."

Sam sighed and reached out to grab the cloth. Dean let him as he said, "You watch too many movies…It takes five minutes for it to start working, and then you'll only have five minutes before he wakes up again."

"Seriously? I only get five minutes to get this metal out?" Dean asked.

"I g-gotta breathe th-that stuff f-for five m-minutes?" Alec asked at the same time.

"I doubt he'd be out longer since he burns through painkillers so fast," Sam said to him. He turned to Alec and said, "And yes, you'll have to breathe this in for five minutes. It might not take five minutes, but it's not instantaneous. And you're probably gonna have a bad headache afterwards and you might not know where you are…"

"Th-this sounds s-so great…" Alec grumbled sarcastically.

Dean smiled; Alec grumbling and being sarcastic sounded more like his little brother and it made him feel better. "Hey, at least this won't put you out for three hours."

"Or longer," Sam threw in, knowing he was talking about the times Alec went under for surgery. He was always out for a long time after he got out of surgery, even though he would sometimes wake up during surgery.

"S-surgery is p-painful…t-takes a l-long t-time to r-recover," Alec said.

"Well if you would stay asleep during the surgery, then maybe it wouldn't take so long to wake back up," Dean teased.

"Y-you're so p-picky," Alec said with a small smile.

They all three suddenly looked over to the door as Henriksen ran into the room. "This place opens in an hour, so we'll be lucky to get 30 more minutes without someone coming in."

"Alright kiddo, you start breathing so I can get this out and we can leave before anyone finds us," Dean said.

Alec nodded, and Sam covered his nose and mouth again with the cloth. Dean moved back to the metal in Alec's leg and tried to figure out the best way to do this. But the best he could come up with was just to yank it out like Alec had said.

"Henriksen…I could use some help," Dean reluctantly said. He hated asking for help, but he only had a few minutes to get the metal out and it was in there deep. He didn't think he'd be able to get it just by himself. Henriksen came over to him so he said, "We've gotta pull as hard as we can once he's out."

Henriksen nodded and stood next to him, waiting for the signal.

It took about five minutes, just like Sam said, before Alec's muscles slowly relaxed. He saw his eyelids droop, and then his head turned to the side once he was out. Sam pulled the cloth away and looked over at him, giving him a short nod to go ahead.

Dean grabbed the bottom piece of the metal while Henriksen grabbed the top. "On three," Dean said. "One, two, three."

More soon...