It was Sam's panicked yelp that woke Dean up out of the light sleep he'd fallen into. He sat up quickly on his bed to see Sam hanging face down, in mid air off the side of his bed. Raf had caught him around the waist before he fell to the floor.

"DEAN!" yelled Sam, he wriggled and squirmed trying to get out of the grip that Raf held him in.

"Calm down, Samuel" said Raf struggling not to slide off the bed on top of Sam. He sounding exasperated. "I'm not trying to hurt you. You're hooked up to an IV, and …"

"No! DEAN!" yelled Sam again, struggling harder.

Dean kicked back his covers and scrambled over. He was pulled up short and nearly fell, having forgotten that the chain length had been changed. He yanked at it in frustration, not caring if it cut painfully into his ankle. "Sam? Sammy. I'm right here, bro."

Sam reached out a hand toward him and yelped again as Raf hauled Sam back onto the bed beside him. Sam struggled frantically. He ripped out the needle stuck in his arm sending a spray of blood into Raf's startled face and across the bed. Sam struggled away from Raf while the Vamp was distracted by the blood spray, and moved as fast as his panicked body could move. He dived off the bed again and scrambled over to Dean panting in panicked gasps.

Dean caught him in his arms in a hug that felt so good that Dean could have held on for a solid week. He hadn't realized how hard it had been, to be separated forcefully from his brother, until now.

Sam was gulping in air, his eyes were huge. "He's in the …. I thought you were … . Why's he in the bed?"

Raf stood up beside the bed looking mildly annoyed, and wiped at the blood on his cheek with his hand. "Don't worry, Samuel. Your virtue is still intact. I wasn't in the bed. I was taking Diane's turn at watch duty. Although ..."

"Why … ," Sam's expression was wild. He looked from Raf back to Dean and back again in confusion. "Dean, why the hell aren't you sleeping next to me?"

"Raf changed the sleeping arrangements after he found the paperclip." explained Dean. "But I've been in here the whole time. He hasn't done anything much."

Sam's breath caught in his throat. He swayed and stared at Dean and then back at Raf and heaved in another gasp of air as memories started flooding back. "He was … He's been in my head, Dean," Sam's voice was on the edge of full blown hysteria. "I couldn't stop him, I don't know what he did. I don't ...."

"I know, I know," said Dean soothingly. "He's been inside my head too."

Sam froze for a second and stared at him with enormous brown eyes. Then he spun around and delivered a huge right hook to Raf's jaw.

Raf rolled with the punch and staggered a step or two. He straightened again, rubbing at his jaw, looking more surprised than actually hurt.

"You keep away from my brother," hissed Sam furiously. He glared murderously at Raf. "You touch him again and I swear I'll find a way to make sure you don't see another day."

Raf looked at Sam tolerantly, and then smiled, running an admiring eye over Sam's half naked body. "I admire your loyalty and devotion to your brother, Samuel. Those are indeed fine qualities to have --- in anyone. But remember, in the future I won't tolerate you attacking me or my kin without retribution."

Sam swayed unsteadily on his feet and staggered back into Dean's arms.

"Come here," said Dean. He locked his arms around Sam, frowning at the unfamiliar thinness of his brothers waist. He helped him over to his own bed and sat him down carefully, mindful of the cracked ribs. "It's okay, Sammy. I've been in the room the whole time. You've been unconscious for nearly five days."

"Five …, five days?" Sam stared at Dean incredulously.

"Nate cleaned your bite wounds but one of them still managed to get infected. And that, on top of what Raf did, made you pretty damned sick. How are you feeling, now?"

"Five days?" whispered Sam again. He lifted the arm with the plaster cast on it and looked at it with a frown, trying to remember how it had gotten hurt. Raf took a few steps closer and Sam's attention immediately shifted. He stiffened up and stood again with Dean at his side taking a defensive stance. He glared at Raf.

"You should go back to your own bed and get some sleep, Samuel." Raf eyed Sam's pale and sweaty face with a frown of concern. "You've been unwell. Dean will fill you in on on a few things that I've been considering regarding your future. I'll let Nathanial know that you're awake."

The moment that Raf left the room, Sam sagged. Dean, with his arm still wrapped protectively around his brother, helped him sit back onto the bed. He could feel Sam's body trembling, whether from being sick or from confronting Raf, he didn't know.

"He went into your head too?" asked Sam worriedly.

"Yeah, but I don't think it affects me as much as you," said Dean. "I didn't even pass out. Just felt a bit dazed afterwards."

"It's not only that," said Sam softly.

Dean looked away, knowing exactly what Sam meant. "We'll deal with it when we're out of here, Sam."

Sam grunted in acknowledgment and brushed his hair impatiently out of his eyes. "So, Raf got the paperclip."

Dean nodded. "Sorry, I … I can almost feel him pulling that memory apart. It was like … like having a leech in my head – all slimy and – so not supposed to be there." Dean couldn't quite stop the shudder that went down his own body at the memory. "He looked in on me telling you about the paperclip in Morse code. That's why he moved me to this bed, so we can't use the code to communicate anymore."

Sam swore softly. It wasn't often that Dean stumbled over words. Raf's mind thing had hurt him a whole lot more than Dean would ever admit. He ran his good hand through his hair again. "I'm not dealing with it as well, Dean. I … think I'm gonna go nuts if he gets in my head again."

Dean squeezed his little brothers shoulders a little tighter. "You're already nuts, Sammy." Dean waited for a few seconds. But when Sam didn't complain, he knew that Sam wasn't anywhere near recovered yet. "We'll get out, Sam. We'll find another way. I'll take you to Bobby's and we'll chill for a good couple of months. Sort out the head stuff, sort out … other things. We'll be okay."

Sam shuddered and shook his head. "Dean, he was in my head and I passed out. I don't know which memories he got into. I don't know ..." Sam bit his lip.

Dean looked at Sam's haunted face, and drew his brother in closer and just held him for a while.

Sam closed his eyes. "It's like I can't trust my own mind anymore. I don't know if I'll remember something and I'll even know whether it's been changed or not. I won't know if I remember something – like … like kissing Jess – if he's changed the memory or he's shared it, or if he … ." Sam leaned back. "I don't even want to try to remember anything just in case … I can't do this anymore, Dean. And Raf's … I think he's interested in me. I think he wants to … to turn me."

Dean hugged his brother tighter rubbing soothing circles over his brothers back. "Yeah, he mentioned that. He seems to think you'd be a hell of a lot better off with him than with me. He said he could protect you from the Demons and you could live here like Nate does, maybe study again. He said you'd be safer …"

"No, no, no Dean," Sam sat bolt upright staring into Dean's face with huge terrified eyes. "You don't want me to be turned, do you? I don't want to be a Vamp. I don't want to live here. I can't. Raf wants … You don't know …"

Dean shook his head. He pulled the doona off of his bed and wrapped it around Sam's shuddering body. "It's alright, it's alright. You know I'll go with whatever you want to do, Sam. I don't want you to be a Vamp if you don't want to be one."

Sam's shoulders slumped as he let out a huge breath of relief and he was quiet for a while, enfolded in the warmth of the doona and the soothing comfort of his brothers arms. Sam realized that he wasn't thinking all to clearly. For a second or two there it had sounded like Dean wanted him to become a Vamp. "What did Raf say? What did he want you to tell me?"

Dean sighed, "That he really is thinking of turning you."

Sam shook his head, half in fear, half in bewilderment. "Can't he tell that I hate him?"

Dean stilled for a second, as realization hit him. "I don't think he's worried about how you feel about him right now," he said slowly. "Jeeez, Sammy, a Vampires loyalties change when they get turned. We've seen that happen before with that girl on our first Vamp hunt, remember?"

Sam frowned and stared into his brothers alarmed face.

"You'd be transferring your loyalities to him and his kin if you got turned, Sam." Dean chewed at his lip as he sorted out the implications. "You'd remember that I was family, but you'd be ..." Dean bit his lip hard. "Hell, that's probably why he said he admired your loyalty and devotion just now. He knows those qualities will probably transfer to him since he's the head of the clan. I think he really does want to turn you, Sam. We just have to find a way to get out of here before …"

"You won't be getting out of here before anything, Dean," said Raf from the doorway. He stepped into the room followed closely by Nathanial. "And yes, you're right about the transfer of loyalties. Once you are turned Samuel, you won't care for your brother nearly as much as you care for me and my kin. Your love for your brother would become love for me instead. Your loyalty and devotion would become mine as well. Your brother would be much as we are to you now. An outsider, one that you remember, but different from yourself. Like Nathanial here. He remembers his family. He remembers loving them, even feels some attachment to them still. But at the end of the day, his love and loyalty for us is stronger."

Sam was shaking his head. "No, God no. I don't want to be a Vampire."

Raf let out an impatient sigh. "You're still not thinking, Samuel. I've seen inside your head. I know that you're terrified of what you might become because of the blood inside of you. It's clear that as a human you have no future at all, whether it's your brother that kills you, the Demons, or by your own hand. And yes, I know that you have decided to commit suicide. It's why I'm giving you another option, Samuel."

Sam flinched, and turned to glance at Dean.

"Nathanial will examine you," said Raf "I'd imagine you have a lot to discuss with your brother. You should put aside your prejudices and consider your options carefully."

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