Dean felt useless as Dad and Bobby discussed how they were going to find Ben. He couldn't do anything to help Alec while he was in surgery and he couldn't do anything to help find Ben. The worst part was, he was too tired to even try to get out of bed or even pretend that he could be of any help. His chest was killing him, but he needed to know his brothers were ok before he did anything else.

"Dad, what about Alec?" Sam asked before Dad could leave the room. Dad and Bobby were going to split up to see if they could find Ben and try to cover both exits in case whoever took him was trying to leave.

"Alec's in surgery," Dad said. "I'll try to convince Cathy to bring him here or get her to move Dean wherever they take him. You two will have to look out for him once he gets out of surgery."

"No, Dad, what about the blood they're gonna give him," Dean whispered. Alec had told them a long time ago that he and Ben couldn't have ordinary blood. "He said it would make 'em sick if they had the wrong blood…"

"He's just gonna have to be sick for a while," Dad said. "I can't barge in there and demand they don't give him blood. All I can do is hope they don't run any blood tests on him so we can stay here until you both heal."

"Dad, what if Alec is seriously hurt?" Sam asked.

"Sam, one thing at a time. I can't do anything to help Alec, but I can look for Ben," Dad said. Sam huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, but he didn't argue. "I'll be back in two hours if I can't find Ben," Dad said before he left with Bobby right behind him.

"Sam, go see if you can find anything out," Dean said as soon as his Dad was gone. "Just listen in on what the nurses are saying, ok?"

"Ok," Sam said.

"And keep an eye out for Ben," Dean added on before Sam could disappear.

"Obviously," Sam replied, rolling his eyes.

Sam left, and then he was by himself. His chest was killing him and he wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. He had to be awake when they brought Alec back. He didn't know how hurt Alec was going to be, but he was in surgery, so it couldn't be good. And Alec was a cuddle-bug; he wanted to be around his family when he was hurt, and depending how hurt he was, he would need someone to be with him. That didn't even take into account the fact that Ben was missing. Alec would be able to handle any injury thrown at him as long as his twin brother was with him.

"Dean? Where did everyone go?" Cathy asked as she walked back into his room.

"They went to go look for Ben," Dean answered honestly.

"I know this is stressful, but you need to get some rest," Cathy said, checking his stats.

Dean shook his head no, "Not until I know my brothers are safe."

"Honey, Alec's going to be in surgery for a while and I know they're going to find Ben," Cathy tried to reassure.

"How hurt is Alec?" Dean asked softly. He was afraid to hear the answer, but he had to know.

Cathy sat in the chair that Sam usually sat in and reached out to hold his hand, "I don't know exactly how hurt he is and it would be better for the doctors to tell you. But I know for sure that there was an issue with his left eye and he has a few broken bones."

His eyes teared up without his permission hearing some of what had happened to his little brother. He always tried to be strong for his family, but he was alone now and he was hurt. And Alec was the baby of the family, and he hated to see any of his brothers hurt.

"Dean, it's going to be ok," Cathy whispered, her voice choked with her own tears. She cleared her throat and pulled herself together though and said, "Alec is young and I know he's going to pull through."

"Can you make it so he's in my room? Or can you get me moved to wherever he's gonna be?" Dean practically begged. "He's not gonna know what's going on and with Ben missing-"

"I'll do what I can," Cathy cut off. "But I don't see why he can't be in the same room as you and I think Dr. Parlo will agree."

"Do you know how much longer he'll be in surgery?" Dean asked.

"Let me make my rounds, and then I'll check on him again, ok?" Cathy said. He nodded, so she patted his hand and left his room.

He really wanted to get up and find out for himself how Alec was doing, but he knew it was going to be close to impossible to actually get up by himself. He could only sit up because of the bed, but he knew he could do anything once Alec was there.

He dozed off without meaning to, but he instantly woke up again when Cathy came back.

"Dean, Alec's out of surgery," Cathy said. "They're bringing him here now so he can be monitored."

"Did it go ok?" Dean asked, waking up the rest of the way.

Cathy nodded, "They saved his eye, but we won't know if this affected his vision until they take the gauze off. He has a broken wrist, a fractured cheek bone, and his jaw is wired shut. It's going to be a long recovery, but he's ok."

"Do you know if they had to give him any blood?" Dean asked.

"I'm sorry honey, I don't know," Cathy said.

He wanted to ask more questions, but more hospital staff came into his room and rearranged the furniture. His room wasn't supposed to be for two people, but it was larger than most and if they just removed the recliner then Alec's bed should fit.

"He probably won't wake up for a while still, but if I'm not around, you need to push the call button when he does," Cathy said after the staff had left his room again. "He won't know what's going on and he won't be able to talk, so we need to keep him calm so he doesn't hurt himself."

"Ok," Dean said with a determined nod. Alec wasn't going to like not being able to talk, but maybe he would stay calm long enough for him to explain everything to him.

Alec looked so little when they finally brought him in. Gauze covered his left eye, the left side of his face was dark with bruises, and there was a light green cast on his left wrist. Cathy helped get everything set up and said, "They thought green would be a good color for his cast because of his eyes."

"He likes green," Dean whispered. He cleared his throat, and then said, "When they find Ben…he'll draw all over it so Alec won't think it's so boring…"

"They'll find Ben," Cathy tried to reassure. "Your Dad came back to check on you while you were asleep, but he's looking again now."

"They have to find him," Dean muttered.

Sam had tried to eavesdrop like Dean told him to, but the nurses didn't know what was going on with his brother either. He wanted to know if Alec was ok, but there was nothing he could do to help him. The only thing he could do was look for Ben.

He knew Dean would be pissed if he found out he was looking for Ben on his own. But his brother was missing; someone had taken him and he needed to find him. Dad and Bobby were looking too, but Dad would tell him to stay with Dean if he found them. He wanted to do something useful, and right now, the only thing he could do was look for Ben.

He wasn't really sure where to look, especially since he couldn't imagine who would attack Alec, and then take Ben. His little brothers were strong, so whoever got them was just as strong or stronger. He was having second thoughts about finding Ben and whoever had taken him. He wanted to help his brother, but it wasn't smart to find them by himself. If he did find them, then he had no idea what he was going to do. But he couldn't leave Ben.

He didn't know where to start looking; where would someone hide with an 11-year-old where no one would find them? He looked up and down the hall, and he was surprised to see the sign for the chapel just a few feet away. Ben was always in the chapel, and even though he didn't think his little brother would be in there, he still wanted to go. He wanted to feel closer to his brother, and maybe this would be the best place to think.

He walked into the little chapel and sat down on the wooden pew back by the fake fireplace. It was quiet in the tiny chapel; he was the only one there, but that was ok.

He didn't know how long he sat there, but he didn't want to move. If he moved, then he'd go back to real life. Ben, his kind and caring little brother, had been taken, and Alec, his smart-aleck little brother, was hurt enough to be in surgery. His little brother should never be hurt enough to need surgery. He hated that it was almost normal in their family for two of his brothers to be admitted into the hospital at the same time. He just wanted them to have a normal, safe life. Alec and Ben deserved to have safe for a while, but Dad's version of safe was to ship them off to Bobby's for the summer.

He'd hated being away from his little brothers over the summer. When Alec and Ben had first come into their lives, he'd actually been a little jealous of them. They were getting all of the attention from both Dean and Dad. Since they were there, he no longer mattered. But he'd gotten over that after he'd really gotten to know them.

Alec and Ben could almost always be seen together, but after Alec, he was the one that Ben hung out with the most. They both loved school and they loved to read; they didn't even need to talk when they hung out together. Alec would come in after a while and practically demand they do something else. His little brother claimed he was saving them from dying of boredom when he disrupted their reading.

He missed them all the time, but he really missed them in the Impala. He had gotten used to sharing the backseat with them. He and Ben loved to annoy Alec by making him sit in the middle, but he knew Alec liked it. His little brother could watch where they were going if he and Ben were asleep, he could talk to Dad and Dean if he and Ben weren't paying attention to him, and he could lean on either him or Ben when he was tired. Alec always liked having contact with someone when he slept. He'd told him that he knew this was real and that he wasn't in Manticore if he felt someone next to him.

He didn't know what he would do without his little brothers.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he almost didn't hear the small sniffle. He looked around the small room thinking he'd missed someone walking in, but he was still the only one in there. He slowly got up and walked around the room, looking for whoever else was there.

"Hello?" Sam called out when he didn't immediately see anyone.

It was quiet for another minute, but then a small voice choked with tears asked, "Sam?"

He ran to the far corner of the room, where the voice had come from. He maneuvered himself behind the cross and looked behind the piano to find Ben. He was curled up in a ball, two fire irons crossed over him, and with tears streaming down his face. "Ben, are you ok?" Sam asked, dropping to his knees beside his brother.

He reached out to get the fire irons off of him, but Ben grabbed the irons and refused to let go. "No, don't," Ben said. "It's not safe."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"It was me…" Ben whispered.

"What?" Sam asked. He reached out to touch Ben's shoulder, but he immediately pulled away. "Ben, what are you talking about?" Sam repeated.

"It was me…I hurt Alec," Ben sobbed.

His breath caught in his chest, but he couldn't believe it was true. Ben would never hurt Alec. He ignored Ben's protests and pulled his little brother into a hug. "Ben…what do you mean? You wouldn't hurt Alec." Ben was shaking in his arms, but he held out his right hand. He gasped when he saw Ben's bloody and bruised knuckles. "Ben, you're hurt."

"I deserve it," Ben mumbled.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Sam asked gently. Ben shook his head no and hid against him. Ben usually didn't like having too much contact, but he must have needed it then.

"Is Alec ok?" Ben asked, changing the subject.

He hesitated, but then finally admitted, "Alec's in surgery."

Fresh tears spilled down Ben's cheeks as he cried, "It's all my fault. Alec's hurt because of me."

"Ben, please tell me what happened," Sam begged.

"We went down to the morgue…Alec wanted to see it and I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen," Ben said, his voice choked. "There was a ghost down there…he was so mad, but he was only mad at Alec. He kept saying that he broke the rules and that he needed to be punished…and then it was like I didn't have control anymore. Something else was controlling me, but I could still feel and see everything…I felt his bones break, but I couldn't stop…"

The fire irons made sense now, but he felt terrible for his little brother. Ben should never have been put through that. "How did you get rid of the ghost?" Sam finally asked.

"I ran a little after Alec passed out. The ghost was still there, but it felt like I was more in control," Ben said. "I knew there were fire irons in here because of the fireplace, and I thought it would go away if I touched one and it did…and then I just hid here…"

"We need to go tell Dad a ghost is in the hospital," Sam said. "He'll know what to do."

He stood up and tried to pull Ben up too, but his little brother wouldn't budge. "No," Ben stated. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Ben, we have to tell them," Sam stressed. "They're looking for you and they need to know there's a ghost."

"I'm not going," Ben said. "It's not safe. It's not even safe for you to be near me right now."

"Ben, the ghost isn't controlling you anymore," Sam said, sitting back down. "And it wasn't you that hurt Alec, it was the ghost."

"I'm not moving," Ben said. He turned away from him and hid in the corner. He needed to go tell everyone that he'd found Ben, but he couldn't leave. He was afraid that if he left, Ben would disappear. Making up his mind, he settled in next to Ben and waited for someone to come into the chapel.

He tried to scream in pain, but something was wrong. He couldn't open his mouth, which made him panic. He could hardly breathe; he felt like his blood was on fire and was burning him from the inside out. He tried to scream again, but he still couldn't.

"Shh, Alec," Dean suddenly soothed. He felt his big brother's arm slide under his shoulders and carefully lifted him up slightly. Dean's arm was shaking, but he scooted him over and laid in bed next to him. "Shh, try not to cry, ok kiddo? You're gonna hurt your eye." Dean situated him, and suddenly he was tucked against his brother's side. "A lot has happened, but don't try to talk. I'll tell you everything I know, just don't talk."

He could hardly think of anything besides the pain, but he felt a tiny bit better knowing he wasn't alone.

"They had to wire your jaw shut," Dean said. "I know it sucks, but you won't be talking for a while. And they had to do surgery on your left eye since your eye socket was shattered. They think your vision is gonna be ok, but you gotta keep the gauze over your eye until the doctors take it off. And your left wrist is broken again. But instead of a brace you've got a cast, so Ben's gonna have to decorate it."

Alec flinched without meaning to when he heard Ben's name. He knew it wasn't really his brother who had hurt him, but he still saw his brother's fist coming at him again and again.

"You ok? Does it hurt too much to sit like this?" Dean asked, misunderstanding his flinch. He shook his head no. He didn't want Dean to leave him. Dean moved though and he instantly whimpered to try to get his brother to stay. "It's ok kiddo, I'm not goin' anywhere. Just gotta find a way to get more comfortable." He opened his one good eye and looked up at Dean in concern. "I'm alright," Dean reassured. "And I'm not movin'. I just had to move fast to get to you, which was rough."

He had to close his eye again to try to fight through the pain. He hurt so bad…

"It feels like you've got a fever," Dean whispered. "You feelin' ok?" He shook his head no; there was no point in lying if he couldn't spin a story to go with it. He hated not being able to talk. "Cathy said she could give you something to make you sleep…" He quickly shook his head no again. He didn't want to be knocked out. He didn't like it. "Ok, ok," Dean placated. "But we might have to get you something for this fever…"

He needed to ask Dean a question, but he couldn't talk. And he needed to tell Dean about the ghost and about Ben and he wanted to know where Dad, Bobby, and Sam were…but he couldn't do any of it.

"Here Alec," Dean said, shifting around and holding out a pad of paper for him. He took it and the pencil Dean held and quickly started writing. His handwriting was shaky since his blood felt like it was boiling again, but he hoped Dean could still read it. He passed the paper back and tried to wait patiently as Dean read over it. "Ok…the answer to the first question is yes I found out they did give you blood during surgery. Is that why you have a fever?"

Alec nodded and took the paper back to write again. He didn't want Dean to feel bad, but his brother would want to know that he was hurting.

Dean's sharp eyes met his after he read what he had just wrote, "Will anything help? Any medicine or anything?"

Alec shook his head no. He didn't know of anything that would help. He just knew he wasn't supposed to have ordinary blood.

"Ok…maybe you can sleep a little after I answer the rest of these and maybe that will help," Dean suggested. His brother ran his hand through his hair, and then he held him a little closer. "Ok, um, for the rest of these…are you sure there's a ghost in the hospital?" He nodded and motioned for Dean to keep reading. "Ben attacked you?!" He quickly motioned again for Dean to keep reading. He hated that he couldn't just explain it to his brother.

"You think the ghost made him do it?" Dean asked softly. "You think the ghost possessed him?" Alec nodded and turned slightly against Dean to get closer. "Shit," Dean breathed out. "Alright, Dad and Bobby are looking for Ben. Hopefully they come back here before they find him so we can tell them what's going on. And Sam was out eavesdropping, but now I don't know where he is. But there's nothin' the two of us can do except rest, ok? I know it sucks being stuck here while Ben's missing, but neither of us have a choice."

He nodded again since that was all he could do. He wanted to do more, but Dean was right. He reached up his right hand and grabbed a little bit of Dean's hospital gown at his stomach. He wanted to be sure Dean would stay with him.

"I'm not goin' anywhere, kiddo," Dean reassured. "Just go to sleep and I'll still be here when you wake up."

Alec nodded and slowly relaxed against Dean.

More soon...