A/N- I am very well aware that I might have facts regarding Seeing-Eye dogs wrong here and that it might take longer to get one for a blind person, but just play along with me here, k? lol. Poor Sammy just really needs some good to happen in his life right now, so I'm willing to let some facts be wrong for Sam's sake!

A/N2- This chapter is dedicated to Aecoris (I told you I would do it!). Thank you for the constant support these last few months! *hug*

Chapter 26

"I'm so glad you decided to come," Jody's smile was a mile wide as she hugged Sam tightly to herself, moving one hand to rest on the back of his head,

"So glad."

Sam moved one arm to hug his friend back while his other hand held tightly to his cane,

"Hey, Jody." Confusion filled the younger Winchester at just where exactly they were, they couldn't have been too horribly far from the bunker-or as Dean fondly dubbed it, the Batcave; they had only been driving for no longer then two hours before his brother had announced their arrival. Where that was, Sam once again had no clue. But upon hearing Jody's voice, the younger brother grew even more confused.

"Let me get a look at you, honey," Jody released him and placed her hands on both of his shoulders, taking in Sam's new prosthetics,

"They look so damn real, nobody would ever know."

Dean gently nudged his brother in the ribs, grinning,

"Told you, Sammy." The older brother was unable to contain the smile on his face; if anybody needed to hear this from someone other then himself, it was Sam. He kept a close eye on his little brother as he allowed Jody to take a hold of Sam's elbow and help guide him inside of the small house they had pulled up to.

"Where are we?" Sam finally asked as he took a seat on the soft couch, resting his cane on the floor by his feet,

"Dean wouldn't tell me anything, just that there was a surprise or something…"

Sheriff Mills arched an eyebrow in Dean's direction and was rewarded with a look of innocence from the older Winchester and a small shrug as he took a seat beside Sam,

"So you've got no clue why you're here then?" At Sam's shake of his head, Jody grinned mischievously and moved towards the door to the kitchen,

"Wait here, boys."

"Do we look like we're going anywhere?" Dean quipped back, keeping one hand resting on his brother's arm. As Jody disappeared, the older Winchester turned back towards Sam,

"I told you they looked real, Sam."

"That's Jody, though; she knows us, so of course she'd say that-"

"Shut up, you know she wouldn't say it if it wasn't true," Dean interrupted,

"But if you insist on having another opinion, you'll get another chance here shortly."

Sam's eyebrows arched up at those words,

"There's somebody else here? Dean, what…?" Panic slowly started to seize the younger brother. What in the world was Dean doing? Being around Jody and the doctors were one thing, but a complete stranger?

"What the hell are you-"

"Calm down, little brother," Dean reassured, moving his hand until it was resting on Sam's left shoulder,

"I am in no way, shape or form throwing you to a pack of wolves here, Sam. I would not have done this if I didn't know beforehand that it was a good idea. Just trust me here, Sammy. Remember everything we talked about?"

"I know, Dean, it's just…" He fiddled with the cane he still clenched in his hand,

"How many others are there?"

"Only one other person, I swear to you," Dean promised, squeezing Sam's shoulder gently,

"You'll thank me when this is all over, Sam. Just calm down." Feeling the slight trembling in his little brother's shoulder, Dean sighed softly and continued,

"This person knows Jody. And Garth. You're in good hands here, Sammy; I'm also with you, so you know you can't go wrong when your big brother's here."

"I know," Sam nodded, trying to calm his racing heart as he heard footsteps on the other side of the door as well as another slight sound. A soft padding and a slight jingle. He frowned and blinked his eyes, tuning in to the new sounds that were getting closer.

Dean turned his head from his brother back to Jody and the other woman who was right beside her. His eyes drifted down to the much smaller being that was beside them and was unable to stop himself from cringing, if only slightly. This was for Sammy, he was doing this for his little brother and he was not about to let him see the discomfort it was causing him.

"Dean?" Sam frowned in concern, turning his head towards his left.

"Sammy, we'd like you to meet someone," Dean rose to his feet and allowed the other woman to make her way towards his brother, but didn't move too far from him.

"Hello, Sam. My name is Meredith," The much older woman shot a quick glance in Dean's direction, asking a silent question and once he gave his nod of approval, she gently reached out towards Sam's hand that wasn't holding the cane and let him shake it,

"It's so nice to meet you."

Sam hesitantly shook the older woman's hand briefly before he set it back in his lap,

"Hello." His voice shook slightly, his heart starting to thump all over again.

Meredith knelt down in front of the youngest Winchester, not fazed at all by the hesitance and slight fear she was hearing in Sam's voice,

"I take it you and your brother both know my friend, Jody?"

Sam nodded again, feeling some of the trembling start to lessen at the mention of his friend's name,

"Yes. She's a friend of ours."

"Damn write I am," Jody piped up, wanting to at least give Sam some sort of reassurance that both she and her brother were still nearby. This wasn't going to be easy at first, she knew that already as did Dean; but she had no doubt that once Sam knew what it was he was here for, that smile that had been missed this last year would make its appearance again.

"Sam, I work for an organization that I think would really benefit you, that would help you," Meredith continued carefully,

"It's called The Seeing Eye." Noticing the confusion spreading over Sam's face, the older woman smiled again and rose to her feet, taking the offered leash that Jody was holding,

"Sam, I would like for you to meet Riot."

"What?" The frown on Sam's face grew slightly until he felt the soft fur and wet nose against his hand. His hand shook slightly as he lifted it and he heard soft sniffing noises coming from the animal in front of him,

"A…dog…?"

"It's a Seeing-Eye dog, Sam," Meredith explained, holding onto the dog's leash,

"He's a Golden Retriever and he has been trained specifically for people that are in your shoes."

"A dog?" Sam repeated, his voice not as shaky this time around as he fully let go of the cane in his right hand and brought both hands out to the dog. Tears slowly started to build up as he felt the rough tongue against his hands,

"Dean…You knew about this?"

"It was Jody's idea when she came by a few months ago. Remember that?" Dean kept a safe distance from the dog, but made sure his voice didn't give away his nervousness around the animal,

"She suggested it; she said she knew of someone who trained these animals."

"They've been known to change people's lives for the better, Sam," Meredith spoke up again, releasing the leash and placing it in one of Sam's hands,

"He was raised for this ever since he was a puppy."

Sam's tears slowly started to run down his cheeks as he held the leash in his hand and felt the dog place one paw on the other while he licked his face. The younger brother had absolutely no words for this at the moment; he had been wanting a dog for so horribly long, one for his own, one to keep…But his brother had such a strong dislike for dogs, ever since the Hellhounds had dragged him to Hell those years ago. How was there any possible way that they could get one of these animals for him?

"Sammy-"

"We can't do this," Sam interrupted, lifting a hand and running his fingers through the dog's fur and stroking it,

"I mean…you and dogs…"

"Yes, we can do this, little brother," Dean interrupted before his brother could finish the sentence,

"Why do you think I didn't tell you about it right away? For one, I wanted to surprise you, but you know how I feel about dogs…" Before Sam could speak up, Dean continued,

"But this is not because of me, Sammy; you know full well what I'm willing to do for you and yes, I'm even willing to do this." He gestured towards the large dog who had gone back to licking his little brother's face. He was unable to hold back a smile of his own as he watched a tearful smile appear on Sam's face and for the first time since he had been kidnapped by Missy Bender and those damn Leviathans, his dimples even popped out. Dean had to blink back his own tears at just the site; his brother was starting to almost feel normal again and being around big old dogs was worth it if it meant his brother was going to smile. He had barely seen a full smile on Sam's face ever since before he got sent to Purgatory and seeing it now was well worth the wait.

"But how do we pay for all this? I mean-"

"Sam," Jody interrupted, taking a step closer and kneeling down next to her friend and Riot,

"Who do you think paid for the prosthetics?" She waited as Sam's eyes widened in shock at the words and let it all sink in.

"How did you know about that?" Dean uttered, choking on his own voice,

"Jody…that was YOU?"

"And Meredith," Sheriff Mills nodded at her friend standing behind her,

"We pulled all of our funds together and we helped because we wanted to," She turned her full attention back on Sam, who was still petting the dog's soft fur even as the animal moved to licking Sam's hands.

"And we're going to do the same for the dog here," Meredith finished, nodding down at Riot,

"I would like for you to train with him for approximately 4 weeks, Sam, to see how well he works for you. If it turns out he's not the right one for you, we'll try another one. But Riot seems to have taken a liking for you, honey, I think you two will work well together. Just give it a shot and come on back down here in about a month we'll finish any paperwork that needs to be done and he'll be all yours."

"The Impala, Dean…a dog in your car?" Sam couldn't resist a small chuckle at just the thought and wished he could see the expression on his brother's face as he mentioned this,

"You might have to clean it later…"

Dean rolled his eyes at just the thought of a Golden Retriever…or better yet, any type of animal, in Baby,

"With your help, Sam,"

Sam's laughter died down slightly as he took in his brother's words,

"Really?"

Dean lifted one eyebrow and noticed that his brother was actually serious about this,

"No, Sammy, I'm not going to make you clean the car because of dog smell."

"Oh," Sam's face took on slight disappointment as he rubbed Riot underneath the ears,

"I just thought that maybe…I could somehow learn to be slightly normal again, you know?"

"Not yet, kiddo," Dean seriously replied, not willing to take that giant step yet in willing to allow his brother to do some daily tasks again,

"Later, alright?"

Sam sighed in silent agreement and went back to rubbing the animal's ears. He smiled again as he noticed that Riot really seemed to enjoy having his ears rubbed.

"There's one more thing," Jody rose to her feet and moved towards her bag which was resting near the front door,

"Remember how I told you that I might have a solution to learning Brail?"

"Yeah, you said to give you a few days," Dean narrowed his eyes and folded his arms, his eyes on the Sheriff as she moved back over to the couch and took a seat beside Sam,

"It's been over a month, Sheriff, if I may point out…"

"Shut it, you," Jody quipped back, opening up her bag and pulling out a laptop very similar to Sam's,

"It took a lot longer then I had expected, but I think it will be worth it." She nodded towards Meredith to move the dog away from Sam and once the younger boy's hands were free, she placed the laptop in his lap.

A sadness crossed over Sam's face as he ran his hands over the familiar feel of the computer,

"You know I can't use a computer, Jody…" He attempted to push it back towards his friend, but was shocked as she shoved it right back.

"I know that, Sam," Jody firmly said, opening up the laptop and turning it on,

"Just be patient."

A few minutes passed in silence until Sam suddenly jumped as an automated voice suddenly greeted him,

"Hello, Sam Winchester."

"…The hell?" Dean finally moved closer and took a seat on Sam's other side, staring over at the laptop,

"Jody, what the hell was that?"

Ignoring the question, Jody instead just waited as the automated voice continued,

"What would you like to do today?"

Poking Sam in the ribs with her elbow, Jody silently urged him to say something and smiled as he opened his mouth and spoke, his voice cracking slightly with emotion,

"The Internet."

A quiet jingle noise was heard on the screen and as Dean watched over his brother's shoulder, his eyes widened in surprise as the main screen for the Internet popped up and the automated voice continued,

"What would you like to look up?"

His emotions starting to get the better of him, the tears now falling freely down his face, Sam shakily shut the laptop with a snap and allowed Jody to hold him tightly in her arms, her hand running up and down his back,

"T-Thank you…" He whispered tearfully, burying his face into her shoulder.

"Your welcome, sweetie," She whispered back, meeting Dean's eyes over Sam's shoulder and seeing the mistiness gathering in his own green eyes,

"And you deserve it. Don't you?"

Pulling back slightly, Sam brought a hand up and wiped at the wetness gathering on his cheeks,

"I'll get back to you on that one."

"We're still working on that, Jody," Dean's smile was tinged with sadness as he too reached over and took his baby brother into his own arms,

"But he will know sooner rather then later, I can promise you that."

0000

TBC