Chapter 29

Sam did as his brother asked. When he was done cleaning the kitchen, he headed to the bedroom he would be using and grabbed his bathroom bag to do his nightly routine. He changed into sleep clothes and closed and locked his bedroom door, even bracing a chair under the knob. He knew Dean could not get out of the basement unless he unlocked the basement door from the outside and set his cell to wake him with sunrise was the following day. He did not want him to stay down there any longer than needed.

He pulled the covers back and saw Dean had laid another blanket at the bottom of the bed if he needed it. The air was cooler tonight because a storm was brewing outside. He looked toward the door when a muffled howl echoed from the basement and knew it was starting. He still could not stop himself from shivering slightly with the wild, unbridled sound, but told himself, that was still his brother and he needed him more than ever right now. He would not turn his back on his brother, no matter what.

Sam dug into his bag and found a writing pad and pen. He adjusted his pillows so he could lean against the headboard. He tried to ignore the noises coming from the basement as he started writing down questions he wanted to ask his brother. He did not want to forget anything and wanted to know everything. He did not even notice when the sounds ceased, and it grew quiet in the house. He looked down at the pad and saw he had filled two pages with questions and figured that was a start for now. He yawned as he put the pad and pen on the nightstand and adjusted his pillows so he could lie down. Sam wiggled around and got comfortable and stopped when he realized how quiet it was now. The pills must have done their job and Dean was in a drug induced sleep. With that thought, he closed his eyes and calmed his mind so he could sleep, hopefully it would be a restful one, better than the night before.

spn

An annoying buzzing made Sam roll over and smack at his cell the next morning. He looked at the time through his partly opened eyes and let his head fall back on his pillow. He lay there for a few minutes letting his body wake up before pushing himself to a sitting position on the side of the bed. Knowing Dean was probably waiting on him, he found his clothes and changed before moving the chair and unlocking his door.

Sam headed into the kitchen and to the door and listened for a moment before glancing at the window to see the light of the new day. He unlocked the two heavy duty locks and slowly opened the door but did not see his brother. He craned his neck to try and see down the stairs, but it did not help.

"Dean, the door's unlocked," he called listening for an answer.

"I'll be up in a moment, mind not looking when I come up?" Dean replied.

"Okay, sure," Sam answered, not sure what he meant by that. He went to the coffee pot and started making coffee and kept his back to the basement door when he heard the footsteps coming up. He could sense Dean in the room as he passed through and continued down the hall, he figured to the bathroom. He heard the shower start and knew Dean was cleaning up.

Sam went to the fridge and pulled out the eggs, butter, and milk thinking he would make some French toast for their breakfast. Sam placed the finished toast in the oven to stay warm as he waited on Dean. He searched the cabinets for syrup, thinking if they were staying here for a while, he needed to do a supply run. He was not sure what Dean's plans were after tonight when the last cycle of the full moon happened. After that, he knew Dean would be okay for another three weeks or so until the next one came around. He was cleaning up the last of the French toast mess when Dean strolled into the kitchen showered and dressed in clean clothes.

"You've been cooking Sammy?" Dean questioned as he sniffed the air catching the aroma of the cooked food.

"Yeah, French toast," Sam said. He grinned as he pulled the platter from the oven and divided the toast between two plates before sitting them at the table. "Hope you don't mind?"

"Naw, I'm good," Dean replied, giving him a half smile and pleased that Sam seemed to be getting comfortable around him now. He took the syrup and poured a generous portion over his toast before passing it to Sam.

"I see some things haven't changed," Sam chuckled as Dean cut into his drowned toast and began to eat it.

"Wha'?" Dean asked, talking around his mouth full of food like he always did.

Sam had to laugh and shook his head as he cut a bite, dipped it in a small amount of syrup, and ate it. He knew they were going to talk, but he could not wait to ask. "Dean?"

"Yeah Sammy?" Dean asked looking up with interest at his brother.

"Why didn't you want me to see you this morning when you came upstairs? I'm simply curious. You were back to normal. I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to," he rattled on trying not show his uneasiness and flustered moment.

"And you're supposed to be the smart one," Dean chuckled as he wiped a bite of toast through the syrup and ate it dripping syrup down his chin.

"What? I don't get it?" Sam frowned as he tried to figure out what Dean was talking about.

"Sammy, what are you always telling me? When I eat, I'm messy and don't have any table manners. Well, when I change, any manners I do have, go out the window and I'm a total slob. Don't really use napkins when I'm…Satisfying the craving for the beast."

Sam's brow furrowed as the wheels in his head were spinning and it finally occurred to him what Dean was talking about. He was eating raw meat and that had been soaking in blood. He was sure Dean was not using silverware and that meant using his hands that would get bloody as well as his face.

"Oh!" Sam nodded when he got the picture.

"Took you long enough," Dean teased.

"Did not," Sam pouted, and he gave Dean a bitch face.

Dean could not help laughing at him because he knew that face and had been on the receiving end too many times. Sam reached over and punched him in the arm and grumbled under his breath. Dean froze for a second when he realized this was the first brotherly touch Sam had offered him since he got to the cabin. A warm feeling filled his chest and he quickly looked down at his plate before Sam saw the tears in his eyes.

"It wouldn't have mattered Dean. We've seen each other covered with blood and gore, worse than the blood from a couple pieces of meat, lots of times over the years. It's not like killing monsters is a neat job. I would have been okay with it, honest." Sam tried to sound as sincere as he could to assure Dean, he was telling the truth.

"Thanks Sammy," Dean replied his worry seemed all for nothing and Sam was right. They had been covered in much worse than a little blood, but he had still felt self-conscious about it this morning since this was Sam's first time seeing him like that.

They finished their meal and stacked the dishes in the sink before getting refills on their coffees.

"So, do you want to sit in the living room to do this?" he asked Sam. "It may be a little cool outside for you since the storm came through last night."

"Yeah, the living room is fine," Sam agreed quickly, anxious to do this. "Wait, I'll be right back," Sam said. He hurried down the hall to his bedroom to get the questions he had written out last night. Dean was waiting for him and Sam followed his brother into the living room and waited for him to take a seat in an overstuffed chair before he sprawled out on the couch facing him. He looked down at the notes in his hand and up at his brother.

"You giving me a test Sammy?" Dean asked eyeing the paper for a moment. "You know I don't do well on them."

"It's just some questions I wrote down last night," Sam mumbled, a little embarrassed that he even did it now.

"It's okay bro, I still have a lot of questions myself and it's happening to me. So, where do we start?"

"How 'bout the beginning? I know you left me at Bobby's to follow up on a lead about the werewolf we had been tracking. I guess go from there. What happened?"

"I found him, we fought, I killed him, but not before he was able to bite me," Dean continued, pulling his tee shirt neck down showing the bite mark on his shoulder.

Sam leaned forward so he could see it better and could see the fang marks on his skin. They were faint, but still noticeable if you really looked.

"Turned out we weren't the only ones tracking that werewolf. His clan was after him too, because he broke their law, I mentioned to you yesterday. If a werewolf kills a human to feed on them means death, period. No whoops, no second chances, no apologies and I won't do it again, you forfeit your life," Dean paused as he let that sink in for both of them. He looked up at Sam and saw the serious look on his face as he absorbed the information.

"Wow, I never knew there were laws like that for werewolves," Sam mumbled as he rolled that around in his head.

"Not all werewolves have laws or are in a clan, we'll talk about that later."

"He tore me up pretty bad and I passed out. The leader and a couple of others from the clan found me. He took me back to my motel, paid for a couple more nights and left his number. I did not know I was even bitten until I took a shower. I thought that was it for me. I was ready to eat a bullet…" Dean stopped as he got a faraway look in his eyes thinking about when he tried to take his own life.

Sam sat up straighter and stared at his brother with wide eyes and concern when he heard that. He swallowed hard and could not stop the tears that filled his eyes. He blinked rapidly and cleared his throat because he just realized how close he came to losing Dean by his own hand.

"What happened?" Sam whispered, trying to control the tension in his voice.

"I tried, man, I really tried because I knew what that bite meant for me. But the beast inside of me wouldn't let me do it. Guess it knew what was better for me than I did," Dean huffed a laugh as he shook his head and settled back in the chair. "I tried again when I was up on the mountain and still it stopped me."

"Why didn't you call me? I would have come to you!" Sam questioned trying to keep the anger from his voice. "I'm your brother Dean…I would do anything for you…Hell, you should know that by now."

Dean looked down at his hands, not knowing how to respond to Sam.

"Why didn't you call me?" Sam asked again in a softer, worried voice as he darted his eyes up to Dean's face.

Dean bit his lower lip as he tried to sort out the words to say to his brother to make him understand his reasoning.

"I was ashamed Sammy," Dean whispered as he clasped his hands together. He did not know if he could say it out loud, because when he did, it made it even more real. "I screwed up, okay? I went in without backup and paid the price. I'm a seasoned hunter, one of the best, and knew better, but I acted like a rookie. I was embarrassed," he confessed, his voice laced with regret for his actions. "And…I couldn't face you after what happened…I didn't want to burden you with maybe being the one to have to put me down. And I was afraid of hurting you…I couldn't bear the thought of hurting you Sammy." Dean cleared his throat and could not look up at his brother as tears welled in his eyes and one slipped down his cheek that he quickly wiped away.

Before he could say anything else, Dean felt familiar arms going around him and pulling him into a tight hug. He stiffened and tried to pull away, but the arms only tightened, and Dean finally gave in and hugged back. The brothers stayed in each other's embrace for several minutes until Dean pushed Sam back and wiped his wet face.

Sam straightened up and let his back pop and chuckled at how loud it sounded. He wiped a shirt sleeve across his face to dry it and sat back down on the couch.

"Know this Dean, no matter what, I will be here for you. I don't care that you're different now and eat raw meat and howl at the full moon," he laughed. "You're still my big brother and I'm not going anywhere. You're not getting rid of me that easily. We'll figure this out together bro, you and me. You're not alone. We can make it work. One day at a time. Are you with me Dean?" Sam explained, being as serious as he could.

Dean looked sideways at Sam as he leaned forward to look at him, hope and encouragement in his eyes. He could not believe Sam was being that understanding and willing to stand by his side even with what he had become. He gave him a half smile before replying.

"Yeah Sammy, I'm with you," he answered giving him a nod and small smile. "There is one upside to this new me though."

"What's that?" Sam sat back on the couch and let out the breath he had been holding and smiled back at him.

"Seems I can heal myself from most injuries without medical attention. Mason said there were some things that would need tending to, but for the most part my body will take care of itself."

"That is a handy thing to have and good to know," Sam replied. This was an interesting new talent for his brother and in a way, he was glad he had it. It would help protect him from injury while they hunted.

No matter what, that was his brother sitting there and he would do whatever he had to, to help him get through this.

A/N: Sam is accepting of his brother and makes him see he will be there for him. I hope you enjoyed the bro moments. Thank you to any guest who left reviews I can not personally thank. They mean a lot to me. Thanks for reading. I do like reviews. NC