Author's Note: Well, after multiple delays for several different reasons, here's the chapter I've been referring to. Hopefully you enjoy it.

Other: And, a continuing thank you to my beta for this story, vrskaandrea - any remaining errors are solely my own.

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In Like Finn

Dean stretched his arms up over his head and yawned. Gabriel had had to stay in Vancouver because Season 10 of Dr. Sexy was filming and their scheduling had gotten messed up worse then Supernatural after one of Gabriel's main co-stars ended up in the hospital with a staff infection. So, Dean had somehow gotten volunteered to take up Gabriel's normal position as…Master of Ceremonies. Dean didn't like being onstage alone anymore than Chuck did, he just hid it better…so, he was pretty much staying out of his comfort zone. And, to top it off, he was not by any stretch of the imagination looking forward to his panel - which wasn't even until the next day…but while he would be doing the panel with his 'on-screen brother' - which was fairly normal for the Cons…it was also going to be the day that he was going to be introducing the rest of the world to his son - and boy, had Lisa been pissed about THAT idea!

So, where did Dean's position leave him, at that exact moment? Sitting in a private corner - well, no one was around so it was about as private as he was gonna get at the Con - eating a hummus veggie wrap and trying to figure out how to tell Benny in French 'I fucking hate you for introducing me to these things! Do you know how much shit Sam's given me over it? But, I also love you to the moon and back because these are REALLY FUCKING DELICIOUS!' Dean still didn't like rabbit food - vegetables - per se, but Benny had had him try one of those and okay, so…he's eaten nineteen of them in the last three weeks.

'There you are!' Dean heard someone say while he had part of the wrap in his mouth, taking the bite he was planned to, he then looked up at the guy. The guy just watched him for a few seconds allowing Dean to chew and swallow the bite. 'Uh hey…' He began.

'You can call me Gadreel. Honestly, I have too many people have issues with my name and just figure it's easier for them to call me by whatever my last acting role was.' The man who played the role as Gadreel said.

'So, what do you want Gad?' Dean asked curiously.

'You know that Chuck's panel is going on?' 'Gadreel' asked curiously.

'Duh, I introduced him.' Dean said annoyed.

'You should also be aware that he's been sitting on his hands on the stool out there for the last seven minutes without saying a word, the fans are getting concerned.' Gadreel said.

'Aw, son of bitch!' Dean said, standing up. 'THIS is why Chuck doesn't need to do these fucking Cons without Gabriel!' Dean complained as he rushed past Gadreel, shoving the half-eaten veggie wrap into Gadreel's hands, and Gadreel looked down at the wrap curiously.

'What is this?' Gadreel thought to himself.

Dean made it around the corner before he rushed back, grabbing the wrap from Gadreel, said, 'Give me that!' before heading back the direction he'd headed to begin with…leaving a confused Gadreel behind.

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Dean walked out onto the stage and over to stand in front of Chuck, swallowing his last bite of wrap as he did. Dean put his hands on Chuck's shoulders when he realized that despite standing in front of Chuck that Chuck wasn't actually looking at him…it was more like he was looking THROUGH him.

'You okay, Chuck?' Dean whispered. Or, was he supposed to call him Carver - in case anyone overheard him - since Carver Edlund was what everyone knew him as? Chuck Shurley was an unknown nobody to the fans…but Dean hadn't called him Carver in…probably since the first time Chuck had shown up as his door looking like the literal Devil - a.k.a. Becky - was after him. If they expected him to remember to call him Carver, it wasn't going to happen.

When the only response Dean got was Chuck finally looking at him, he came to the conclusion that he'd gotten wound to tight. It wasn't the first time but that was why Gabriel started doing the Cons with them despite not having anything to do with the show himself, while Gabriel could make light of any situation…he also had a calming effect on Chuck…and they had GREAT chemistry onstage. Even though, typically if Chuck gets too wound up, he just develops a really bad stutter. Oh! Maybe he should've stayed after introducing him…but he honestly hadn't thought about it and he was getting tired - how Gabriel managed being the Master of Ceremonies almost EVERY Con or for the ones that weren't solely Supernatural, their part of it…anyways was beyond him.

Trying to think like Gabriel left Dean feeling like he had an error message in his head. So, after coming to the conclusion that he couldn't act like Gabriel…he decided to try the next best thing…acting like himself. So, coming from that idea…what would he do in this situation? Honestly, Chuck probably needed a couple - few - minutes to unwind and that wasn't going to happen while on display for all those fans at Dean's back. So, that left him with one very simple option, get Chuck the hell offstage, get him to unwind, and then shove, push, or lead Chuck back onstage and stay with him during the rest of his panel. The fans wouldn't be happy but it was either that or Chuck would be mistaken for a silent stone for the remaining forty-five minutes of his panel.

'De-an?' Chuck asked hesitantly. Honestly though, Dean wasn't really sure about the hesitancy of Chuck saying his name considering it had sounded more like Diane just with Dee instead of Die, and come to think of it…Chuck had been doing that off-and-on quite often that day, but it didn't make sense since Chuck had NEVER even said his name like that before as a joke. And then, there were the other things that day that they'd laughed off - well, Chuck had and Dean had gone along with it because he just figured Chuck was nervous because he was having to do a Con panel without Gabriel for the first time in YEARS - but tacking onto this…was actually concerning. Mispronouncing words - even some really simple ones - that he'd heard Chuck say MANY times, just blanking out on others, and then not knowing the answers to questions that Chuck would typically know if he were 80% asleep AND drop-down drunk! And, come to think of it…that had been getting steadily worse throughout the day. Dean had to many dots trying to connect all at once and it coming back to one bright red neon flashing sign in his head 'GET CHUCK OFFSTAGE BECAUSE SOMETHING IS WRONG!'

Dean watched Chuck for a couple additional moments as he was trying to come up with a quick excuse to get Chuck offstage, Chuck would open his mouth and then close it, and watching his facial reaction…it was like he was TRYING to say something but nothing was coming out and it was concerning him and the concern would deepen each time. And, there was just something in Dean's head that along with all the other dots was telling him that this WASN'T related to Chuck's anxiety and the occasional selective mutism - the stuttering was more common - when he'd get wound to tight. At that point, worrying or pissing off the fans became the least of Dean's concerns. 'How about we get you offstage, huh?' He whispered.

Chuck looked curious and then concerned. 'Chuck?' Dean whispered.

Dean watched Chuck's eyes as they moved searchingly, focusing on Dean, his concern growing, and his breathing quickening. 'Yeah, fuck this!' Dean thought to himself. 'Come on.' Dean whispered, tilting his head toward the backstage area. When Chuck gave no sign of moving, Dean let his hands drop back to his sides, moved to Chuck's left, put his right hand between Chuck's shoulder blades, and gave a slight push. When Chuck just looked at Dean confused, Dean gave a slightly harder push, which while it did get Chuck off the stool, it also made Chuck stumble. Chuck looked at Dean, curiously but with a hint of irritation, but he otherwise didn't move. Dean moved back to stand at Chuck's left, put his right hand between Chuck's shoulder blades, he whispered again 'Come on' and when he tried to nudge him in the direction of the backstage area, Chuck again stumbled. What the fuck was going on? Dean grabbed Chuck's left arm, just under his armpit, and began 'guiding' him to the backstage area. Chuck seemingly finally getting the message that he needed to go with Dean.

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While Dean didn't really talk to Adam, he and Sam both had Adam's cell phone number for…well, he was pretty sure Sam talked to Adam on occasion but he didn't know for sure because he wouldn't ask…so, because Sam had it, he'd wanted Dean to have it. But, at the moment, he was listening to the ringing after calling the number Sam had given him. Why? Because, he wanted advice on what he needed to do and he didn't think that if this was just some new side to Chuck's anxiety - or maybe a new side affect to his anxiety medication - that a trip to the hospital was going to look very good.

It took three attempts before someone finally answered the phone. 'Milligan, Adam…uh, shit! This is Adam, you're on.' Dean heard Adam say drowsily, he shook his head quickly, because there were SOME things he just didn't want to question.

'Uh, hey Adam…this is Dean.' Dean said hesitantly. He was already thinking that calling Adam was a mistake but standing out of the way with Chuck clinging to his right forearm like he was worried Dean was going to disappear if he even loosened his grip, he figured he could handle his hesitancy.

'Dean who?' Adam asked sleepily.

'Winchester.' Dean said annoyed.

'Dean?' Adam asked surprised and suddenly a lot more awake.

'Yeah.' Dean said reluctantly. 'Look, I know you and I don't see eye-to-eye on much and haven't since you became an adult…but I need to ask a question.' He said seriously.

'Shoot.' Adam said simply.

'So, most of today…Chuck's been having sporadic speech problems, whether it's just a weird pronunciation like calling me Diane or outright just not being able to come up with the word.' Dean began, realizing how BADLY he was describing what was happening. 'But, when I actually think about it…he's been getting quieter, too. And then, there's been times where I've been talking and he'll just look at me like I'm speaking a completely different language…like when I tried to get him to come offstage with me because he'd been sitting there silently for the last several minutes…I had to grab him and start to LEAD him offstage before he finally understood what I wanted. And now, he's grabbed my arm in a fucking death grip and won't let go!' He continued, HOPING what he was saying was making more sense. 'Is this anxiety related because he does suffer from severe anxiety issues that he's on medication for?' He asked carefully.

'I'm not saying it couldn't be anxiety-related because it very well could, but by what you're describing…you probably need to get him checked out at a hospital, just in case…because it could just as easily be something worse that I do not want to comment on because it could scare you.' Adam explained.

'Thanks, Adam. I appreciate this.' Dean said before hanging up without letting Adam say anything more, he'd worry about actually talking to Adam as family…later. Dean shoved his phone back into his pocket, stood in front of Chuck, put the knuckles on his left hand under Chuck's chin to tilt his head up to get him to look at him. 'I'm gonna take you to a hospital to get you checked out, okay? Something's obviously wrong and Adam's even advising it as a safety precaution, okay?' Dean asked both questions gently, not surprised that Chuck looked like he didn't understand.

Remembering that Ben was…SOMEWHERE at the Convention, Dean pulled his phone back out of his pocket and sent a simple message. 'Get to Baby, I'm taking Chuck to the hospital. Something's wrong.' Dean wasn't surprised that by the time he made it to the Impala that Ben was already standing leaned back against the rear passenger side door.

'What happened?' Ben asked concerned.

Dean shook his head frustrated. 'I don't know!' He yelled frustrated, causing Ben to jump startled.

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Author's Note: 1) With the general consensus that the character Dr. Sexy - the one that wasn't Gabriel - is based on a character from Grey's Anatomy…I'm kinda using their season set to figure out what season Dr. Sexy would be…I don't know, it seemed like a good idea. 2) Um…err, uh…I'm sure if you do the math, you can figure out for yourself what this is loosely based on. And, if you can't figure it out…I'll explain it at the end of this bit of the story. 3) Um, this is…more or less, the first part and while I could've continued and just made the chapter longer…I'm trying to keep the chapters around 2000 words.

Reviews/Comments/Constructive Criticism welcome!

Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and then promptly deleted!