Raising Winchesters

Chapter 28

By the time they got back to Bobby's, it was obvious that Dean was feeling the effects of the distance between him and Nora. His small body was trembling and a fine sheen of sweat covered his forehead. There was also an unhealthy pallor to his skin.

"Dad, I don't feel good," Dean said breathlessly.

John pulled his son closer to him, nearly squeezing the small body too tight. "It's okay, son. I've got you. I've got you."

Dean clutched John's shirt weakly, intertwining his fingers in the fabric. He didn't protest when John picked him up and carried him into the house. Dean felt like he might throw up if he had to move a single muscle. His whole body ached and his head felt like it might explode.

The second they walked through the front door, they were ambushed by an overly excited Sam. Pastor Jim looked just as excited to see that Dean was okay, but the look on his face quickly changed when he took in the sight of the poor kid.

"Dean!" Sam nearly jumped onto Dean, who was still being held in John's arms, but Bobby stepped up just in time, grabbing the boy practically in mid-air. Sam just continued to climb up into Bobby's arms, his head turning to look at his brother. "Dean! You're home!"

Dean looked at his little brother and tried to smile, but it took too much of his energy. The most he could manage was a small curl of his top lip, but that seemed to be enough for Sam. Pastor Jim, on the other hand, grew even more concerned.

"John? What's going on?"

John looked over at Bobby, who immediately set Sam down on the floor and took over. "Why don't you take the boys upstairs, John? I'll fill Jim in on what happened."

John shot the man a look of relief before turning towards the stairs. Sam was just a few steps behind him, talking to his brother the whole way up the stairs.

Once the three Winchesters were upstairs, Bobby walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of whisky and a glass. He poured some in the glass and then sank down into one of the kitchen chairs. Jim sat down in one straight across from him.

"Bobby? What happened?"

Bobby looked over at his friend with tired eyes. "We're not sure, but we think Dean's been cursed."

"Cursed?! By who?!"

Bobby took several minutes to relay to Jim the story of Nora Doherty. Jim hadn't ever heard of her, either. "She's a witch?"

"That's what John said. Apparently, he didn't know that there was a child in the house when he left it to burn to the ground."

"But what does this have to do with the creatures that have been sitting outside this whole time? What's the connection there?"

"We're still not sure, but my guess is that this witch somehow had them under her control. According to John, she's a pretty powerful witch and it wouldn't take much to control the Naguals. Some people think that they're a type of witch, so it makes sense that a more powerful witch could control them."

Jim seemed to think that over for a few minutes. "So these creatures are basically just a witch's henchmen? Is that it?"

"That's what we're thinking. They're the ones that do the dirty work for her, I guess."

"What about this supposed curse? What can you tell me about that?"

Bobby took another gulp of whisky before continuing. "She held her hand out towards Dean and blue light shot out from her fingertips and over to Dean. It covered him completely and then it just disappeared, along with Nora and one of the Naguals."

"Did you hear her say something? Like a spell?"

"Yes. She said something like Pulsatio et omnis spiritus diminuit. At least, that's what I think she said. It all happened so fast."

"Pulsatio et omnis spiritus diminuit," Jim repeated. "Pulsatio et omnis spiritus diminuit…. Oh my God, Bobby. Does that mean what I think it means?"

"It does," Bobby finally admitted. "I thought about it the whole way back and it can really only mean one thing, Jim. And it scares the hell out of me."

John laid Dean gently down onto the bed, but when he tried to straighten back up, Dean's hand continued to grip his shirt. He tried to pry the fingers off, but Dean just gripped even tighter. "It's okay, Dean. I'm not going anywhere," John said calmly. "I'm going to stay right here with you."

It wasn't until Sam crawled into bed next to Dean, curling up against him with one arm thrown across Dean's chest, that the boy finally relaxed his grip enough for John to straighten up. Dean instinctively curled into his brother, too, and they held onto each other.

John sat down on the edge of the bed, not wanting to be too far away from either of his boys at the moment. He lifted his hand up to card gently through Dean's dirty hair. He could tell that the boy seemed to be breathing a little harder than before and it scared the hell out of him.

His Latin wasn't as good as Bobby's or Jim's, but John knew enough to figure out what the spell was that Nora had hurled towards his son. He knew that whatever the curse was, its effects would only grow worse as time went on. He knew they were up against the clock and that thought filled him with dread. He was lost in his own thoughts for several minutes before he realized that one of his boys was calling for him. Shaking his head slightly, he looked down to see Sam's big hazel eyes looking back at him.

"Daddy? Is Dean okay?"

"He's okay, Sammy," John tried to reassure. "He's home and I'm going to take care of him now."

"He's shaking, Daddy," Sam said, nervously looking between his dad and his brother.

John looked at Dean and noticed that he seemed to be shaking more than before. He quickly pulled his coat off and laid it across Dean's body. "He'll be okay, Sam. Why don't you try to go to sleep, okay?"

"But I'm not tired, Daddy." Sam's words might have been more believable if they hadn't been interrupted by a huge yawn.

"Go to sleep, Sam," John said firmly. "It's way past your bedtime."

Sam decided not to argue with his dad, choosing instead to snuggle even closer to Dean. His eyes closed immediately and John was sure that not even three seconds passed before the boy was asleep. Once they were both asleep- one deeply and one restlessly- John remained perched on the edge of the bed. He wanted desperately to go downstairs and figure out what the hell they were going to do, but he couldn't bring himself to leave his boys.

"You think John's gonna come downstairs once he gets the boys to sleep?" Bobby looked over at the stairs, hoping to see the oldest Winchester walking down them.

"I don't think he'll be letting either of them out of his sight for the next several days," Jim answered. "Why don't we take him up some coffee? Maybe we can talk things over up there."

Bobby waited for Jim to pour a generous cup of coffee for John and then they both made their way upstairs. The door was slightly open and they both peered into the room to find John sitting on the edge of the bed, shoulders hunched forward and head hanging down. One hand was resting on Dean's leg and the other was rubbing the back of his own neck. He didn't stir at all when the door was pushed open.

"John? How's Dean?"

"He's asleep," John answered with a gravelly voice.

Jim and Bobby both stepped forward, their eyes instantly landing on Dean's small form. Neither of them missed the way the small body trembled under the blanket.

"Thought you could use some coffee," Jim said as he held out the cup.

John took the cup and offered a quiet "thanks." When he realized that the two hunters weren't leaving, he turned towards them. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?" he finally asked.

"Bobby filled me in on this witch. I guess we need to figure out this spell that she placed on Dean and how to break it. We also need to figure out where she is. Any ideas?"

"She didn't exactly leave her address with us, Jim. And I doubt that she's going to be easy to track."

"No, but maybe we can come up with something."

Before any of them could say anything else, their attention was drawn back to Dean who was suddenly thrashing in the bed. John moved over to the bed and quickly picked Dean up. "Dean! Wake up, son. Wake up. You're okay."

Dean opened his eyes and looked up at his father. "Dad?"

"I'm right here, son. And you're okay."

"Where am I?" He looked around the room, but it was almost like he didn't recognize the room he always stayed in whenever they were at Bobby's.

"We're at Bobby's."

Dean's next words weren't a surprise to any of the three men. "Where's Sammy?!"

"He's right here, Dean. On the bed. He's sleeping."

Dean's eyes immediately turned to look at Sam and John could feel his body relax the second he saw his brother. Once Dean had calmed down, John focused on checking him out. He could still feel the trembling that had taken over Dean's body and he felt a hitch in his son's breathing, as if each breath was harder than the one before. He also noticed the heat that was pouring off of Dean.

"Bobby, do you have a thermometer? Dean's burning up."

Bobby left the room and came back a minute later with an old mercury thermometer. He spent several seconds shaking the thermometer before handing it over to John.

"Here you go, Dean. Open up for me, okay?"

Dean groaned, but opened his mouth slightly to accept the thermometer. Once it was seated properly in his mouth, John looked at his watch to mark the time. The room had grown silent while they all waited to see what Dean's temperature was.

After three minutes, John removed the thermometer and handed it to Bobby to read. "Damn it!" Bobby exclaimed after a few seconds.

"What? What is it, Bobby?"

"104.°"

John's eyes widened and he couldn't keep from clutching Dean even closer to him. "We have to get that down, Bobby."

"I'll draw up a bath." Bobby turned and left the room, leaving Jim and John to stare at Dean.

"I don't feel so good, Daddy," Dean said in a small voice. Hearing Dean call him Daddy made John's heart hurt and filled him with dread. The boy had to be half out of his mind to revert back to that.

"Jim, can you stay here with Sam? Just in case he wakes up?"

Jim moved over closer to the bed while John turned and carried Dean to the bathroom. Once they were there, he sat down on the edge of the tub, settling Dean on his lap as he tried to undress him. Dean didn't seem to want to take his clothes off, though, so he started weakly fighting against his dad's hands. "Dean, we have to get you in the tub, son," John said as he fought against Dean's hands.

"I don't wanna take a bath," Dean whined.

"Dean, quit fighting me. You're getting in the bathtub, okay?"

"Nooo," Dean whined again. "I'm cold."

It took John almost two whole minutes to get Dean's clothes off and almost another whole minute to get the thrashing boy into the bathtub. Dean cried out when his body hit the lukewarm water and John had to practically climb into the tub with him to get him to stop fighting. Eventually, the exhaustion Dean had to be feeling won out and his body relaxed into the water. John spent the next five minutes pouring the lukewarm water over the feverish boy.

Once he felt Dean had been in the water for long enough, he pulled him out and wrapped him in a towel. Dean barely seemed to notice anything that was going on around him. John quickly pulled a pair of clean underwear onto Dean and then headed back to the bedroom. Sam was still sleeping soundly and he didn't budge when John placed Dean down next to him.

"He feels cooler," he said as he stood back up. Bobby handed him the thermometer and he gently put it back into a sleeping Dean's mouth. Three minutes later, he took it out and read it. "102.9. That's better."

"We'll have to keep a close eye on it, John. It'll probably spike again."

John nodded at his friend before turning back to Dean. As he turned, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over him and he felt himself swaying.

"John!" Jim reached out and grabbed John's arm, steadying him the best he could. "John, you need to get some rest. You're dead on your feet."

"I can't leave them, Jim," John answered quietly.

"I'm not asking you to leave them, John. Just lay down with them for a while, okay? I'll keep an eye on them while you rest."

"We don't have time to rest, Murphy," John said angrily. "We need to figure out what to do before it's…."

They all knew that he was going to say "before it's too late," but no one said anything. Jim just continued to try to get John to rest. "We'll figure it out, John. But in the meantime, you need to rest. It won't do us any good to have you passing out from exhaustion down the road. I'll be right here and I won't take my eyes off your boys. I promise."

John suddenly felt bone tired and he easily accepted Jim's offer. "Okay, but only for an hour. Got it?" Once he had Jim's word that he'd wake him up in an hour, John climbed onto the bed, next to Dean, and pulled his son into his chest. Sam followed his brother and just seconds later, John had his arms around both of his boys.

Author's note: Woo hoo! Finally got the chance to do some writing. This month has been crazy, hasn't it? I actually was able to go to the Las Vegas Supernatural convention and I had a blast. despite the "no touch" rule they implemented due to the virus. I was so scared they were going to cancel the whole thing and I'm sure they would have if it had been even a week later.

And now this mess is going on. I'm a critical care nurse, so I'm actually not able to take part in the major quarantine that's going on. If I was, I'd definitely be doing some more writing. I really hope that all of you are staying safe out there. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones. We'll get through this.