A/N: This chapter also includes a few moments from Dream a Little Dream. The song is Believer by Imagine Dragons.
Chapter 17: Pain
First things first
I'mma say all the words inside my head
I'm fired up and tired of
The way that things have been, oh-ooh
The way that things have been, oh-ooh
Second thing second
Don't you tell me what you think that I could be
I'm the one at the sail
I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh
The master of my sea, oh-ooh
I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulkin' to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look at me, took to me, shook at me, feelin' me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the...
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down and build me up believer, believer
Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from…
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Third things third
Send a prayer to the ones up above
All the hate that you've heard
Has turned your spirit to a dove, oh-ooh
Your spirit up above, oh-ooh
I was chokin' in the crowd
Building my rain up in the cloud
Falling like ashes to the ground
Hoping my feelings, they would drown
But they never did, ever lived, ebbin' and flowin'
Inhibited, limited 'til it broke open and rained down
It rained down, like…
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down and build me up believer, believer
Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from…
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Last things last
By the grace of the fire and the flames
You're the face of the future
The blood in my veins, oh-ooh
The blood in my veins, oh-ooh
But they never did, ever lived, ebbin' and flowin'
Inhibited, limited 'til it broke open and rained down
It rained down, like…
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down and build me up believer, believer
Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from…
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Neither Sam or Dean was very chatty after they came back from whatever dreamscape they were in. Ty's curiosity was killing her, but it was pretty obvious neither of them were going to tell her what happened beyond the fact that the Jeremy problem had been dealt with. At least, not now. Everyone was exhausted anyway, so they wasted no time returning to the motel. Dean could barely make it to his room, he was already dead on his feet. He wasn't anxious to have any more dreams, but he needed sleep like he never had before.
Ty waved to Sam that she would take care of him, leaving Sam to head down the hallway to the room where Bobby had been holed up. His knock on the door was answered almost immediately. Bobby gave him a questioning look and Sam smiled reassuringly in response. Bobby heaved a relieved sigh and opened the door wide for Sam to join him.
"So what happened?" Bobby asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Took the fight to him." Sam said before he launched into a recap of Jeremy coming after him with a baseball bat until Sam managed to summon a dream version of Jeremy's own worst nightmare, his father.
"So, you did a little dream-weaving of your own in there, huh?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah." Sam nodded, "I just sort of concentrated and it happened, you know?"
Bobby looked less than thrilled at Sam's ability to manipulate the dreamscape, "And it didn't have anything to do with…you know, your psychic stuff?"
Sam frowned. Clearly someone, either Dean or Ty, had clued Bobby in about the return of his visions. Sam turned to face Bobby directly and found the older hunter gazing back at him stoically. Sam suspected that his "psychic stuff" probably had contributed to his ability to do mental battle with Jeremy, but he couldn't share that with Bobby.
"No." Sam said, "I mean, I don't think so."
Bobby nodded, mumbling, "Good. Good."
Sam frowned. He wasn't sure if Bobby was convinced or not and that worried him. It was hard enough keeping this from Dean and the others, but Bobby was particularly good at seeing things that other people might not notice. He'd have to be extra careful from now on.
Meanwhile, Dean had practically face-planted on the bed and instantly fallen asleep. Ty figured he'd be out for a while and while she was tired, too, since she'd tried to stay up with him as much as possible, she couldn't shake the need to check on Alex and the others now that they were out of danger themselves. She figured a wild stampede probably wouldn't wake Dean at this point, but just in case she slipped into the bathroom, closing the door, before she perched on the edge of the tub and dialed Alex's phone.
"Tiger," Alex answered after only a couple rings, "how's Bobby?"
Ty smiled a little, partly over Alex's shared concern for Bobby and partly with relief to hear that he sounded okay, "He's good. We're all good now. Tell me about things on your end."
Alex hesitated before he answered, "Well…"
Ty frowned, "What is it?"
"Let's just say that we stopped it, but…we couldn't save everyone." Alex finally answered and she could hear the pain in his voice. After another pause he added, "Jo's taking it pretty hard."
"Shit." Ty said softly.
It seemed like these Seals tended to be particularly twisted. The first they'd learned about involved a righteous man shedding blood in Hell. This one had something to do with a person meant to nurture taking new lives they were meant to shelter. They'd figured that must mean some kind of caregiver murdering newborns and the intel had indicated that it had to be some specific number of them. So, if they couldn't save everyone, that meant that the demons had succeeded in killing at least one person's baby. Ty wasn't much of a kid person, but she still wouldn't wish that kind of tragedy on anyone.
"Yeah." Alex agreed, "Hey, thanks for letting me know you guys are okay, but I think I should probably go. Everything's still kind of chaos here. I'll call you later."
"Sure." Ty nodded, "Be safe."
"You, too." Alex echoed before he hung up.
Ty worried at her lip with her teeth for a moment. The others would need to know about what had happened with the Seal, but she just couldn't fathom telling them yet. They all needed sleep, time to pull themselves back together. Finally, she sighed and got back to her feet. She'd keep it to herself for now. When they were ready to move out again, she'd tell them then.
Ty half-expected Dean to sleep straight through to the next day. She climbed into bed next to him, not bothering to change her clothes either, and, eventually, managed to get some sleep, too. She was somewhat shocked when Dean stirred next to her, waking her up again that same afternoon.
Groaning, Dean stretched and pushed himself backwards on the bed so he could sit up with his back against the pillows. He grimaced down at the clothes he had fallen asleep in and rubbed at his eyes.
"Jesus." he muttered, "I feel like hell."
"Really? 'Cause you look fabulous." Ty teased, sitting up herself, then leaning over to kiss the stubble growing along his jaw, "You can go back to sleep if you want. I talked to Alex. There's no rush."
Dean shook his head, his eyes focusing more intently on her, "What did he say? Was it a Seal?"
Ty nodded, glancing away from him as she answered, "Seems like it. I don't have the details, but he said they stopped them from breaking it, but…it didn't go real well. They're all okay, but…they weren't able to save everyone."
She felt Dean stiffen as he realized just like she had what that meant. They sat in silence for a while before Dean finally moved to get up, "Well, I can't lay around here anymore. I'll feel better when we're back on the road."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." he nodded.
"Okay." Ty said, slightly skeptical but unwilling to argue as she got up herself, "If you get our stuff ready, I'll go get Sam and Bobby."
Dean nodded again and started gathering up their things. Ty ran her hand through her hair and headed for the door. Usually at the end of a hunt, there was at least a brief period of exhilaration, of accomplishment, the rewarding sense that they'd beaten back evil and helped people in the process that made all the heartache and pain feel worth it. But this time, that feeling wasn't there and instead all she felt was overwhelmed, like she was barely keeping her head above water. That, more than the sleeplessness of the past couple days, was really draining her.
Ty moved down the hall to the other hunter's door and knocked gently. Bobby hadn't been able to sleep for the last two days either and if he was still asleep, she didn't want to wake him. However, she wasn't very surprised when he opened the door only a moment later.
"Hey, girl." he said, frowning as he looked at her, "You look more beat than me. Everything okay?"
Ty just gestured for him to let her come in, so he stepped back and held open the door. She saw Sam sitting at the desk, nursing a cup of coffee. He raised his eyebrows questioningly at her.
"So, I talked to Alex." she said once again, "He, Jo, and Ellen are alright and they were able to stop the Seal from breaking, but there were still some casualties. Sounded like they're going to need some time."
"Casualties?" Sam said, setting down his cup, his face drawn with concern, "You mean…"
"Yeah." Ty nodded, not really wanting to hear him say it out loud.
Once again, Ty found herself amidst a somber silence. She let it be for a minute before she had to say something, change the subject.
"Dean wants to get back on the road." she said, "I can ride with him if you guys want to rest up some more."
Sam and Bobby both immediately shook their heads.
"I'm ready to get home and have a drink." Bobby said firmly.
"You okay to drive, Bobby?" Ty pressed.
Bobby scoffed, "I'm going to pretend you didn't ask me that."
"Then, I can ride with you if you want to switch out." Ty persisted. Bobby glared at her, so she held her hands up in surrender, "Alright, alright. Fine. I'll ride with the boys."
Bobby nodded in satisfaction, "See you back at the house."
Ty shook her head, but she smiled to herself as she turned to go join Dean at the Impala. It was good to have Bobby back.
Dean was just finishing loading their stuff into the trunk when Ty met him in the parking lot.
"Sam will be out in a sec." she told him.
"Good." he nodded, "I took care of the rooms."
"Good." Ty echoed. She shifted awkwardly for a moment before she finally just asked what was on her mind, "So, do you want to talk about whatever you saw in there?"
Dean stiffened, his eyes flying up to hers then immediately dropping back down to the trunk, "No."
"Dean…"
"No." he repeated more firmly.
Ty sighed, "Okay. But if you change your mind…"
"Not a chance." Dean immediately shook his head.
Ty huffed in annoyance at his stubbornness, but let it go. She couldn't help but wonder if he was being so adamant about it because it had something to do with her, but he clearly wasn't ready to get into it. Besides, they were all still tired and they had a long drive ahead of them. Maybe if she could manage, just this once, to go against her nature and be patient, he'd tell her eventually.
Ty spotted Sam heading over carrying his duffel, so she moved around the car to claim the shotgun spot. As she settled into the seat, she had to admit that as much as she thought that Dean could probably do with at least a few more hours of sleep, there was something really comforting about being back in the Impala. Maybe that comfort was just as important as rest right now.
Dean lingered by the trunk as Sam walked over and tossed his bag in next to his brother's. Ty's question about his dream had him feeling anxious to talk to him about what he'd seen while they were under.
"Hey, Sam. I was wondering, when you were in my head, what did you see?"
Sam glanced over at his brother, "Uh, just Jeremy. He kept me separated from you. Easier to beat my brains out that way, I guess. What about you? You never said."
Dean shook his head again. If he'd somehow managed to keep Sam out of that part of his head, there was no way he was going to share it now.
"Nothing. I was looking for you the whole time." he lied, closing the trunk with finality and moving to get in the driver's seat.
Sam glanced after him. He was sure his brother was lying, but, like Ty, he wasn't sure that now was the right time to call him on it. With a sigh, he climbed in the backseat. He couldn't exactly be upset with Dean for keeping things from him considering he was doing the same right now, but once this was over he vowed that things would be different.
Dean drove for a few hours before his yawns became so frequent and he looked so out of it that Sam demanded they switch places. It was clear he'd made the right call when Dean didn't even protest, but pulled the car over. Ty had fallen asleep in the passenger seat and only stirred slightly, not waking, when the boys both exited the car.
Dean was tired and was more than ready to crawl into the backseat and pass out, but he paused, thoughtfully next to the door as Sam walked over to the driver's side.
"Sam."
"Yeah?" Sam asked, looking over at him.
Dean avoided his gaze, keeping his eyes on the car. His mind returned once again to the argument he'd had with his dream double. He cleared his throat before he finally continued, "I've been doing some thinking and…well, the thing is…I don't wanna die."
Sam frowned sadly, his heart aching for his brother.
Dean pressed on, his voice quiet, "I don't wanna go to hell."
Sam swallowed hard, unable to respond immediately. Finally, he forced himself to nod and answer, his voice soft, "All right. Yeah. We'll find a way to protect you."
Dean glanced briefly at his brother, then looked away again, nodding. As much as protecting the people he cared about was ingrained in him to his very soul and he still didn't want to put Sam in harm's way if he could help it, he couldn't help but feel reassured by Sam's words. He took a deep breath, then looked back at his little brother, a small shaky smile on his lips, "Okay, good."
With that, Dean opened the door and settled into the backseat. He was asleep before Sam even pulled back out on the road.
Some hours later, Sam unsuccessfully attempted to stifle another yawn. He could feel his eyes drooping and knew he couldn't fight it off much longer. While Dean had needed to stay up for two days to avoid Jeremy, Sam had tried to do the same out of solidarity. Dean had forced him to get some sleep a couple times, but he hadn't been able to rest much knowing his brother couldn't do the same, leaving him also pretty exhausted.
"Dean." he called. When that failed to get a response, he tried again more insistently, "Dean!"
From the backseat, Dean groaned and mumbled something that could have been "What?"
"I'm beat. Switch me." Sam insisted.
Dean just mumbled incoherently, waving a brief dismissal with one hand before rolling over so his back was to Sam.
"Come on, man! I'm exhausted!" he complained.
"Ty can drive." Dean replied, settling into his sleeping position more firmly.
Sam straightened in surprise. Dean was going to let someone else drive his car besides him and he wasn't even under some supernatural influence or mortally wounded! Either he was still in some weird dreamscape, this was some weird alternate world created by a trickster god, or Hell had actually frozen over. In a lot of ways this car was like Dean's heart. He trusted very few people with it.
Ty hadn't been able to stay asleep through their conversation and was awake in the passenger seat, leaning against the door, watching them.
"Yeah, I can drive for awhile." she agreed, feeling much more alert after getting a few hours of rest herself.
Sam glanced at her, then back at his brother in the rearview mirror, "You're seriously okay with that?"
"She's allowed." Dean slurred sleepily into the jacket he was using as a pillow.
"You wouldn't even let me drive the car until like three years ago." Sam protested.
Ty grinned, "Guess he likes me better."
"True story." Dean agreed, "Now, officially asleep. G'night."
Sam huffed in disbelief at this development, but started guiding the car over to the side of the road. He never really thought he'd see the day his brother trusted any girl enough to drive the Impala. Hell, in Dean-land this was practically a proposal. As he put the car in park, he transferred his incredulous gaze to Ty.
Smiling, Ty shrugged, "What? He let me drive her before, you just weren't there."
Sam felt his jaw drop again, his brain refusing to compute this new information. He was startled into action when he heard Ty opening her door and quickly got out of his side. Maybe he was feeling a little loopy from sleep deprivation, but he couldn't resist intercepting her as she was rounding the vehicle to take his place and enveloping her in a tight hug.
"Welcome to the family." he told her, feeling himself start to grin.
"What? Sam?" Ty protested, pushing him away, obviously confused.
Sam just shook his head and released her, still grinning. His dumbass brother had finally done it. He'd finally made a commitment to someone. Once they'd both gotten some rest, he was going to make sure Dean never heard the end of it.
It was the middle of the night when Ty had to pull into a remote truckstop for gas. Sam and Dean both woke up as she killed the ignition.
"Where are we?" Sam asked groggily.
Ty shrugged, "Nowhere, Wisconsin, I think."
Dean groaned as he sat up, muscles stiff and cramped. He stretched a little before he climbed out of the car, declaring, "I need to hit the head."
He left Ty and Sam to head inside to buy some snacks and pay for the gas, wandering around the side of the building to find the bathroom. When he found it and stepped inside, flicking on the light, he grimaced, wishing he hadn't. Even after all these years, rural truckstop bathrooms continued to be one of the more frightening parts of his life. He did his business quickly and headed back out.
He'd just barely stepped outside the bathroom when something came whistling towards his head. Dean ducked just in time and the tire iron struck the wall instead, taking a chunk out of the plaster. Wide-eyed, Dean looked up to see the trucker wielding the tire iron sneering at him, eyes darker than the night around them.
"Hold still and I'll make this quick." the demon said, preparing to swing the weapon again.
"Uh, pass." Dean replied, ducking his head and barreling into the demon and knocking him backwards. As they hit the ground, Dean unleashed a punch to the trucker's jaw, followed quickly by another. If he could just press his advantage enough to give himself a moment to regroup, maybe he could get back to the car and get the Colt.
An unnaturally strong grip latched onto Dean's form and flung him off the trucker, throwing him hard back against the side of the gas station. Dean grunted as he hit the wall and slid to the ground. The force of it had him reeling a little. A second trucker demon helped the first back to his feet and they both converged on Dean before he was able to regain his feet.
Glancing between the two demons, Dean smiled uneasily, "So, I'm guessing this is about that bounty, huh? How you splitting it? I'm guessing tire iron here's getting the bigger cut. 60/40?"
The demons ignored his lame attempt to sow dissension between them. The next thing he knew, the tire iron had impacted his temple, making his head snap to the side as pain exploded so sharply through him that he couldn't see anything in the moment before he slumped, unconscious. The demons grinned at each other, savoring their victory, before they prepared to finish him off.
Sam wandered around the side of the building, figuring he might as well use the restroom, too, while they were stopped. Hopefully, Dean would warn him if he was better off going in the bushes, although knowing his brother he'd probably find it more amusing to let him just stumble into some unsanitary minefield instead. However, the second he turned the corner, he froze at the sight before him.
"Dean!" he shouted in alarm before sprinting quickly towards his brother.
The two truckers standing over his brother's prone body turned towards him and he saw their eyes. He skidded to a stop and snapped his arm out. The demon blood wasn't fresh in his veins, but his power still responded when he called it. Both demons were caught by it, frozen in painfully stiff poses before him. Sam held nothing back, channeling his anger and fear over everything into his hold on the demons. His head was pounding, but he hardly noticed. All that he cared about at that moment was casting those demons out, as far from him and his brother as possible. He wanted them gone, no matter what it took.
The demons gasped and spasmed as black smoke began to boil from their bodies, pooling around their feet. Sam clenched his fist, brow furrowing. The blackness grew and then suddenly vanished into the ground with a flash. Both truckers collapsed to the ground. Sam gasped, coming back to himself now that both the demons were gone. As his mind cleared, he barely registered that he'd successfully cast demons out of their hosts with his powers as his thoughts immediately returned to Dean. He hurried over to check on him and sighed with relief when he found his brother was still alive, just unconscious.
"Ty!" Sam called, "Ty!"
"Sam?" Ty called back uncertainly, hurrying in the direction of Sam's voice, drawn by his anxious tone. Her eyes went wide when she found him, "God, Dean! Is he…"
"He's okay." Sam reassured her quickly. He nodded towards the two truckers, "Check them. I'll get him back to the car."
Ty hesitated. She'd much rather check on Dean herself, but as Sam lifted Dean onto his shoulder she forced herself to follow Sam's instructions. Both truckers were still alive, although one was sporting a split lip and a cut on the eyebrow. They were starting to stir, too, so Ty beat a quick retreat, not wanting to come up with an explanation for why they'd been unconscious on the ground outside the rest stop since she didn't really know what had happened herself. Thankfully, she'd already filled up the Impala's tank. Sam had Dean back in the backseat, so she quickly slipped back in behind the wheel and jammed the keys back in the ignition. As soon as Sam was back in the passenger seat, she stepped on the gas, peeling out just a little as she sped back towards the road.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"Demons." Sam said simply.
Ty frowned and pressed down harder on the gas. They'd known it was only a matter of time before the demons came after Dean, but they'd still caught them off guard. This couldn't happen again. They needed to come up with a plan. She glanced in the rearview mirror to check on Dean. He was still motionless. Ironically, seeing him asleep in the backseat earlier had made her smile happily, a warm feeling in her chest. Now, seeing him unconscious, it felt like there was ice running through her veins. Bobby's place was too far. They needed to find someplace closer to stop, to make sure he was okay.
She kept her eyes peeled on the road signs and took the first exit that advertised lodging in that direction. She pulled into the parking lot and parked the car.
Sam was about to tell her to go get the room when he took in the look on her face and changed his mind, "I'll get the room. Stay with him?"
Ty nodded quickly, shoving her door open. She opened the rear door closest to Dean's head, leaning over him. The side of his head was a bloody, swollen mess that made her wince to look at it. She tore her eyes away from the injury and instead watched his chest. At least his breathing seemed steady. Steadier than hers felt at the moment, actually.
"Okay." Sam said, hurrying up behind her and holding out the key, "Got the room. Here, I'll get him if you get the door."
Ty snatched the key, looking down at the tag for the room number. She scanned the doors nearby and quickly spotted the matching number and headed for it. Sam wasn't far behind her, lugging his brother over his shoulder again. She held open the door and Sam set Dean down gently on the first bed.
"Do you think he needs a hospital?" Ty asked anxiously, her eyes drawn once again to his head injury. What if he had a skull fracture or swelling in his brain? They'd just gotten Bobby out of a hospital bed. She couldn't stand the thought of seeing Dean in one.
Sam cautiously turned Dean's head to the side. There was too much blood in the way to really assess the damage, but that could be deceptive. Head wounds always bled like crazy.
"We're gonna need water and towels." Sam said quickly, "I'll get the kit from the car."
Ty nodded. She grabbed the ice bucket and went to the bathroom to get the water and towels. She returned swiftly to Dean's side, wetting a towel in the bucket and very gently dabbing at the blood that was matting Dean's hair. When Sam returned, he leaned over to observe her work, nodding encouragingly at her. By the time she'd cleaned enough of the blood away for them to see the wound clearly, Sam frowned as he looked at it.
"That's gonna need stitches." he said. He looked up at Ty, "You okay to help?"
Ty felt nauseous already, but she nodded.
"Good. Just keep doing what you're doing, keeping the blood out of the way as much as you can." Sam said, gathering the supplies he'd need, "I'll tell you what to do from there."
Ty nodded again. Her eyes trailed down to Dean's face. As desperately as she wanted to see those hazel eyes again, she supposed it was best that he stay unconscious while they did this.
Sam worked as quickly, but as carefully as he could. He had Ty hold Dean's hair out of the way, pausing occasionally so she could sop up some more blood. Nine stitches later, he was finished. At his instruction, Ty handed him some gauze and medical tape. Really, he should have shaved Dean's hair away from the wound, but he knew that Dean would kill him when he woke up if he messed with his hair. Besides, the stitches alone were doing a pretty good job of slowing the bleeding.
Sam swallowed hard. Now that he'd finished doing everything he could think of to help him, all he had left was worry. His brother had a hard head in every way possible, but being unconscious this long was not a good sign. He couldn't help but worry that if Dean had fallen into a coma, Dream Root wouldn't help them this time.
"What now?" Ty asked softly, the anxiety in her eyes when she looked at him reflecting his own concern.
Sam shook his head, "Now we need him to wake up."
Ty looked back down at Dean. Her fingers brushed his cheek before she leaned down to press a gentle kiss against his lips. Sam looked away, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment.
"Hear that?" Ty whispered to Dean, "Time to wake up. You've had all the sleep you need. Time to come back to us."
"I'll ward the room." Sam announced, shuffling awkwardly towards the door, "And get our stuff from the car."
Ty nodded. She was too concerned about Dean to even notice that she'd made Sam uncomfortable, something that would normally have her blushing with embarrassment. Instead, she shucked her jacket onto the floor and shifted gently onto the bed at Dean's side. She continued to gently brush his face with one hand, but reached down with the other to grip his hand firmly in hers. The only thing she could think to do was to keep talking to him, touching him, anything to try and let him know that she was there and that she needed him to wake up. By the time Sam came back from the car with their gear and had warded the room to his satisfaction, she was just babbling nonsense, but she couldn't seem to stop.
"So, here's a question." she said to him, pretending she didn't see Sam's sad, worried look from where he was watching them across the room, "Does Epsom salt work on ghosts? Or, vice versa, does rock salt work on sore muscles? I know, I know. You think I'm nuts and should be fitted for a straight-jacket the first chance we get, but it's a legitimate question. Say you've been hunting all night, you're kinda beat up, you got rock salt left over, and you want to take a hot soak… Maybe on our next ghost job, we can do an experiment. One of us makes a rock salt circle and the other Epsom salt and we see who gets tossed across the room. What do you say?"
Dean said nothing. Ty tried to smirk at him, but she knew she wasn't fooling anyone, especially with the way her voice faltered a bit when she continued.
"I…I...uh…I'll just take that as a 'brilliant idea, Ty!' Okay? In fact, the longer you stay asleep, the more I'll just assume that you agree with me about everything. So, yeah, you'd better wake up, mister, or…or you're gonna be real sorry."
Ty paused, dragging in a deep breath and struggling not to let her emotions overwhelm her.
"Ty…" Sam began, but stopped abruptly when she looked up at him, her eyes swimming with moisture.
"Sam," she said, her voice sounding choked by her tears, "I can't lose him, okay? He thinks we don't need him. I don't know how he can think that, but he does."
Sam crossed the room quickly and put an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side. She sobbed once, coughing over it, before she was able to contain it.
"I know he does." Sam said, looking down at his brother, "He's kind of an idiot."
Ty choked out a laugh that still sounded a little like a sob and Sam smiled slightly.
"I can't lose him either." he confessed to her. His expression hardened, "And we won't. I won't let it happen. I promise."
They both fell silent then for a long moment, both looking at Dean, wishing he could understand his own importance. Finally, Ty took another deep breath and shifted out of Sam's embrace.
"Thanks, Sam." she said quietly.
Sam shook his head. She had nothing to thank him for. This was his brother. He'd do anything for him. He was just glad that she cared so much about him, too.
"Keep talking to him." Sam finally told her, retreating to the other bed and having a seat. Even if it wasn't doing anything for Dean, he could tell that Ty needed to be doing something.
"Okay." Ty nodded. She paused for just a moment before she started speaking softly to his brother again, something about how she couldn't stand Lars Ulrich from Metallica, but he tuned her out. Mentally, he spoke to his brother, too.
'Come on, Dean. She's right. We know you don't think we need you, but we do. We need you, man. Please, just wake up.'
