Disclaimer: I still don't own Supernatural or its characters and am not making any money on this…I'm still just having fun!

Dean's Song

Chapter 23– Awakenings

"What do you mean, you don't think he will make it?" Dean asked as he headed for Sam's room. He walked into the room before Missouri could respond and was shocked to see Sam curled in a ball on the bed, groaning.

"Sammy?" Dean said quietly as he reached over to touch his brother's arm. But Sam never opened his eyes, he continued to rock, holding his stomach, silent tears running down his cheeks.

"Aw Sammy…what did that bitch do to you?" Dean asked as he gently tried to get Sam's attention by patting him on the cheek. He smiled for a moment as Sam opened his eyes and appeared to be trying to focus on his surroundings. His relief was short lived when Sam's eyes opened wide, the remaining color leaving his face. Sam backed away from Dean's touch; his body starting to shake.

"NO! Dean…please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it…please don't hurt me…God, you're trapped here aren't you…don't worry…I'll make it right…I'll help you…we'll be together again soon Dean…I promise…I won't leave you!" Sam continued to mumble as his eyes closed once more and he once again curled into the fetal position on the bed.

"What the hell!" Dean looked back as Missouri entered the room followed by Matthew.

"Honey, Sam thinks he killed you…hold on for a moment and let me talk to him…he's had enough shocks for one day!" Missouri walked in and sat down beside Sam. Sam was still curled into a tight ball with his eyes closed. She could see the pain and fever were wearing the boy down.

Missouri place a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder. "Sam…there is someone here who wants to see you…can you open your eyes for me?"

Sam opened his eyes slowly, trying to focus on the black woman. "Missouri?"

"That's right Sam. I have something important to tell you…your brother Dean is alive…you didn't kill him." Missouri watched to see if Sam understood what she had said. She smiled as she saw a glimmer of hope in the brown eyes.

"Alive? How?" Sam tried to sit up, but quickly fell back onto the bed, too weak to move.

"Dude…how can you ask that kind of question…do you honestly think I would let that bitch kill me?" Dean smiled as he stepped back into Sam's line of vision. Missouri got up and quietly left the room, followed by Matthew. She needed to get more of the antidote and the first aid kit.

Sam reached out and touched Dean's arm, pulling back quickly, almost afraid that Dean would disappear. "You're alive! But how…I felt your pulse…you were dead…Oh God, I'm not awake am I…this is just the Siren playing with my head!" Sam started to pull away from Dean again.

"Sammy…listen to me…listen to me…I'm not dead and you're not dreaming kiddo. Matthew performed CPR on me and well, I decided I couldn't leave your sorry ass behind, so I woke up. You're still stuck with me Sam—I AM ALIVE and still handsome!" Dean said softly, his throat still making it difficult to talk.

Sam's eyes filled with tears as he once again grabbed onto Dean's arm like it was a life line. He was afraid to believe, yet needed to believe it was true. Dean realizing what Sam needed, helped his brother sit up and let him bury his head in Dean's shoulder. He could feel the sobs escaping from his brother, his own tears falling unchecked down his cheeks.

After a few moments, Sam pulled back. He wiped his eyes and sighed as he lay back down on the bed. Dean saw that sad look in his brother's eyes return. "What is it Sammy?"

"Nothing Dean…I'm just tired." Sam tried to turn away from Dean, he really didn't feel like going through this now. He hadn't killed Dean…this time. But what about the next time some spirit or demon managed to tap into his powers…it didn't change the facts that he was a danger to everyone around him.

All he wanted was for the pain to stop. He couldn't help the moan that escaped his lips as his stomach kicked in again. "God Dean, my stomach…it hurts so bad…I…I think I'm going to be sick!" Sam was desperately trying to keep the contents of his stomach down.

"Hold on Sam!" Dean walked into the bathroom and grabbed a waste can. He held Sam as the retching continued long after Sam's stomach was emptied. Dean patted Sam's back, trying to help him work through the pain and sickness.

A few moments later, Missouri entered the room with the first aid kit and another vial of liquid. "Ok Sam, let's try this again…you need to take this antidote right now…no arguments and no more throwing it against the wall…you hear me boy?" Missouri smiled as she saw the guilty look pass over Sam's features.

Dean held out his hand for the vial and helped Sam sit up. Once again, he helped his brother drink the liquid from the vial. "Ok little brother, let's get you cleaned up so that you can take a little nap." Dean and Missouri worked together cleaning the gun shot wound on Sam's leg. Dean had purposely aimed for Sam's bad leg…knowing that Sam would need to have one good leg to help him get around. It didn't help him feel less guilty…but at least he didn't cripple his brother. They couldn't put the immobilizer back on until the bullet wound healed, so they wrapped Sam's injured knee with an ace bandage and placed ice on it to reduce the swelling.

"Dean, you need to rest as well. I'm going to go and make both of you some of my special herbed tea…it will help dull the pain and let you both get a good nights sleep." Missouri said as she gathered up the first aid supplies.

"Sure…thanks Missouri." Dean said as he continued to fuss over Sam. He rung out the wash cloth again and continued to bath Sam's fevered face and chest. Dean was amazed that they had both made it through this one alive. He knew that Sam was keeping something from him again…another secret that was eating his brother up inside. He had a feeling that the words he had spoken to Sam earlier were going to come back to bite him…God, how could he have said that to Sam…the kid didn't ask for these abilities and he knew that Sam would never hurt him. He knew that Sam had locked him up to protect him. Hell, Dean knew that given the choice, Sam would die to save him.

Dean watched as Sam continued to toss and moan in his sleep. "Shhh…Sammy, it's ok…we'll make this better, I promise. You just need to get your strength back and then we can talk all you want to…just come back to me…I can't do this without you!" Dean placed his head on the bed next to Sam as he finally gave into his body's demand for rest.

In the kitchen Missouri was getting the herbal tea ready, when she paused and shaking her head, removed the kettle from the stove. The tea would wait. "What's wrong Missouri?" Matthew asked as he continued to repack the bag that they had brought in from the car.

"Those poor boys…I'm afraid that they are still going to have a rough road ahead of them after this. The damage goes deeper than physical this time." Missouri sighed as she looked towards the bedroom.

"What do you mean Missouri?" Matthew poured himself another cup of coffee and sat down at the table.

"Well, it's a long story…but the gist is this. Dean feels that he needs to protect Sam all the time, it's his job, given to him by his pig headed father when he was just 4 years old. He takes the responsibility too seriously…he feels like every bump or scrape that Sam has is a failure on his part to protect his brother. Then there's Sam…the poor kid learns that there is a demon after him because of his special powers, which caused the demon to kill not only his mother, but his girlfriend to get to him. He hasn't learned to control his powers yet and in fact, I'm not sure that he even knows what they all are at this point. It scares him…more than he is willing to admit, especially to his brother…and now, after what the Siren put him through…I'm afraid, he's giving in to the fear and guilt that he has been carrying around for so long."

"Whoa…and I thought my life was complicated. So, what are we going to do to help these boys out?" Matthew watched as Missouri shook her head.

"I'm not sure…they are both so stubborn and neither are very good at expressing their feelings…they were taught at a young age to bottle up their feelings. I swear some times I could just kill that father of theirs…he created this mess and he is never around to pick up the pieces." Missouri stood and started to make dinner…it had been a long day and she was sure that even if Sam wouldn't eat, Dean for sure would be hungry when he woke up.

Matthew sat at the table for a moment, remembering how he had felt after his parent died. He had hunted for years without a break, refusing to deal with the guilt and anger he felt over their deaths. Finally, one day, it caught up with him and he almost lost it…if Missouri hadn't stepped in and helped him work through it…well, he might not be here today. He could sense that both Dean and Sam were at the same breaking point he had been at all those years ago.

"Missouri? What do you think about taking these boys to the cabin? I haven't been there in a long while, but I'm sure that it would be a safe place for both of them to recover. We should probably get them away from here as soon as possible…we don't know how long it will be before someone shows up here and I'm sure none of us wants to answer any questions."

"Why Matthew…that's just what the doctor ordered…why don't you and I gather everything up and get it packed…we can leave first thing in the morning."

TBC

Raven524: Ok, so no major cliff hanger this time…sort of. Thanks for all the reviews…I'm glad you're all still along for the ride!