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

End of Innocence

Chapter 15 – The Way Home

Dean watched helplessly as Sam sat on the bed, his knees drawn up to his chest. He had been this way for over 3 hours. He never spoke, just stared in the corner, his eyes occasionally looked like they were following something, but they never focused on his brother. The rocking had started again about 30 minutes ago. Dean knew that if they didn't do something soon, he was going to lose his brother. "Sam…I really wish you could hear me. Hell, I know you can hear me, but I guess you're just too tired right now to come back out. But don't worry. What ever it takes, I'm going to fix this. You just rest…Nick has gone to get the doctor for you."

Dean sighed as he ran a shaky hand through his hair. He wondered if he should try to enter Sam's mind like he had done in the past. Missouri had warned him that he had to be careful and he wasn't sure that he'd be able to make a difference as long as the drugs were in his system. Besides, Sam wasn't even responding to his touch. He was locking himself down.

Dean jumped as his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and smiled. He should have known. "Hi Missouri"

"Boy, one of these days you're gonna learn to call me sooner. I swear! I've been waiting for hours for you to call!"

"I'm sorry Missouri; I've been kind of busy."

"Like that's an excuse!" Missouri's voice softened. "Dean, I know you are thinking about entering Sam's mind…but you can't do it this time. He won't recognize you and you might even find yourself trapped."

"But I'm losing him…" Dean swallowed as he felt the tears behind his eyes begin to form.

"Now you listen to me boy. Your brother is strong…he's just tired right now. Those children, God Bless Them are keeping him from sinking any lower. They're blocking most of the images, but they can't block them all. You just have to keep talking to him honey…he will follow your voice, he will come back to you."

"How do you know that…did you see something?" Dean asked, the hope in his voice almost painful to hear.

"Now you know I don't see into the future like that! But I know your brother and he won't leave you alone, any more than you would if the situation were reversed."

"Missouri, that bastard really did a number on him…he tortured him…I don't know if Sam will be able to…"

"Now you stop that negative thought right now. You need to be strong for him; you can't let him think that he is any less of a man than before. He thinks he failed you and your Daddy by giving in to that bastard…but he fought hard Dean. He never let the demon get what he really wanted."

"I know Missouri…I know…I just don't know how to help him."

"Dean, you just need to let your heart guide you…he'll be fine, but it's going to take some time. Just have patience with him and it will all work out."

Dean thanked Missouri after promising her that he would bring Sam to her house after they got the drugs out of his system. He was glad that he had some place safe to take Sam to recover because he had a feeling Sam wasn't going to just bounce back after this one.

Dean heard Nick coming up the stairs and rose to greet the two men who entered the room. Stan was tall and thin with the required thick lens glasses that just screamed 'geek'. Dean couldn't help but smile as the man entered the room and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Stan. I understand that your brother has been injected with some kind of mind altering drug."

Dean liked that the guy got right down to business. "Yes, but we don't know what he gave him."

Stan moved quietly towards Sam. He sat on the bed, but didn't make any sudden moves as he watched Sam's movements. He noted the glassy unfocused eyes and the tremors that seemed to be moving through Sam's body like he had a permanent chill.

"Ok Dean, I'm going to need to give him an actual physical exam and draw some blood. It would also help, if we could find the syringe that he was injected with. There might be enough of the fluid left for me to do an analysis. Nick also mentioned that the creep had kept records…I'll want to see whatever you can find."

Dean nodded his head. "I'll have to help you with Sam, I'm not sure how he is going to react to being examined…the guy, well he tortured Sam for almost a full day before he gave him the injection…"

"I understand Dean. But it's for his own good. You understand we can't give him anything until we know what we are dealing with. He needs an antibiotic and a fever reducer to help with the fever he is running. I've brought everything with me that I should need. So the sooner we get started the better."

Dean approached Sam and gently unwrapped his arms from around his legs. "Sam, I know you can't understand this, but the doctor needs to examine you…do you think you can sit on the edge of the bed here?"

Nick closed his eyes and opened them again to see Peggy standing in the corner. "Peggy, can you let the others know what is happening? Maybe they can help keep Sam calm."

Peggy nodded as she closed her eyes for a few moments. She opened them again and smiled. "Sam will be ok…he knows what is happening."

Nick turned to Stan and Dean. "Ok, Peggy and her friends have managed to reach Sam. He understands what you are doing, but you may want to hurry. I'm not sure how long he'll be able to control himself."

Stan nodded and got to work. A short time later, Sam was lying back down on the bed. His eyes closed and his chest rising evenly in sleep. Stan had set up his own lab, using some of the equipment that had been left behind when they closed the place down. Nick had gone down the hall to the office and returned with a box of papers. He and Dean were going through the papers and pulling out anything that talked about drug therapy.

Dean rubbed his eyes as he looked at his brother. "Did you see all this crap that they did to those poor kids? We should have made him suffer more!"

Nick shook his head. "Dean, it really wasn't Wendell. He was possessed and couldn't stop what was happening."

"So, is Peggy still here in the room with us?" Dean asked, wishing that he could see her.

Nick smiled. "Yes, she will stay near by until it's time for her and the others to move on. But I sense that she is afraid to go…I may need to work with her a little more before she's ready."

Dean looked up at Nick. "Can she hear me?"

"Yes, she can."

Dean cleared his throat. "Ah…Peggy, look…I think I know how you might be feeling. You see, I've had to do things…things that I'm not proud of. But I didn't have any choice. Whatever you did or think you did…you didn't have any choice. You were only a child and not responsible for what he made you do. There is nothing to be afraid of…once Sam is better, you need to go home, you need to find peace. I just wanted to thank you…all of you for what you are doing for my brother. No matter what people have said about you…you are a good person. The rest doesn't matter."

Nick watched as tears began to fall down Peggy's face. "You mean I'm not bad…I won't go to the bad place?"

Nick shook his head. "No honey, Dean is right. You aren't bad. You won't go to the bad place…you'll finally be able to be the child that you should have been before your innocence was stolen from you."

Nick turned to Dean. "Thanks Dean, she understands and I can see that she is ready. You sure you haven't been hiding a secret ability from me?"

Dean hit Nick on the shoulder. "Come on, we have to finish reading through his crap so Stan can help Sam. I swear Sam must be laughing…me doing research!"

Both men laughed softly, but turned as they heard Stan coming down the hall. "Hey guys…I think I've found it. The good news is this stuff was actually used by the CIA during the cold war. There is a combination of drugs that I can give him to undo most of the damage."

Dean looked at Stan "Most of the damage?"

"Well unfortunately, I can't do much to help him get over the other brain washing techniques that were used. He's going to have to work through that on his own. But at least I can take away the psychotic effects of the drugs."

Dean looked at Sam. "Stan, won't the drugs just work themselves out of his system?"

"Eventually yes, but not before they did permanent damage. Dean, the drugs are making Sam see things, relive things but twisting them so that soon he won't know what is real or not. Not to mention the physical damage the drugs may be doing to his system. The sooner we neutralize them, the better it will be for Sam."

Dean nodded as he moved to sit beside his brother. "Ok Sam, I don't know if you can hear me, but the Doctor here says he has something that will help you." Dean turned to Stan. "Just tell me what we need to do."

TBC

Raven524: So there's still hope for Sam (was there ever any doubt…well maybe, you never know I could turn evil some day…(did I hear a 'Cristo' from the audience?) But I babble (a normal state in my household)…let me know what you think…reviews are always given a good home.