Yes, I know, Benny calls Dean 'Brother' but you won't see/hear that from me.

And again, this is my twist/take on Castiel.

"You." Dean blinked, giving his head a shake in an attempt to juggle his vision back to seeing one visage of the two men in front of him. "Let go of him." he ordered, voice raspy, but strong. "Now!"

"You know what? I don't have time for your shit." Benny growled, letting Sam find his ass and pull away. "Don't start Dean, don't even."

"Get your hands off him!"

"I ain't touching him." Benny put both his hands over this head. "There's no problem here."

"The…fuck…." Dean struggled to sit up but his body was not having it and he fell back to the mattress, panting. "Aauugghh!"

"He's fine….Christ, what the hell you think I'm gonna do to him in your hospital room?"

"My what?" Dean tried to look around but his neck muscles weren't cooperating and his head fell back on the pillow. He let his eyes close with a grunt. "I'mma inna hospital?"

"Yeah, you dumb ass, you are."

"Sam?"

"He's ok." Benny assured him. "Dude's just beat; he's had a rough couple days."

"I'm good Dean, go back to sleep." Sam remained on the floor, ignoring the smirk on Benny's face as the vampire stared down at him. Days? Hell, it'd been nearly a week!

"Noooo." he roused once again, hand gripping the bed rail as he gathered his strength to pull himself up. Benny easily knocked his hold loose. "What'd you do that for?"

"Don't be doing anything to cause a scene." Benny warned. "The last thing we need is security called to escort me out and I dunno if in this year they're able to force Sam into submitting for treatment but I don't think….."

"Treat….Sam? For what?"

"Ssshh." Sam glared up at Benny, his look so disapproving he succeeded in wiping the smirk from the vampires face. "Cas said I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"Cashes's here?"

"He was. He's gone now." Benny again prevented Dean from trying to sit up. "Stay down."

"What're you doin' here?" the question was directed at Benny even though Dean didn't open his eyes. "Son-of-a-bitch." he sucked his breath in, hissing over an aborted move. "Ow." his eyes pricked with the sting of tears and he turned his head. "What'd I do?"

"You were missing." the now chastened vampire said quietly. "You hurt your foot."

"Oh." his eyes blinked but remained closed. "Why you on the floor Sam? Benny? You do that to him?"

"Hell no." Benny snorted. "He fainted."

"He what?"

"Not helping." Sam huffed, deciding to ignore the fainting taunt. "We don't need to do this now. The nurse will be back any minute to throw us out."

"Then it'd be better if she didn't find you on the floor." Benny commented.

"Yeah." Sam agreed but didn't move to get up. He craned his neck to look at Dean but his brother had gone back to sleep.

"Sam?" the air swished and with a flutter, an irritated Cas stood on the opposite side of Dean's bed. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting."

"Why are you sitting on the floor?"

'Cause I'm dizzy and nauseous and the room whirls around me and every time I look at Dean in that bed, I wanna hurl and then I think about how close I came to losing him - again - and I wanna cry and that coil of fear in my belly makes me hot all over and I break out in a cold sweat and then I get chills and that makes my head hurt and then I feel dizzy and nauseous and the room whirls….

But of course he didn't say any of that.

"What are you doing here Cas?" Sam sighed tiredly. "I mean, how did you even know? No one called for you." he followed the slanted look Cas gave Benny and despite his exhausted state, felt his ire once again rise. "Benny?" he spat. "You come when he calls you? Christ."

"I do when he calls on your behalf." Cas's tone matched Sam's in anger. "What is your problem Sam? You appear to still be angry with me. What have or haven't I done now?"

"Are you serious?" Sam exclaimed. "How the hell can you ask that?"

"Ask what?"

"I can't do this." Sam held his head. "God, I can't….I just can't."

"Why are you here? Why is Dean here? Did something happen I don't know about?"

"No Cas! You know everything I do. But you're being evasive and silent and cryptic and I don't know what to do! I don't know how to help him."

"You can trust me." Cas was still angry. "I couldn't heal him, but I helped him."

"You said you healed his foot, not him. He's not ok Cas. What was I supposed to do?"

"Give him the medicine I gave you."

"You refused to tell me how to do that."

"I did no such thing."

"Twigs or Twixts or whatever the hell you said, is not English Cas."

"I told you to mix it with hot milk."

"Milk, right." Sam said sarcastically. "Whole? Skim? 2%? Soy?"

"Yes, Sam, milk." Cas intoned. "Humans used to drink it straight from a cow."

"I need unpasteurized milk?" Sam gasped aghast. "Where the hell do I get that?"

"Why are you being so deliberately obtuse?"

"Okay, ok, hey, guys." Benny interrupted. "Now's neither the time nor the place to have this argument." the tired, frustrated vampire sighed. Well that was odd, he had a headache. He thumbed his brow, beginning to appreciate Dean in a whole other way. A peacemaker between two - beings - Benny was not. "Cas…no…Sam….you need to….."

"Leave me alone." Sam fought to his feet, refusing the offer of help from both Cas and Benny. He rolled his eyes at what was his life. Here he was beaten and abused, alone in his fear and worry over his brother and his only source of support and comfort came from a crazy angel and an untrustworthy vampire.

"Sam." Benny began calmly. "Do you want him to stay here?"

"Cas?" he asked stupidly. Once standing, he decided he was better off sitting down and lowered himself into the chair next to Dean's bed.

"Dean." Benny corrected. Good God, he wished he'd had the opportunity to have known Bobby. Obviously, dealing with the two brothers, in addition to the angel, was what had made the old man the drunken curmudgeon Dean had described to him.

"Oh." Sam swallowed. His tired, foggy, pain riddled brain couldn't process normal thought. He dimly recalled the doctor saying their concern was fever and infection and Dean not responding to treatment. He didn't really want to submit his brother to more aggressive antibiotics, but to deny him meant giving him Cas's medicine.

"Sam…..they can't do anything more to help him here." Cas said.

"You keep saying that." Sam recalled Benny agreeing there was no longer a need for Dean to remain at the hospital but not why. "Why do you keep saying that? His injury is…it isn't….I mean it's not….it's normal Cas." why did his life have to be so fucked up? What had he ever done? Why couldn't something, just once, in his life be what it seemed? Go his way? Be easy?

"You don't know that." Benny argued gently. "We don't know how he ended up in the well or what drove that rebar through his foot. You two were on a job, hunting a supernatural being."

"But here, they can give him pain meds and antibiotics and monitor him for…." Sam hung his head. Something as simple as a mere foot injury should be able to be treated with modern medicine. It didn't have to be life threatening. A hospital should be the best, safest place to receive care and for anyone else, it would be.

But not them. There was no reasonable or acceptable explanation, it just was.

"Mere hours ago you wanted….." Cas began, falling silent under the evil look Benny shot him.

"So, bringing him here accomplished nothing." Sam fought to keep his breathing even, his vision greying out. God, he was confused. Benny had wanted him to bring Dean to the hospital, hadn't he? And now the vampire was all gung-ho to take him and leave? What the hell?! And Cas….well…..no sense would ever be made there.

"They stitched his foot so you didn't have to do it." Benny spoke up. "And hey." he have Sam a shit-faced grin. "The nurses gave him a better bath than you did."

"He is clean. " Cas nodded his agreement as Sam snorted a snuffle at their attempt to lighten the tense moment. A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and his lips twitched.

"And you know Cas didn't lie to you about his foot." Benny ignored the look of irritation sent his way by the un-amused angel. "So, peace of mind, right?"

"It's not fair." Sam said finally. "Whatever….happened….whoever, whatever did it, antibiotics and meds and treatment should be enough to make him better."

"And it might." Benny agreed. "But we don't know that."

"Can't you tell?" Sam asked Cas.

"I'm sorry Sam."

"Why don't you go see if you can find the nurse and tell her you're leaving for the night?" Benny suggested. "Maybe you can charm her into giving you some ice packs and something for the swelling on your face."

Sam was too miserable to comprehend Benny was trying to get rid of him so he nodded and stumbled his way from the room. Once he was out the door, Benny launched a verbal attack on Castiel.

"Look here, my fairy-winged friend, what the hell's wrong with you? He's barely keeping it together and you're not helping any."

"I've helped him; I've done what I can for them." Cas said. "I don't know what they are doing here. I gave him all the medicine Dean needs…"

"Yeah, but he can't think straight Cas. He's in pain and he needs to take something for it and go to bed. Standing here arguing with him isn't doing anyone any good."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Sam shouldn't be left alone with him. I mean, he's in no condition to take care of Dean on his own. Unless you can make Sam better….." Benny waited, but Cas shook his head. "Okay, well then, thanks."

"Why did Sam bring Dean here?"

"Because Dean needed stitches and Sam was in no shape to do it."

Cas frowned, forehead furrowed in concentration. "The medicine…. Sam should be able to read the bottle."

"Flat out honesty here Cas. You can't heal him, what makes you think the doctors can't?"

Cas paced about the room. He stopped next to the bed and leaned on the bed rail. "There was a time I'd've been able to heal him with a simple touch. That is not possible now. My touch heals but…..I have no control over how or what or to what capacity. I don't know why."

"Be it natural or otherwise, that injury and spending four days without treatment could have killed him….he could have died Cas." Benny said. "Am I right?"

"Yes."

"And he still could?"

"Yes."

"And to save him, you're willing to give him heavenly medicine."

"He's felt my touch Benny…. it wasn't enough…..and it won't allow modern medicine to save him now."

"But the medicine you gave Sam will?"

"It can, yes. It will give him a chance, but…..it was never intended for human consumption."

"Say what?"

"It's medicine man was never meant to have."

"What the hell does that mean?" Benny demanded. "Will it hurt him?"

Cas scowled, then turned his head. "It shouldn't kill him."

"And remaining here….."

"He will not respond to the doctor's treatment." Cas confirmed. "He'll fight through this, despite modern medicine, or…..he won't. Try the medicine."

"Because he felt your touch and you couldn't heal him?"

Cas shrugged. "I don't know Benny."

"Can you pop us back to the motel?" Benny asked, Cas nodded. "I'll get Sam."

***000***

Benny stretched out on his bed in the motel room he'd booked two doors down from the brothers. Cas had transported them back to the room the brothers shared where Sam had promptly kicked him out. Benny had expected to be told to get in his truck and hit the road and not bother looking back but Sam had said to get out, not go away.

He knew if Dean ordered to him to go, Sam would make sure he did but Dean didn't seem to care one way or the other if Benny was there. No, that wasn't true. He knew Benny was there and hadn't told him to leave, so that meant he was content to have Benny close by. That Sam would know and honor that, confirmed to Benny how deep the attachment between the brothers went.

He needed to catch some sleep and eat then would go shopping. He didn't need to worry about where or when his next meal would come. Cas had delivered a supply that would keep him happily fed for a week. An hour and he'd go out.

Once Sam had Dean comfy and cozy in his own bed, he crashed on the other one. For all he cared, the world could go to hell. This time, his brother was going to come first. He didn't know where Benny had gone, didn't really care what hole the vampire had crawled into, and yet his conscious refused to remain idle.

Dean was far from ok.

He dozed fitfully, repeatedly lulled to sleep by the steady, even breathing of the occupant in the bed next to him, jerked awake when it hitched or skipped or hiccupped; sitting up and staring across the space between the two beds. Usually, a soft-spoken word was enough, but a time or two; it took his touch to settle Dean down.

He didn't need to turn on a light; he'd never turned it off.

"Sam? Brought some milk." Benny knocked and waited, hoping the enticement of the milk would be enough to be let in the room. "Hey." the door opened and Sam stood back to allow him entrance. "You get some sleep?"

"Some, yeah."

"Did you eat? Kinda early for soup but….."

Sam just turned away, leaving Benny to close the door before moving to the kitchenette. "Okay." Benny decided to let the matter of Sam's need for nutritional substance go for the moment. "Um, how do you want to heat the milk? Got a microwavable cup?"

"I dunno."

"He asleep?"

"He's been uneasy but quiet since Cas dropped us off." Sam cast a look towards the bed. "Hospital meds are wearing off."

"How's he doing?"

Sam shrugged. "He hurts, he's in pain, and he's running a fever….foot's swollen….."

Benny let it go. Sam was tired and uncomfortable and cranky. No way was he going to hand the man any ammunition with which to attack him.

"Cas didn't stick around?"

"Does he ever?" Sam shrugged. "Said to call him if we need him." he eyed the brown bottle still sitting on the dresser. He walked over and picked it up. He gave it a shake, held it up to the light then used his teeth to pop the cork.

"Powder." a label was now on the bottle. "Add to warm milk, drink while hot. Do not apply to open wounds. Do not take cold. Take every three hours until no longer needed. Fever must not rise above 103. If high fever, vomiting of bile or bleeding from the mouth, nose, ears or….rectum occurs, administer neutralizing counter agent." he eyed the blue bottle and scowled. "What the hell?"

Benny busied himself looking through the single cupboard for a cup they could put in the microwave. Not for human consumption, huh Cas? For who then? An angel? Did their true visage have ears and nose or a mouth and….. did angels bleed? They didn't eat, could they vomit? An angel's vessel then? Wouldn't they just get a new one if the one they had become damaged?

"So, a mug's about a cup, right?" Benny waggled a mug about. "Say, a minute? Don't want it too hot."

"Still don't know what the fuck a twig is." Sam muttered. "Guess, go with the universal unit of volume, be it recipes or medicine….a teaspoon it is."

Dean had long ago lost track of time and where he was. He remembered being cold and uncomfortable and alone in the dark. He remembered feeling warm and being with Sam. He remembered being surrounded by strangers, all talking over one another, harsh lights above his head, hurting his eyes. He remembered Benny throwing Sam to the floor, Cas yelling at Sam…..Sam…Sam…..Sam.

He frowned, struggling to bring forth the elusive memory and grip it tight but all he succeeded in doing was making his head hurt worse than it already did. He hadn't thought that possible but now that it'd been brought to his attention…. good god, his head…..man, if poor Sammy's migraines felt like this; Dean was never going to smirk at him again. He'd dim the lights, kill the radio, and give the kid all the cold, wet cloths he wanted because holy mother…..this was unbearable.

And his foot…. his foot was hot…..burning hot….so burning hot, he kicked out in an attempt to get away from the source. The motion shot sharp pains up to his hip, making him clench his teeth to stifle the cry of pain.

"Get away!" he yelled, flailing about, trying to either pull his foot from the source of the heat or dislodge whatever was burning him but no matter which way he twisted or turned or how hard he kicked, the flames followed him.

Sam jumped when Dean yelped. He put the bottle of medicine on the table and walked over to the bed but Dean was not to be soothed any longer. Caught in the throes of fever and pain, he was beyond being consoled.

"This better work." Sam measured a teaspoon of powder into the cup of microwave heated milk and stirred until the powder was completely dissolved. The additive didn't cause the milk to alter in color nor did it have a scent. Sam hoped it didn't have a bad taste because Dean had never been one to willingly take liquid forms of medicine.

"I'll get some ice." Benny swiped the ice bucket from the bathroom sink and let himself out of the room. Ice probably wouldn't have much, if any effect on the swelling in Dean's foot but it wouldn't hurt it either and though Sam had left the hospital with gel packs for his face, it gave Benny a reason to leave the room and give the brothers some privacy.

"Dean…hey, hey, hey…cut that out." Sam set the mug on the table between the beds and squatted down but a hand on Dean's shoulder provoked him into thrashing against the blankets. "Okay, ok, stop it, come on…..dude, Dean – hey – enough!" he rose to his full height, leaned over the bed and held Dean flat on his back, pillows tossed to the floor, with a hand on either shoulder.

He wavered, not sure how to make Dean drink the milk without spilling most of it. Even if the medicine didn't throw off the taste of the milk, he doubted Dean would just willingly drink it. As he watched, Dean's face contorted into a scowl, not of pain, more like disgust and his hands batted the air at some imaginary target.

"Dammit." he grabbed for Dean's wrists, capturing them with surprising ease and held them in one hand. "Easy….okay? Just take it easy. I'm right here. It's me; it's Sam, your Sammy, okay?" he didn't know how he ended up where he was, one minute he was trying to hold Dean still, the next he was wrestling with him and now, here he sat on the bed, Dean sprawled across his lap, chest heaving as he attempted to slow his breathing. Well, ok then. Holding him had worked before to calm him down, both climbing out of the well and before Cas had taken them to the car, no reason to be surprised it worked this time as well.

Sam sat still until Dean went limp, his hard panting giving way to deep breaths as he settled down and gradually relaxed. Sam gave him some time before attempting to reach for the mug. As soon as he shifted his weight on the bed, Dean stirred with a murmured protest.

"What?" Sam sighed tiredly. "Please…..just for a minute, one minute, can you lay still? Can you do that? Huh?"

"Knat." Dean tossed his head until Sam held him still with a thumb to his jaw. "Atzzz…go…away."

"You want me to go away?" Sam blinked, taking the words like a punch to the gut with stoic silence. Damn, that hurt.

"Men-neee." he rambled on, a word here and there actually distinguishable.

"Benny? You want Benny?" his jaw clenched, sending sharp pain from his molars to his ears. No way, sorry dude, not going to happen.

"Hot." he squirmed. "Lemme go. Hot."

"What's hot?"

"My foot."

"I know." Sam soothed. "I have something that will make you feel better." but he couldn't chance holding the cup until Dean laid still. "Okay?"

Dean took a shuddering breath and laid still. Sam didn't dare wait much longer or the milk would have cooled too much be considered hot but every time he moved, Dean began to moan and squirm.

"Hate…..squeak….." he fast became agitated, kicking at an imaginary restraint against his leg. "Noo…hot."

Sam blinked against tears. He was unable to calm his brother or reassure him that he was alright and nothing was burning him. He couldn't make Dean hear him and failed to make him understand that Sam was right there with him and wouldn't allow anything to hurt him.

The bed springs squeaked under the combined weight of both brothers every time Sam moved and in Dean's fever-pain-filled state, he thought he was being attacked by rats. They were everywhere. God, he hated rats. They were beady-eyed, twitchy-nosed dirty vermin that were always squeaking wherever they went. He kicked and nudged and hit and batted until finally, silence. He listened, straining his ears but there was no more squeaking or rustling and Dean finally relaxed.

"Okay? We good?" Sam picked the mug up, careful to reach out with his arm and not lean towards the table. Dean stirred with a frown and a mutter, warnings that he wasn't happy. "Fuck Dean, what the hell is your problem?"

"Squeak." Dean complained. "Squeaking rats. Hate rats."

Sam sat and stared, comprehension finally dawning. So men-neee translated to many, not Benny. He wanted the rats to go away, not Sam. Sam started to laugh. He was so tired and depleted of energy and common sense he couldn't even recall his brother hated rats.

"Okay, ok…..you win…" Sam chuckled. "Drink this for me and you can have the other bed."

"Not….thirsty."

"It's a milkshake." Sam coaxed. He held Dean against him with one hand and held the mug with his other. "Hey…..here you go….that's it….good huh?"

"No." his lips pursed into a pout. "Not…..chocolate."

Right. Leave it to Dean to complain not that it didn't taste at all like a milkshake and it wouldn't, because it wasn't, but to bitch that it wasn't chocolate.

"Next one." Sam promised. "Taste okay?"

Benny let himself back into the room and set the bucket on the counter. "He drinking it ok?"

"He doesn't like it."

"Did you expect him to?"

"No, why would I think anything would be easy?" with some more coaxing and cajoling, the milk was gone. "Help me move him to the other bed."

"You need clean sheets?"

"Bed squeaks."

Benny shrugged and grabbed Dean's legs by the ankles. "He warm to you?"

Sam's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "You can feel he's hot?"

"Can't you?"

"Yeah, course I can, it's just…you?"

"How high's his fever?"

"Dunno."

"Where's the thermometer?"

"Don't have one."

"You didn't think to tell me that before I went to the store?"

Sam glared.

"Right." Benny easily swung Dean's weight over to the other bed where he released his legs, bad foot supported by a fluffy pillow. "Ok, well…guess I'm going to the store…."

Sam nodded, lips pressed together.

"Get something to eat Sam. You won't be any good to him, you keep passing out."

"I didn't PASS out!" Sam called after him as the door swung shut behind him.

Benny wandered down the aisle of the drugstore and up the next. Really, how hard could it be to find a mere thermometer? Apparently, more difficult than he'd thought. He removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair…the store had to sell them, so where the hell were they?

"Hi there." a cheery voice spoke from behind him. "Can I help you find something?"

"Uh, good morning." Benny mumbled, glancing around for trouble but the only two people in the store were himself and the store clerk smiling sunnily at him. "Yeah, I…..I need a thermometer."

"Oh, they're in the pharmacy…..so, what kind do you need?" she began to walk and he fell in step behind her.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Oral, rectal or aural?"

"Aural?"

"Ear. Those are the more expensive but easier to use. Of course, oral is more accurate. Do you have a preference?"

"Uh to be honest….the last one I, erhm used was….you know….it was glass and skinny…went under the tongue." he finished lamely, blushing.

"One of those?" she laughed. "Mercury…oh my, I remember those. Had to shake it down, had to sit still and hold it under your tongue for what, three minutes? I don't think we even sell those."

"Then…ear." Benny decided. "No…wait, you said oral is more accurate?"

"Yes."

"But you don't sell them?"

"Of course we do." she smiled at his obvious fluster. "Digital, not mercury, how old is the child?"

"What? Oh no, no…not a child….he's an adult. My….wife's brother."

""If accuracy is important, go with an oral one." she waved her hand over the selection. "Hope he feels better soon."

Benny paid for the thermometer and returned to the motel. He hadn't been gone long, but no one answered his knock. He hesitated then tried the door, finding it unlocked, he let himself in.

Sam was sprawled sideways on the bed they'd moved Dean from, feet still on the floor, arms flung out to either side. At first Benny thought he was either asleep or passed out, but when he neared the bed, he realized Sam had one hand under a pillow, gun aimed at whatever intruder dared come through the door.

"Just me." Benny said softly. "I'm two doors down to the left…need me just yell…I'll hear you."