Changes – chpt 4.

By: sifi.

OOooOO

"You don't understand, I have to... t'... find..." a yelp of pain broke his concentration as the EMT's rolled him up onto his side and slid the backboard under him.

"It's gonna be a little while..." the man holding him by the cervical collar tried to soothe.

"Mmm phone... s'in the car... Bobby... please..." he ground as another stabbing lance of pain shot up his back. In spite of it, he was glad to feel it. Glad he could feel anything. I haven't felt anything this bad since Lilith was getting her rocks off... a tear slipped from the corner of his eye, "Dean..."

"Easy there tiger," the EMT rolled him back as one of the others secured the Velcro straps over him, "We're gonna get you some help."

"I got the phone," a female voice called from what sounded like miles away. Pale blue dove's eyes hovered over him seconds later, "Who did you want us to call?" she asked.

"Mmm," he groaned, "Bobby... call Bobby..."

In the background he heard voices and words, like 'cervical trauma' and 'possible spinal compression' and 'possible vertebral fracture', and even 'paralysis'.

My brother needs help... Dean please wake up and go back to the vortex... let Bobby help you. God it hurts... and slowly the voices started to fade out as off to the side somewhere his cell phone chirped to life.

"Hello?" the female answered uncertainly.

"Uhm hello? " Spencer returned, "I'm trying to reach Neil Crosby."

"Tall man? Dark hair?" She asked, "Driving a gold four door sedan with Nebraska plates?"

"That would be him." The young agent felt his belly flip, "My name is Spencer Reid what can you tell me?"

"I can tell you that my name is Robin Stevenson, I'm a Chandler City EMT and we're taking him to Chandler City Hospital."

"What happened?" Spencer breathed glancing from his unconscious charge to the worried faces of several sidhe.

"Sir..."

"Please..." he tried not wanting to have to use his Bureau credentials, or engage Garcia anymore than he had already. If he did he knew things could get far messier than he was willing to risk.

"It looks like he was forced off the road. The car rolled... he may have spinal damage we're not sure. He was asking about calling someone named Bobby?"

"He's on his way here now, I'll call him," Spencer offered, "Go to the impact point of the car and tell me do you see any paint transfer?"

"Sir are you a police officer?"

"Look specifically along the borders of the impact zone, what color was the vehicle?" he asked.

"Wow," she breathed into the phone, "uh... black paint... sir do you know who did this? There are police on the way."

Spencer rolled his head on his neck and frowned in thought, "You said Chandler City Hospital?"

"Yes sir."

"We'll be there in a couple hours. Thank you." He promptly hung up and scrolled through the phone book until he reached the only contact named Bobby, then dialed.

OOooOO

"SAMMY!" Dean howled as the car shimmied over the gravelly shoulder of the highway while he fought against the intruding entity for control. He'd been okay with letting that thing use him, with letting it batter itself against whatever wall it might need to in order to think it was in control until he saw Laura's car shudder off the highway. He didn't feel the Impala hit the much lighter car, it was too much like watching a film of a hit instead with the same jumpy camera work but he did feel his belly fall hard into the pit of him while his throat closed. In the rear view mirror, very much in slow motion he watched the gold sedan slide sideways down the embankment before toppling over onto its back.

Panic swelled his heart as the Impala swerved back and forth like some badly played comedic argument that could only end in disaster, he glanced into the rear view mirror again, c'mon Sam… get up, get out of there, pull yourself out… show me you're okay, please be okay, please be okay, please be okay… oh God he's not coming out… Sam? Sammy? Please?

And for a moment he almost had control over the car again, "I don't think so…" his guest seemed to sneer as something started to feel squeezed inside him, something pressing deep, shoving him back and down he began to realize he might have to fight. Damnit Sam… why'd you gotta be so smart?

OOooOO

Mmm choking… choking… can't breathe…stop… lemme go… STOP!

"Easy Sam, easy… it's okay… wake up boy…" Bobby quickly wiped the mist from his eyes and gave a quick heavenward glance to the evening sky out the window. He laid his hand gently on the youngest Winchester's arm as the boy's eyes opened and he gasped a throatful of air, "If I never see either of you in a hospital bed again I could be the happiest man on earth," he choked as Sam's eyes locked onto his.

"Buh…by?"

"Yeah kid it's me…" he quickly held up the cup of water and placed the straw between the young man's parched lips, "you gotta take it easy Sam we're waiting on official word but from what they tell me you've got some spinal swelling. They're trying to rule out fractures at C2 and T7, and you have a slight concussion most likely from the roll over," he shook his head and wiped away another damnable layer of mist, "I swear if you weren't in as good a shape as you are… they said you might've…" he shook his head again then glancing at the hard plastic neck brace on the boy, forced himself to put his love aside, once more given to understand how John could sometimes have been the dictatorial bastard he'd occasionally been with his kids, "What happened?"

Sam tried to give a little shake of his head but winced and gasped, obviously pained by even that tiny motion, "Wraith… ran me off the road, s'goin t'…" he cleared his throat and winced, "Yellowstone… s'where Imd'gud lost her… Cer'nos s'searching there f'her." He slurred through the meds and the nauseating waves of pain that kept ricocheting between the base of his skull, just below his ears to the center of his back just behind his heart. If I puke… it'll probably kill me… "ffff…" he took a breath and started again making sure to speak carefully, "Can't trust it, it'll use them to kill her then turn on them…" he met the senior hunter's eyes, "You have to save them."

Slowly Bobby nodded, "I talked with that Spencer kid… he doesn't wanna leave, thinks he could be of help." He shook his head, "Seems like a smart kid."

"Yeah… he should go… but h'could help."

"For future reference you should probably password protect the laptop…"

Sam's brows furrowed.

"He gave me a list of towns that have experienced strange atmospheric phenomena and an increase in livestock deaths not too far from Yellowstone." He smirked, "Said he got the information from a friend."

Remembering Dr. Reid's call to his friend Garcia this morning it wouldn't have surprised Sam if he'd learned what to look for on his laptop, then had them get the information and ping it to him. "Prob'ly." Sam smiled weakly and fought hard against the water building up in his eyes.

"What is it you're not telling me Sam?" Bobby asked leaning forward, his brows creased and mouth turned down into a frown of epic proportions. His emo-dar working overtime as John's youngest did the only thing he could to escape that gaze, and shut his eyes.

It didn't work, the torn, mutilated and eviscerated corpse shredded open on a dining table tied with his brother's distinctive twist on a slip-knot flashed through his mind, Which one of 'em did it? Do I tell him? I have to warn him, if I don't he could wind up dead. But Dean, I can't… was it him or… Sam couldn't remember the last time he'd been so frustrated, I need to heal, I need to get to him, need to see if I can… gray motion up by the ceiling caught his attention, Igigi… anywhere there's pain and anguish a lightbulb seemed to flicker to life inside his mind as he looked steadily at the creature … I need to heal. He glanced at the comforting face before him, as glad as he'd been to see it, now wanting him to be on the road already so Sam could do what he had to. "Be careful Bobby, the wraith it's in control … Dean may not be able to help you."

"Spencer said Laura's trying to reach him from the other side, if she can, she might be able to strengthen Dean or weaken the wraith long enough to get it out of him." He shook his head, his expression grave, "Sam getting that thing out of him… by the time I catch up… or find him at all… it could kill Dean."

Sam frowned and swallowed hard, "…e'd rather be dead than some puppet… he'll help if he can."

OOooOO

Once he was certain Bobby was gone, and the next time he thought he might have the strength Sam glanced upward and out into the hall, watching for the igigi's return.

"I know you're out there you little shit… get over here!" He commanded in the ancient tongue knowing they were drawn to the vibration of it. It was as familiar to them as existing, it was the first sound they'd ever known and if he could focus long enough, it just might be the last sound this one would hear.

Stretch out with my senses, be creative… envision what I need… he told himself and bent his elbow, pointing lethargically at the hovering warty gray face. He knew it couldn't feed off of his pain and anguish thanks to the protection he'd been given, but it could watch him suffer and it was obviously enjoying the sight of it. Yeah well you got another thing coming don'tcha? He thought turning his hand until it looked like he was holding a tether, hold… he tried to maintain his focus, envisioning a net closed around the creature as it thrashed and flailed in his psychic grip, trying to batter itself free until they were both heaving and panting. Every thundering heartbeat shot white hot needles of pain up his spine to the base of his skull. It seemed to grow in intensity the longer he fought the creature and he wondered for a split second which of them would win.

Finally its struggles slowed as did the searing heat in his back while his eyes watered and sweat ran down his face. He slowed his breathing, holding the tether and looking at his feet tried to shift. As he did something in his back slipped, feeling like two quarters rubbed against each other and the mid-back pain vanished. Huh nuh… his heart galloped again as he focused on his toes willing them to move. Please please please… he begged inside using his free left arm to try and shift again.

The pain returned and he bit back a yelp as his toes deliberately flexed. Thank you God! Thank You Thank You… he sighed then returned his focus to the creature in his psychic net. He wrapped his senses around it trying to feel everything he could about it. When it realized it had his full attention again it panicked and he felt it. It hated him, he accepted it. It feared him and finally he drained it.

More nourishing than the I.V. in his arm, the energy of the creature seemed to move in beads along the psychic line he'd established. If he'd been able to maintain focus while keeping his eyes open he would have seen the smoky gray particles, so much like grains of black sand dropping insubstantially to the floor. The pointy, cartoonish tail falling away like so much dust leading up to the rest of its incorporeal 'body' until all that was left was the final silently screaming visage of its face while the vessel of a soul far more ancient than it turned the tables and fed.

A wave of energy rushed through Sam's body, sliding along his arm, crossing his chest and filling him from there. Fanning out in every direction until the fatigue and weariness he'd had such trouble fighting only moments ago was significantly reduced. Oooh that's good… now… let's see what it could take to control one of these bastards. "Anyone else hanging around here? Anyone else wanna come and see me suffer?" he taunted in the ancient language as a dark and tentatively triumphant smile slowly spread across his lips.

OOooOO

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cernunnos asked from across his preferred workplace in the veiled realm.

"He's going to need help, he's going to need the extra kick," Laura continued setting out the necessary equipment for the ritual to help bind the wraith's power. She smiled brightly, "Sam is healing himself using igigi, so he'll be up and ready to go by morning."

The God of fertility and rebirth nodded, "I'll have the sidhe ready to show him through the veil when he's rested enough."

"Are you sure it's her?" she asked again.

"Well unless Sam's been tossing his seed around all willy nilly…"

"Alright alright! I get it…" She smiled shaking her head, "How did you manage to keep Imdugud to keep from pouncing on her?"

Cernunnos shook his wild and wooly mane, "I didn't… he's still trying to batter through her defenses." Then he shrugged, "I told him to rest through the night and watch to make sure she doesn't try to evade us again while we wait for Enki, well the wraith anyway."

Laura nodded, "As soon as it gets him through her wards I'll begin the binding." She laid her hand on her patron's shoulder, "You'll have to fill Bobby in on what's gonna happen, he's going to have to know to stay away from Dean while the binding is happening."

"I'll tell him…" the good natured deity smiled then cocked his head to the side, "What of your new friend? Mustardseed and Milkthistle would like to bring your body here to make sure it's cared for, but the young man is… quite interesting. I sense he would not be satisfied if we sent him away before the task was done."

She nodded and sighed, "Yeah, he's definitely one of those… I should go talk with him." She rose from the stone seat and crossed the small lush clearing.

OOooOO

Tbc.

Please R&R.

Thanks.

Sifi.

A/N – Please accept my apologies for the delay in getting this chapter up. Real Life came knocking and I could not deny it. If however you're still reading and enjoying, I do deeply appreciate it, and whether you review or not, I am grateful for each and every one of you.

I hope to see you again soon. Thanks very much.

Sifi.