Chapter 24

Dean had decided it would be best to let Sam remain sleeping for the time being. He was going through so much, and had just learned that he probably wouldn't make it out of this.

Bobby had volunteered to do some more research and ask around a bit more, but he doubted he would find anything. Dean on the other hand stayed by Sam's side, watching him silently for any signs of him going wild in his sleep.

At the moment, Sam had his back to Dean as he scrunched his large frame onto the couch in a horizontal position, shutting himself out from the world around him in a ball - a thick gray blanket draped over his body up to his neck and past his feet, hanging off the armrest of the couch.

Dean actually had to wonder how Sam – being the large hulking man he was – could manage such a feat. He managed to make himself look so small on that couch, which only made Dean feel worse.

He felt like he failed Sam. On the inside – Dean was a whirlwind of questions and emotions. His father just told him that his little brother was probably going to die within the next couple of days. How was he supposed to feel about that?

And to think, he pulled Sam away from the ledge for this, Dean thought to himself miserably. Sam was willing to give into his curse, let it take him while Dean was away. But Dean had stopped him, telling him that there was still hope – Sam would be human again.

But now, no one seemed to believe it – not even himself, Dean realized angrily.

"Dean."

Dean turned around with wide; alert eyes to face the sudden intruder who he didn't even hear enter the room. But the moment his green eyes rested on Bobby, leaning against the white lining of the threshold between the living room and the library, he relaxed only a bit.

"I just got a text from John…" Bobby began hesitantly, knowing any subject involving their dad wouldn't sit well with Dean at the moment, "they got the kid, and they're on their way back here with him."

"Why?" Dean snapped, his full attention now on Bobby, "Jeremy can't help Sam, so why's dad bringing him here?"

"Apparently your dad tricked the demons into handing Jeremy over, and managed to keep the Colt. But they're gonna be pissed, and looking for the kid at his house…its logic, son."

"But what's gonna happen to this kid when Sam…" Dean's voice trailed off brokenly, he didn't know how to finish that question.

When Sam's better?

When Sam's changed?

So Dean drew in a deep breath, and skipped ahead of his train of thought, knowing that Bobby knew what he meant. "We can't just keep the kid here forever."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, I guess." Bobby replied with a small shrug.

"Great, so we weren't stressed enough dealing with Sam's condition, but now we gotta friggin' babysit too?" Dean spat, irritably.

"I'm sure your dad's not intending on keeping the kid, Dean! This is only temporary!" Bobby argued.

"I don't want this brat here at all! We've got enough on our plate already without a kid being tossed into the mix, don't you think?" Dean retorted, his voice rising with every word.

"Well this ain't up to you, ya idjit!" Bobby snapped irritably, "Now quit yer whinin', ya cry-baby."

"Screw you." Dean quipped back with little thought.

Suddenly, to both Dean and Bobby's surprise a soft uncomfortable moan sounded through the living room, and immediately all conversation halted and both set of eyes fell on Sam.

His back was still to both his brother and Bobby, but Dean noticed Sam's shoulders tremble slightly causing clear lines of evident worry to form on his face.

"W-w-will you thoo schut up!" Sam growled tiredly, his speech clearly broken and awkward sounding almost as if he had a large wad of cotton shoved in his mouth at a lame attempt to steady his fumbling mouth through his shivering.

"Sammy?" Dean called softly – all anger suddenly gone from his expression, "Are you alright?"

There was a long silence, and for a while Dean thought Sam wasn't going to answer. He turned toward Bobby with wide eyes, but the elder hunter kept his eyes trained on Sam as if he were evaluating him. Dean quickly turned his attention back to his brother, and thought to himself if Sam didn't answer – or at least turn around – within the next few seconds, Dean would forcefully roll him over to face them.

Dean placed a shaky hand on Sam's upper arm, a feeble attempt to steady his brothers' shaking form before forcing him to face the world – when Sam's hand flew out quickly and draped over his brothers' hand harshly.

What Dean saw caused him to gasp loudly, too late to hide from Sam or Bobby.

Only just this morning did Sam's hands look for the most part – relatively human. But now there was no denying its more canine shape.

His thumb had shrunken down to just above his wrist into just a small nub with a sharp curved claw protruding from it, no longer resembling a thumb but looking more like a wolf-like dewclaw. His other fingers and shrunken too, Dean noticed with bewilderment and fear – no longer looking like fingers, but canine-like toes on the end of a rather large paw. His metacarpal bones that made up his once human looking hands had shifted to better suit a wolf.

The thick pad-like cushion on Sam's palm had taken a soft almost triangular shape like a paw – making it impossible for Sam to ball his 'hands' into a fist. While the pads on Sam's fingertips (or toes now…) had swelled and turned more ball-like.

The long, thick, sharp claws that had once protruded from Sam's fingertips now looked sheathed or covered by the more paw-like looking structure. Still sharp and deadly if used the right way – but somehow seemed a little less threatening.

Dean had seen his fair share of dogs in his life (who hasn't?), and even a few wolves. But only once had he ever seen a paw look this big, and this dangerous.

…A few weeks ago, in Elkhorn Wisconsin…when he and his brother killed the Beast of Bray Road.

Except this paw wasn't covered in dark fur…yet.

"What in the…" Bobby started, but suddenly lost his voice as his wide eyes trained over Sam's hands.

Quickly and probably much rougher than he should have been, Dean pulled his hand away from Sam's, and made a grab for Sam's other hand, only to find it in the exact same condition. Dread filled his gut in an icy grip, as he pulled the thick gray blanket from Sam's lower half to get a look at his feet only to find them in a slightly more awkward position.

Like Sam's hands, his feet were definitely more paw-like. But the 'foot' ended with the balls for his feet, whereas his ankles had grown away from the foot and taken on an odd angle to support a creature on four legs as well as two.

"Dean…" Sam sudden muttered weakly, immediately snapping Dean from his wide-eyed stare to gaze upward toward his brother, who was still facing away from him. But Dean didn't miss the panic in Sam's tone.

"What is it, Sammy?" Dean choked out, trying to keep his tears of defeat at bay.

"I-I-I can'th feel anything below mah waitht."

It took Dean a moment to comprehend what his brother was saying, when suddenly it clicked in his mind, suddenly understanding Sam's panicked voice.

He couldn't feel anything below his waist.

"What? Why?" Dean asked, stricken with intense fear causing his mind to fog.

Thankfully, Bobby seemed to have an idea before Dean did. The elder hunter quickly stepped in front of Dean – directly behind Sam, and pulled the thick gray blanket completely off, tossing it on the floor behind him and Dean.

Thinking fast, Bobby pulled down the elastic of Sam's boxers more so than it already was – making way for Sam's tail, but stopped just before the younger mans' buttocks was exposed, and put his hands on Sam's waist – pressing hard, trying to get a feel of his hips.

Under any other condition, Dean would have snapped some smart remark at Bobby, but instead he held his breath – hoping silently Bobby could come up for an explanation to his little brothers' sudden paralysis.

Bobby's lips thinned into a white line, and a look of surprised understanding overtook his face as he pulled his hands away from Sam's waist, and fixed his sweats to give cover yet again.

"Well…I'm no doctor," Bobby began between a deep sigh, "but I know what a human pelvis feels like, and that's what Sam's got."

"Okay..?" Dean muttered, clearly not grasping what Bobby was trying to say, but at the same time urging him to continue.

Bobby rolled his eyes looking impatient through his thoughtful glare. "And…? And from the waist down, Sam's got a pretty canine lookin' set up! A human upper half ain't gonna support that if he tried to walk somewhere!"

Realization dawned on Dean instantly. He nodded jerkily in understanding as he took a deep calming breath, with his eyes still fixed on Sam.

"My guess…he'll be fine in a short while if he goes back to sleep. The um…transformation is definitely speeding up, though." Bobby relayed, sympathetically.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Dean snapped, his eyes averting to Bobby instantly, "I'm not letting him go back to sleep! Look what happened last time!"

"I understand that Dean," Bobby replied in a much calmer voice, "but if you don't let Sam go back to sleep, the change will probably be only a little slower, and a lot more painful. And I don't think you want to cause him any more pain, do you?"

Dean sighed deeply as he looked back down at his brother, whose breathing had sped up into a slight pant. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and knelt at his brothers' side worriedly.

"What's wrong, Sam?" Dean demanded with deep concern.

"Thomthing'th n-not right." Sam replied. Dean instantly caught the tears in his brothers' voice.

"Are you hurt?" Dean insisted anxiously.

"A-a-all over-r-r." Sam responded in a broken shiver.

"Damnit." Dean swore to himself, desperately trying to keep his emotions under control. "Alright then, I'm gonna flip you over to get a better look at you, okay?"

Truth be told, Dean wasn't entirely sure if the jerk of Sam's head was a silent nod, or more tremors. But that was answer enough for Dean, apparently as he gripped both of his brothers' shoulders and forced Sam's limp body a little forward, so he was lying on his stomach.

"This is a little hard without your help, bro – just gimmie a second." Dean muttered with another strong shove forward, so Sam was finally facing the outside world through a curtain of his dark hair.

Dean then withdrew his hands from his brothers' shoulders and with one hand – he pulled Sam's hair away from his face, only to be met with a sight slightly more disconcerting than his paws.

Sam's face had swollen in such a way, giving him an almost dog-like appearance. The inner corners of his eyes were tugged downward slightly down the bridge of his nose while the outer corners of his eyes were pulled slightly higher, making his golden wolf-like eyes look narrower and slightly more animalistic.

The bridge of his nose, along with his cheeks and philtrum swelled to a point where his nose seemed to protrude from his face, giving him more canine features. However, his philtrum had a lined groove from the middle of his upper lip, where it was split like a dog to the middle up to the tip of his nose. The awkward formation of his upper lip, and nose exposed Sam's upper gum and teeth within his mouth, and Dean could see clearly why his speech was suffering.

Nothing resembling human teeth filled Sam's mouth. All his teeth had changed suitable for a creature who would be tearing into flesh. His front teeth were smaller points, but both of his incisors had grown and pointed into an impressive set of fangs.

A sudden hopelessness filled Dean's being as he looked over his little brother, no longer able to hold back his tears. Sam didn't deserve this.

Gone were the planes of his human cheekbones, and facial structure – making him look like an awful mix of dog and man – like something out of a nightmare.

Okay...not gonna lie, this chapter was a bitch to write. Haha.

So feedback is very much appreciated. :)