Come For You

Author: Cheryl W.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dean, Sam or any rights to Supernatural, or the Queen song, nor am I making any profit from this story.

Author's note: Ok, I went from not knowing why I didn't just wrap the story up last chapter to writing entirely too much for one chapter. Ssssooooo, there will be a chapter after this one. I refuse to apologize for the sap ahead because it was just so much fun to write.

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Chapter Six: Care and Attention

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Relegated to the waiting room outside the MRI testing corridor, Sam found it almost funny that now his hands were shaking, now when no one had a gun to his brother's head, that he knew Dean was going to be ok. Like all his suppressed fear was bubbling to the surface in some time delay. That it was finally hitting him full force everything he had fought so hard to not accept: that Dean could have been lost to him all over again, by Michele's bite, by Dom's fury, by Dean's own injuries. That he had tried to be so vigilant about the Mark not stealing Dean away from him…and then some creature of the week and fellow hunter nearly succeeded where the Mark had so far failed. It was a bitter pill that his trust in two hunters he thought he knew had nearly undone everything he was fighting so hard to never experience again.

Silently cursing, Sam couldn't believe how naïve he had been to let down his guard around Michele and Dom, fellow hunters or not. He should have figured out the danger to Dean sooner, like when Dean went to meet Michele solo in that warehouse or when he had instructed Jody to free Dom. Had thought himself so smart…smarter than the Vatelas he thought they were hunting, smarter than a jealous, grief crazed Dom. 'Just like you think you're smart enough to get a cure for Dean from the Book of the Damned without bringing whatever consequences down on your heads, smart enough to outwit whatever scheme Rowena's conjuring up once the book is decoded.'

As doubt slammed into him at the chances of him doing either of those things, he dropped his head into his hands, let out a sorrowful curse. He had to do better than he did today, had to be stronger, smarter, ….more cold-blooded. Strong enough to continue to lie to Dean's face about the Book, about where he's been slipping off to, about everything he was willing to do to save Dean. Had to anticipate Rowena's plans and foil them at the gate, to use her…and then make sure she could never tell Dean what he had done. Had to be cold blooded enough to accept whatever consequences came from curing Dean of the Mark, to keep his only focus on saving his brother, to not care what it cost as long as Dean was ok.

'And you think if it costs you Dean's love, like him saving you cost him yours for all those months, that you can bear that? Who are you lying to now!?' Sam jeered to himself. It had him hissing out a low curse because his earlier bravado was faltering, had to accept that he might not be that strong, didn't know how he'd draw breath if Dean truly hated him. All he could cling to was ….Dean being alive to hate him, remaining human and being able to feel hurt at his deception, that was better than the alternative, better than the brother he loved being gone forever.

Raising his head from his hands, Sam slouched back in the chair.

He had his answer.

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Dr. Connor didn't usually tag along to a patient's MRI scan, but then again, this wasn't his typical patient. The second he knelt down beside Dean in the warehouse, he had felt vested in his survival and that feeling had sunk way deeper knowing Dean had spared him from being entangled in his kidnapping. At a painful cost, because Patrick couldn't imagine how much it must have hurt Dean, with his wound, to throw that punch.

'And if I feel vested in his well-being, his brother's in it up to his teeth.' He so didn't envy the man's psychological scars after all the events of the day, not to mention his continuing worry until Dean was fully recovered. But where Patrick had witnessed some patient's loved ones withdraw their love and presence in an effort to buffer themselves from fear and heartbreak, Dean's brother did the opposite, hadn't budged from his brother's side until the MRI door shut in his face. Had stood at Patrick's back as he stitched up the wound anew and Patrick felt like he was an intern again, that an expert stood at his back, ready to critique his suture technique. But Sam had said nothing…well, nothing to him. He spoke to his brother though.

Breaking the quiet, Sam asked with an amused lilt to his tone, "Cas give you my message?"

A smirk appeared on Dean's pale features. "About my choice in women? Yeah, you must be rubbing off on me."

Sam snorted in laughter. "Like you'd take dating advice from me. But I'm the one that told you not to hit on her."

"I listened to you!" Dean's manner affronted but there was a cocky smile emerging, though it didn't have much power when his complexion was whiter than the sheets. "I hit her…not on her."

"By the looks of you, she hit better," Sam volleyed back, seemed to revel in the scowl that earned him from his brother.

"Aren't you supposed to be here making me feel better about what happened?" Dean groused sans true anger.

"Feel better about you getting impaled and nearly dying?" Sam's voice rising incredulously before turning bitter, "Excuse me for not finding a good spin on that."

That shut down communications for a good two minutes, had both brothers avoiding the other's eye contact and intently watching Patrick's work with the sutures. Feeling like the air in the room was evaporating, Patrick considered speaking just to null the void in conversation but then Dean looked up to his brother, offered timidly, "You could go with 'all's well that ends well'."

"Our endings aren't always happy," Sam solemnly replied, thinking of Dean dying in his arms and the future ahead of them with the Mark still on his brother. Wanted to cling to hope but after all his screw ups today that had hurt his brother, it was hard to do.

Darting a self-conscious look to the doc, Dean cleared his throat, didn't usually go sappy in front of others but Sam needed him to say something sappy. 'So here goes.' Eyes latching onto his brother's bowed head, he repeated Sam's words back to him. "Like you said…we're both still here."

That had Sam's eyes snapping up to his, surprise then warmth and finally hope dissolving away the fear of a moment ago. His voice husky, Sam agreed, "Yeah, we are," knew that wasn't just a boast or claim…it was a vow between he and Dean to keep fighting, to still both be there when the smoke cleared.

And Patrick didn't know the context of the prior conversation between the brothers but the one he was overhearing said all he needed to know about the brothers. 'Yeah, like Sam risking his life to save Dean from that gunman wasn't proof enough of how much he loved his brother. And Dean only accepting Sam's help to get on the stretcher said it right back.'

So Patrick wasn't surprised in the least that Sam hadn't taken his advice to head to the cafeteria for some food, was instead right where he had parted ways with his brother: pacing the hallway outside the MRI wing. Sam was asking "How is he? What did the MRI show?" before the electric doors behind Patrick had even started to close.

"Honestly, better results than I thought possible," Patrick stated, didn't know how the internal damage was making such a remarkable recovery, especially considering Dean's extracurricular activities the past hour. But he had scrutinized the test results three times…came up with the same good results each time. "The nick in his colon seems almost healed around the stitches and the bruising and the inflammation ….it's like it's gone."

Sam let out a pent up sigh of relief, would have given Cas a hug for his healing mojo if the angel was within close proximity. Made him wonder for the first time where the angel had gone off to. But then his thoughts zinged back to his brother. "But you're still going to do a CT scan and X-rays, right? Dom wouldn't have taken it easy on Dean." Knew Dean would blow a gasket if he learned that he had pressured his doctor into giving him tests that he might have been able to skip.

"Definitely. I have them lined up to do next. Since that'll mean more waiting room time for you, now seems like a great opportunity for you to grab some supper," Patrick suggested, hoping his powers of persuasion worked this time because, honestly, Sam looked out on his feet, like he might need a stretcher himself soon.

"I'm good," Sam dismissed the doctor's advice for a second time.

Seeing Dean's half-brother coming up the hall, Patrick jutted his chin out to indicate the man's arrival, "Maybe your other brother can make you see sense?"

Sam opened his mouth to ask 'Other brother? What other brother?' before it kicked into his exhausted brain: Cas. Cas would have taken up that ruse in order to be able to see Dean and have a say in his treatment. Turning, he saw Cas was almost at his side, saw the concern in the angel's eyes and immediately passed on the doctor's findings, "The doctor said that Dean's internal injuries are healing remarkable well." Hoped Cas read the gratitude in his gaze.

The tension in Cas' shoulders eased at the proof that at least he had been able to do that much for his friend, felt a warmth spread through him at Sam's look of thankfulness. But he knew he hadn't healed Dean completely and then after what he had suffered at the hands of Dom... "But he was bleeding, from his head and his wound and I…" he broke off, couldn't say what he wanted to…that he hadn't gotten a chance to heal Dean out there in the lawn with all the onlookers. But when his eyes darted to Sam's, he knew the other Winchester knew what he wasn't saying.

Patrick opened his mouth to give the half-brother the low down on the upcoming tests but Sam beat him to it, with surprising accuracy. "They're taking him for more tests to make sure he doesn't have a concussion with swelling on his brain and checking his ribs for breaks or cracks."

Then, as if he felt he had overstepped his boundaries, Sam turned meekly back to Patrick, consulted the real doctor in the hallway. "I mean….according to Dr. Sexy, that's what you're checking for. Sorry I get my medical knowledge from the same show Dean does."

"No, no, you're right," Dr. Connor drawled but couldn't help but tack on disparagingly, "Didn't think that show knew the difference between a stethoscope and a tongue depressor…"

Sam snorted aloud, appreciating the doctor's slam on the show before he remembered he should be defending Dean's favorite show since he claimed his medical knowledge came from that source not years of hunting injuries. "Oh…no..I mean…they seem really interested in keeping things real, probably do tons of research."

"Uh huh," Patrick noncommittally replied before he turned to Cas. "Cas, I was just telling your brother that now would be a perfect time for him to grab some dinner at the cafeteria. Dean's going to be carted to two other stops before he's returned to his room and his condition is stable and I'm betting the police were worse at organizing a meal schedule that we are here." Looking back to Sam, he read the chagrined expression and knew the younger man hadn't even been offered a glass of water at the station. And it was funny to feel angry at the police in defense of Sam when he barely knew the guy, was just a brother of his patient. 'A patient you're feeling very vested in,' he reminded himself before he continued his entreaty to Cas, "So why don't you two take a break and then come up to Dean's room and wait for him there?"

"No we're ok here," Sam countered.

But Cas took a good look at Sam, saw what the doctor did but could read underneath the outwardly signs of exhaustion to Sam's fear, to the tinge of physical pain ebbing off of him, because Dean wasn't the only one to face off with Dom that day. Suddenly the doctor's advice seemed very sound but Cas also knew Sam wouldn't listen to him anymore than he would the doctor. But there was someone's wishes he would listen to, which was why, when Dean got rolled out of the MRI wing, Cas bid his time, let the brothers have their chance to exchange greetings before he put his strategy into play.

"One test down, two to go," Sam told his brother when his bed emerged through the doorway, rocking the optimistic vibe for both of their sakes .

"You're so going to owe me some pie for going along with this," Dean grumbled as the nurse continued to keep him in motion down the hallway.

Seizing the moment, Cas paced his best friend's bed. "Speaking of eating, would it be alright if Sam…"and conscious of the doctor's presence he amended, "Sam and I ate in the cafeteria while you did your next tests? We'll meet you back in your room afterward." Didn't look to Sam, knew the younger Winchester would be giving him a glare.

Knowing Cas didn't eat and therefore the request was made for Sam's sake, Dean looked to his brother, was hit again with his brother's worn-out features. Tapping the hand Sam had coiled around his bed rail, Dean ordered, "Sam, go get something to eat."

"I'm fine…not hungry, " Sam instantly rebutted his brother's suggestion, like he had the doctor's but Dean wasn't as pansy footed about ordering his little brother around.

"Sam, go eat. Now," Dean commanded in his best big brother tone that almost came off with its normal strength. Seeing Sam stiffening at the gruff order, Dean couldn't help but lightly add on, "Because you're not stealing my Jello, dude. Whether it's red or not, it's all mine."

"But Dean…" Sam began to protest the idea of them separating, hated that his voice did a little crack on his brother's name. But he didn't hate the affectionate smirk Dean shot to him when he heard it.

"Come on, we both know you get all moody from salad withdrawal," Dean teased, knowing it would get a rise out of Sam. His brother didn't disappoint.

"Rrriiiiggghhhtt, I'm the one that gets moody without food," Sam sarcastically countered.

"Glad you agree with me. Now go eat something green and disgusting." Sensing Sam's unwavering reluctance to leave his side, Dean tenderly ordered, "Go Sam. I'll see you when I get back to my room." Then Sam let go of the bed railing, let his brother get rolled down the hallway…without him. Did it because, more than Dean's words, was the look his brother had bestowed on him, a promise that he wasn't going anywhere, not without him.

Uncertain how Sam would react to his manipulation, Cas had stopped trailing Dean's bed a few paces back. Now stood in the hallway, not sure if he should stay, if Sam would want him to leave him alone or if Dean would want him to not leave Sam alone. Sometimes it was difficult being friends with both brothers, of deciding whose side to take whenever the brothers' paths diverged, usually in an act to protect the other from harm.

When Sam turned around, started to pass him in his determined stride for the cafeteria, he only managed a "Sam, I…" before Sam spoke over him, "I should call Jody, get her to join us. The least I owe her for getting me out of jail is a crummy dinner in a hospital cafeteria."

Knowing that the "us" in Sam's words were Sam's version of an invitation to stay with him, Cas found himself smiling as he turned to follow Sam into the cafeteria. Though the Winchesters might not say things directly, they always managed to get their feelings across….. To each other and the others they cared about.

Cas was honored and humbled to be among that number.

"It's not easy love, but you've got friends you can trust

Friends will be friends.

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Entering the cafeteria, Jody, now in street clothing, bypassed the food line and went straight to Sam and Cas's table, towered over the younger Winchester like a scolding mom. "When we talked on the phone, you said our plan didn't exactly go off without a hitch but it got the job done…you failed to mention Dom came here and held Dean hostage."

Sam had the good grace to blush. "I didn't want you to worry or blame yourself."

"I do blame myself! You had Dom all…." Then realizing her voice was carrying…across the entire cafeteria, she sank into a chair opposite Sam and lowly continued, "tied up and he wasn't going to hurt anyone and I let him go…and then he goes and does this. Hurt's Dean," her anguish was written across her face.

Reaching out, Sam grabbed Jody's hands, "Jody, Dean's ok. Dom opened some of his stitches, knocked him around a bit…you know, like any other day for a Winchester. But Dean's going to be fine." Felt some of his own lingering fear abate at his reassurances to Jody. "And if you hadn't done what you did, I would still be in jail, wouldn't have gotten here in time to stop Dom from taking Dean and…" he broke off there, his emotions weren't that locked down to be able to imagine what Dom would have ultimately done with Dean. Said instead, "And I wouldn't be here now, to nag Dean to follow the doctor's orders." 'To see for myself that he's alive and going to heal up just fine..under my strict supervision.'

Running a hand through her hair, Jody nodded, accepted Sam's forgiveness if not quite his praise. "I keep forgetting how even the best plans go sideways when you boys are involved."

Since Dean wasn't around to be the cocky one, Sam bragged in his place with a tired smirk, "It's a gift." Then he got to his feet and nodded his head toward the food line. "Let's grab some dinner before Dean beats us back to his room."

Jody stood, ready to take up Sam's offer when she realized the other table's occupant wasn't rising. "You're not…oh, right," as she remembered Cas' angel status. Then the fact hit her that she and Cas hadn't made official introductions. "By the way, it's nice to meet you in person." She offered her hand and Cas readily shook it.

"Thank you for accepting my call and coming to help Sam," Cas earnestly declared, wanting to openly show his appreciation for the sheriff's actions but didn't get the feeling Jody would offer him a hug on first meeting the way Charlie had.

"Don't tell Sam or Dean but…there isn't much I wouldn't do for those two boys," her eyes drifting to Sam with affection before settling back on Cas. "Guess I finally understand why Bobby was neck deep in trouble all the time trying to look out for those two wayward boys that could each bench press a car."

"Because they are worth it," Cas said aloud, knew his sentiment also summed up Jody's feelings correctly when she gave a curt nod. Then she headed to Sam's side, left Cas at the table waiting for his companions to return. And the solitude gave Cas time to come to terms with his ongoing deception to Dean about his efforts to find a cure for the Mark. Yes, Metatron was running around free now…but even the slim hope that the former angel could have spared Dean a future enslaved to the Mark's dark desires had been worth the risk, even the disastrous end results.

Sam's prior words helped assuage Cas' guilty conscience.

"You got your grace back. You're back. You did the right thing."

But he wouldn't feel truly at peace until they figured out a way to remove the Mark from Dean's arm, until he could stop lying to his best friend, until he knew that he'd never have to contemplate killing Dean in order to preserve the goodness in him. For today, though, him able to ease some of Dean's pain, to call in Jody to help get Sam out of jail, sticking around to ensure Dean was healing and Sam wasn't going to break under the strain of recent events, it was enough of a triumph for him.

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Jody rose from her chair as Dean was rolled back into the room, was a little shaken to see Dean so pale, looking vulnerable …breakable lying back in the bed. Even his "hey Jody," didn't make her fear abate, not when Dean's voice was raspy and too weak for her taste.

Suddenly the same motherly instincts that made her call out Dean's name in a panic and drop to her knees to cushion Dean's head with her knees when he came through the time portal with Chronos sprang forth again. Before she consciously made the decision, she was stepping toward Dean after the nurses finished hooking up his IV and left the room. But she caught herself before she reached him and shot a look of Sam, asking him for his permission to approach Dean, knew the younger man was on high alert, protection detail over his brother. She was granted a green light by Sam's surprised but real smile and permissive nod of his head.

Gaining Dean's side, she smiled gently down into his slightly pain dulled green eyes, couldn't resist pushing his hair off his forehead in a feather light motherly gesture. "Hey there, kiddo. I think we need to talk about when not to befriend vampires."

Dean chuckled, grimaced as his ribs, broken ribs thanks very much Dom, and the hole in his gut protested his action of mirth. "Ouch," he gritted out, hand pressing to the source of the worst pain. "Please no stand up acts until I can breathe without passing out."

Jody frowned in sympathetic pain, her hand coming down to cup Dean's cheek before she rested the back of her hand against Dean's forehead. "You've got a temperature too."

Seeing the way Sam stiffened in fear and was starting to approach the bed, Dean downplayed Jody's findings. "Partying with some types of people takes a lot out of a guy." Saw Sam's steamrolling approach stop at his joke and their eyes met. 'Chill dude. A little fever's no big deal' he silently tried to convey to Sam, knew Sam had understood the unspoken words when his little brother rolled his eyes at his big brother's idea of what wasn't a big deal.

Choosing to not remark on the brotherly interaction going on around her, Jody wrapped her fingers around Dean's hand, bent over the bed so she could look down into Dean's eyes. "Maybe I should meet your friend's parents before you do any more sleepovers, huh?"

"Hey, sleepovers are off limits to mom votes. I certainly don't need anyone cramping my love life," Dean mockingly protested.

Joining into the conversation, Sam countered Dean's wishes with his own, "No, really, I think someone should put rules on your love life, Dean. Last time you had a 'sleep over' you and your 'friend' got taken by a hearth goddess."

"Yeah, I was there for that one," Jody recalled, giving Dean a motherly stink eye as she released his hand. "I think we talked about you making better choices, certainly better timing with your romantic choices and to always answer your brother's phone calls. No matter what."

"You did?!" Sam shot to Jody, having been oblivious to this side conversation between his brother and Jody. But Dean's pink cheeks told him Dean remembered the conversation and was ashamed that Jody was calling him on it in front of Sam.

"Hey, I've been good on both of those accounts lately," Dean reassured Jody. "Boringly so."

"Want to tell me what happened a couple months ago then, when you went radio silent on Sam," Jody pressed, couldn't help but be curious and still slightly concerned about that time frame. Sharply remembered the fear in Sam's voice when he had called, hoping she had heard from Dean, the tremble in his words as he admitted that Dean was missing.

She wasn't expecting shame to darken Dean's eyes or Sam to suddenly be across from her, hoovering protectively over his brother like she was now a threat to Dean. "Just a misunderstanding," Sam curtly supplied, his eyes as dark as Dean's, not with shame but resolute determination to stall Jody's cross-examination on the spot.

But everything in Jody, every motherly, every cop instinct told her that Sam's explanation was a load of crap. And she wanted to call them on it…would have to…if there wasn't matching appeals for her to let it go in both of the brothers' gazes. Remembered a conversation with Bobby Singer one time when she had asked what the Winchesters were up to and Bobby had dejectedly said he didn't know.

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"You don't know but they're out there fighting…well you know what things they're fighting and you don't even know where they are? What if they need your help? What if something happens? What if they drop off the grid and you don't even know where to start looking for them?"

"Don't you think I want to know where they are? That I'll be there with them if they'd let me?!" Bobby had heatedly shot back but she had known the man long enough by then to read the hurt in his expression. Then Bobby had sighed, ran a hand over his face and filled two glasses of whiskey and offered her one. "One thing I wish they hadn't picked up from their daddy: This need to cut everyone else out of their lives, to face things on their own. To think they're a burden when they are the farthest thing from it…to me."

"You ever tell them that?" she had quietly asked, taking a sip of the whiskey.

"What, me bearing my soul? You think that just opens the doors that losing so many people shut up brick by brick in those two boys? Well it don't," Bobby had gruffly retorted. They had sat in silence awhile before Bobby spoke again, his voice strained but resolved, "Best I can do is listen when they talk, come when they need me and …"

Watching Bobby take a healthy swallow instead of continuing his advice, Jody pressed, "And what?" because she wanted to know Bobby's secret for keeping his worry at bay for the two men she had started to think of as friends.

When Bobby's eyes met hers, she realized how little she really knew the town's drunk even after all these years, had no idea the vulnerable heart beating under all his bluster. "And pray every night they make it back to me again in one piece."

To that, Jody gave a nod, her own throat closing up because that had been her prayer every night when her son was alive, for God to take care of him and see no harm came to him. A prayer that didn't get answered, certainly not in the way she had wanted it to. Hoped that God granted Bobby better luck in taking care of the boys he considered sons.

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At the memory, Jody blinked away tears and nodded, would not press for answers, would take a page out of Bobby Singer's book and take up his rules for how to love the Winchesters in the only ways they would accept. "Ok. Inquisition's over. But my offer to talk is always open," she announced her eyes alighting on both Winchesters.

"Clam chowder still part of the deal?" Dean challenged and she smiled, glad he hadn't forgotten her earlier offer of the same back in Hibbin.

"Absolutely. Might even throw in a beer if I'm feeling generous," she lightly returned, glad Dean wasn't angry at her earlier pushiness.

"You promise pie and Dean'll beat you back home," Sam imparted, ensuring Jody that there were no hard feelings, that he knew her questions were out of concern not prying.

"My pie crusts aren't great but the diner down the block from the police station makes a killer apple pie. So consider that part of the package."

Sam smiled. "Good to know." Then his eyes fell to Dean, worried that the reference to his time as a demon were taxing his brother's waning strength, he suggested, "Dean, hey, I think you should get some rest." Had noticed when Dean got rolled into the room that his brother's adrenaline spiked strength from early had dissipated, leaving Dean fighting to put up a good front that he hadn't been beat down nine ways from Sunday.

"Rest…I missed lunch and supper's coming soon," Dean whined like a seven year old, causing Sam to give him a tolerant but gentle smile.

"I'll wake you when the food shows up, scout's honor," Sam vowed.

"You were never a scout, Sam," Dean retorted but he was already fighting to keep his eyes open, like Sam's suggestion had made his exhaustion real.

"I'll see you a bit later," Jody bid, giving Dean's knee a pat.

"'Kay," Dean managed around a yawn, watched as Jody headed for the door. Then Sam was using his most earnest, I'm-here-so-nothing-can-hurt-you tone on him.

"I'm not going far. I'll walk Jody out, be back in a few minutes," Sam promised like Dean was some kid in the hospital for the first time.

And Dean wanted to resent his brother's tone, the idea that Sam thought he needed his hand held, but instead he was just grateful Sam wasn't going away, would be there to make sure he didn't lose himself, feared that the Mark would bury itself deeper in him with his guard lowered under the painkillers's influence and the head trauma if no one was there to keep him grounded. "Thanks Sammy."

The unexpected grateful declaration, plus the spooked look in Dean's eyes rooted Sam to the spot, made the idea of getting more than a meter away from his brother seem like he would be abandoning him. "I don't have to walk her out."

Realizing that his display of weakness was freaking Sam out, he instilled strength into his next words, "Yeah..you do. Go on. I'm not going anywhere." But it was a few moments of Sam locked in place, his eyes searing into his, trying to read him before Sam gave an undertoned, "ok" before he joined Jody in the hallway.

Finally freed from being under his brother's watchful eye, Dean closed his eyes, bit back the groan of pain as he tried to shift into a positon that put less pressure on his broken rib and the nifty hole in his side. Didn't think sleep was going to come easy now or even for a good month. 'Not like sleep came easy for me any how' and to know that Sam knew about his crappy sleep patterns and the nightmares and hadn't mentioned it…it left Dean feeling more vulnerable.

But contrary to his thoughts, sleep did come for him. Dragged him under like a black wave from a hurricane into even blacker depths.

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Pacing Jody down the hallway, Sam kept running what he wanted to say through his head, finally exhaled and blurted it out. "Jody, I owe you an apology."

That opening statement had Jody stopping in the hallway to face Sam. "For what?"

Sam shifted nervously on his feet. "For not letting you know I found Dean after …you know, his radio silence," using her own words in the hopes that he wasn't dredging up what he had made pretty clear he wasn't going to give her details about. But the truth was, she had deserved better than him not calling her back.

Not sure why Sam seemed to be opening a door to a topic that he had politely but firmly shut in her face, she dismissed his statement with a blasé "ok," and started heading for the bank of elevators again. But Sam used his long legs to catch up to her, grabbed her elbow in a firm but gentle hold. But released her when he had regained her full attention.

"Jody, it wasn't anything against you, I just…" Sam faltered, didn't know quite what to say about how he had felt back then, his reasonings. Seeing the patience in Jody's gaze, he drew in a deep breath and tried to express himself. "Talking about good things…it seems to jinx it. I got Dean back and I was so…"Had to swallow the catch in his throat at that memory, at the wash of emotions he still felt even months later. "I was so happy and I was afraid… afraid that if I let myself revel in that ..that joy…it would be taken away. Dean would be taken away from me again. And I can't…" He stopped there, his jaw latched together so his emotions didn't leak out.

"Sam, I get that, I do," Jody gently allowed. "But you should also remember that I care about you two, that if you need help or…anything, you can call me. I'm not the wealth of information Bobby was, am still learning my way around all things weird but I shoot straight, I don't faint at the sight of fangs and, unlike you two delinquents, I was trusted with passwords into the federal database and my badge is real."

Sam couldn't hold back a smirk at the last qualification on Jody's list. "Hey, Dean's really proud of my Ikea badge making skills."

"I'm sure he is," Jody allowed, knew that Dean was proud of Sam for a million of his brother's more important traits. "Speaking of Dean, you better get back in there. I wouldn't put it past him to sweet talk a nurse into sneaking him in a burger."

"Yeah, me neither. So…see you later?" And there was hope in Sam's voice, he wasn't keen to see Jody leave them just yet.

"You bet. And when I get back, I'll bring you a change of clothing." At Sam's confusion at her statement, she leaned closer to him, said lowly, "I'm not saying you stink but I've cozied up to firefighters who smell less like smoke than you do." With that, she entered the elevator, gave Sam a wink and punched the button for the ground floor, but she caught Sam in the act of sniffing his shirt before the doors closed fully.

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When Sam reentered Dean's hospital room, his brother was out like a light. Coming to stand at the side of the bed, Sam watched his brother in sleep, felt gutted by the raw vulnerability radiating from Dean now that his bravado front had fallen away. It hit him all over again: Dean had nearly died. Again. Remembered the way Dean had looked at him back in the warehouse in this town..almost like he had in that other one where he drew his last breath. Like he thought he was leaving him, should be saying goodbye.

Releasing a breath more shaky than steady, Sam ran his hands down his face. If Dean wanted him to know, to experience the same desperation he had a year ago, to know how it felt to have his brother's life slipping away right before his eyes, he had accomplished it. Same situation…different brother….same willingness to do anything… ANYTHING to save his brother's life, to keep him with him. Cross whatever lines he had to, tell whatever lies that needed telling. Check, check, check.

'At least Dean asked for help from the relative good side, sought an angel's help to save me. Not me. I go looking for answers from all things darkside.' Sam knew he should feel guiltier for his actions but the truth was, he felt a thousand times worse lying to Dean about it all. Wanted Dean fighting at his side to get a cure, for them to be going after it together, because that's when they usually won even the most unwinnable battles. Side by side.

But Sam knew Dean…just like Dean knew him. Dean knew he'd say no to the angel possession…so he tricked him into saying yes to it. And Dean would never agree to Sam's current methods to save him…had in fact ordered Sam to burn the Book of the Damned, thought the codex was locked away somewhere heavily warded in the Bunker, would kill Rowena if he saw her again.

He had called Dean's actions selfish…but was it selfish to do everything, risk anything, forsake every moral code you possessed when you did it all out of love? When there was the slimmest hope, but hope none the less, that you could save your brother's life…his soul, how could you choose not to pursue that hope? No, the true act of selfishness would be to withhold your love, to bow to your moral codes, to stay behind those blurring lines, to be more worried about your own soul than the one you claimed to love.

Truth was, Winchesters were anything but selfish when it came to each other. There was no cost too high, no risk too great….no deception too low if it meant saving each other.

Sam startled when Cas spoke, looked up to see the angel standing at the end of Dean's bed.

"This is the most peaceful he's been since he regained consciousness."

Clearing his throat, Sam looked down to Dean then up to Cas, give a closed mouthed smile. "Guess he's healing."

But Cas shook his head. "It's not the lessening of pain that gives him peace, Sam, it's your presence."

Sam gave a bitter bark of laughter, stepped back from Dean like he didn't deserve to be that close to his own brother. "Right, because I've done such a good job of taking care of him lately. Well….ever. And now with the Mark…" and unconsciously his eyes dropped to the burn in his brother's forearm. "I've done jack to help him control it."

"Sam, when I attempted to fully heal Dean, I felt the power of the Mark…," the angel's declaration had Sam's eyes flying up worriedly to Cas'. "Even with my restored grace, I could not lessen its hold on Dean's soul."

Nodding somberly, Sam croaked, "Yeah, we kinda knew it wasn't gonna be that simple, right?" a pained smile of defeat cracking his features.

"A human soul is a mixture of good and evil, of pain and joy, of strength and weakness, of love and hate. And there is a constant struggle within every human to see what desire is acted upon. With Dean, the Mark seeks to unleash the evil, the pain, the weakness, the hate buried within him but your brother, he's managed to stifle the Mark, to find a way, a place to lock it away. Accomplishes that by drawing on the good in himself, the joy he's known, the love he's felt, the strength he possesses and others have given to him. And you're part of that piece of him, Sam. It's memories of you, of your love for him, your faith in him, strands of your strength that he draws on to continue to fight the Mark," Cas assured Sam, hoping the man took comfort in that knowledge, like Cas did when he stumbled across Dean's small cache of memories of him, knew that he too was contributing strength to Dean's struggle.

Sam's eyes had gone wide as Cas' words sunk in and he came to Cas, hurriedly began his cross examination, "But if Dean can fight it…if memories and ..and love and faith dampen the Mark's hold on Dean…maybe Dean can hold out against it. Maybe we can help, do more for him. Maybe…"

But Cas couldn't let Sam cling to forlorn hope. He cut across the man's excited words, "Sam, it's a stop gap only. The Mark…it grows stronger every day it's within Dean and while he was a demon…it was free to do its will all those months, to taint every inch of Dean's soul." Cas hated to see Sam's crestfallen look but he had to tell the other man the truth. "The Mark is already adapting, is learning Dean's strengths..and his weaknesses. Seeks to exploit both to break free of the chains Dean has coiled around it. It took advantage of Dean's wounded state, would not allow me to fully heal Dean, thinking to gain the upper hand while Dean's physical body was weakened. It's like a living, breathing thing, Sam. Its desire is to control Dean fully. To what ends…I don't know. But knowing who gave Cain the Mark, it can't be anything good."

Sam wanted to punch something, to scream, to maybe breakdown and cry, anything to release the fear and hopelessness building in his chest after Cas's words. Felt Cas' hand fall on his shoulder and knew the angel meant to give him comfort but it wasn't enough. Nothing would be enough if he lost Dean.

He tried to wipe the anguish from his face when Dr. Conner chose that moment to stroll into the room. "Gentlemen," he greeted before he went to Dean, checked the readings on the machine at Dean's side before wrapping his fingers around Dean's wrist, tracking his heartrate. Shooting a look over his shoulders at Dean's brothers, he quietly asked, "Has he been out long?"

"No…'bout fifteen minutes or so," Sam supplied, vigilantly watching the doctor's every move, trying to interpret the man's expressions to know how Dean was progressing. "The CT scan and the X- rays, what did they come back with?"

Seemingly satisfied with Dean's heartrate, the doctor released his hold on Dean's wrist, stood up to face Sam and Cas. "No concussion, apparently he just got his hard head rattled a bit. The x-rays, on the other hand, showed two broken ribs, which on their own are no picnic, but with the initial wound from the warehouse, will leave him pretty miserable for the next month or so."

Sam grimaced but gave an accepting nod. He couldn't undo any of that, couldn't go back in time and get to the hospital before Dom had a chance to further hurt his brother. But the helplessness along with Cas' dark perdition were turning his stomach sour. Hoped none of that showed on his face when the doctor came to stand in front of him but the doctor's opening words almost undid all his hard work to keep himself under control.

"I have to be honest with you, medically speaking your brother's odds of survival from the start were bleak. The blunt trauma, the blood loss, internal bleeding, he coded at the warehouse and I thought…" Patrick shook his head, knew he was focusing on things that hit a nerve with him instead of his point he was trying to make. "But he fought his way back, somehow, and I …I admired that about him. Thought he had to have something, someone here worth sticking around for and yet…there he was alone in the hospital. And it felt like no one was fighting for him."

Hurt crumbled Sam's resolve and he brokenly protest, "I couldn't be here. I wanted to be…"

But Patrick held up his hand, forestalling Sam's defense. "Then your brother showed up," nodding toward Cas. "And I told him I thought Dean just needed to know he wasn't alone, that someone was in this fight with him, wouldn't let him go. And your brother said that the last thing he would do, or you would do was let Dean go." Patrick interjected a grimace of half shame, half hurt. "In my job, I've heard a lot of declarations, witnessed people make vows in the heat of the moment they couldn't keep, never intended to keep. But I wanted to believe Cas, wanted Dean to believe he wasn't alone at least long enough to get past the worst of his injuries."

"Then I saw you out there on that front lawn today, Sam, facing off with a guy who was holding a gun to your brother's head, who seemed more likely to shoot you both than care about getting killed himself. And it was clear that you didn't care if something happened to you, as long as Dean survived. Witnessing that, watching Cas go to Dean's side afterward, seeing the three of you together, knowing how hard you both were willing to fight to keep Dean with you, it makes Dean's near phenomenal rate of healing not such a mystery. Like my dad used to say, "Science has its limitations, good thing love doesn't.'"

Jerking his head back to indicate Dean, Patrick declared, "He's going to be just fine and that has more to do with you two than my medical degree." Patting Sam on the back and giving Cas a proud nod of his head, he headed out of the room, knew his patient was in the best hands possible.

"Friends will be friends

When you're in need of love, they give you care and attention

Hold out your hand cos friends will be friends right till the end" **

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TBC

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** Friends will be Friends by Queen

Thanks for all those out there still reading! And I'm loving every single one of my reviews!

Final part is written just needs Betaed then it's coming your way.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.