12. Electrocution

"It's in Sam."

Dean shot a look at Cas, horrified at what the angel was suggesting. "No, we've had our eye on him this whole time, you can't think…"

Cas looked regretful but resigned too. "We weren't with him when he stepped out of the room earlier, before we knew what we were dealing with, and look at him now, he's not himself."

They had been on a case with weird murders, only to find out they were dealing with Khan worms again. Dean freaking hated those little bastards. And now he knew Cas was right. Sam had been oddly silent since they had briefly split up, and now all he was doing was staring out the window of the old house they were in, watching nothing.

"What do we do?" Dean hissed.

Cas gave him a look. "You know what we need to do."

Dean didn't want to think of it. The last time they'd dealt with these, they'd almost killed Bobby getting one out of him, the last thing Dean wanted to have to do was torture his little brother. But if it would save him—and the rest of them—then it needed to be done.

"Okay. We need to…we need to get him restrained."

Cas nodded and reached into Dean's bag sitting on the table to grab some rope. Dean cautiously went over to Sam.

"Hey, Sammy, come here for a minute," he said.

Sam turned slowly from the window, his eyes narrowing. And then he suddenly charged Dean with a growl. Dean was so surprised, he was bowled over, and Sam made a beeline for the door.

"Cas!" Dean cried.

Sam didn't get past the angel. Cas grabbed the wrist he held a knife in and swiftly disarmed him before punching him in the jaw. Sam dropped and Dean scrambled to his feet, joining Cas again.

"It still in him?" Dean demanded.

Cas checked both Sam's ears but there was no goo. "Yes."

Dean cursed and they both maneuvered Sam into a chair and tied him firmly. Dean left Cas to watch him while he went to get what they would need.

In the garage of the house, he found an old car battery and some jumper cables. This was a freaking bad idea but it was all they had.

Sam was awake by the time Dean got back, and giving Cas an eerie smile.

"The angel thinks he's so strong," the voice was Sam's but the tone was all wrong. "Just wait until I get out of these ropes."

"You're not getting out of those ropes, but you are getting out of my brother one way or another," Dean said firmly as he came in and planted the battery on the table. The thing watched him through Sam's eyes, the smirk still in place.

"You really think that's going to do anything to me?" it asked.

"I know it will," Dean said. "See, I've seen your kind before. You don't scare me. I'm gonna fry you, you son of a bitch."

"But you'll fry your brother right along with me," the thing said with a gleeful hiss that made Dean's skin crawl. "I'm not letting go until he's dead too."

"We'll see about that," Dean said and set up, attaching one end of the cables to the proper places. He touched the jumper cables together and they sparked.

"Last chance," Dean said.

The thing smirked with Sam's lips and Dean took a deep breath before he stepped forward and shoved the jumper cables against Sam's arms.

Sam's body went rigid, his head thrown back as he let out a scream. Dean left them for a couple long seconds before pulling back. He watched Sam's ears and nose for goo, but there was none. Sam's eyes opened, but the smirk came back.

"That tickled," the thing said.

Dean glanced at Cas who gave him a pained look, then went in for round two.

This time he left them longer, Sam's screams piercing him to his core. Black good started to drip from Sam's nose, but he eventually stopped screaming and Dean pulled back, afraid he would kill his brother. Sam fell limp, the goo dripping down his lip, but still no sign of the Khan worm.

Cas was at his side in an instant, reaching out to feel for a pulse in Sam's throat.

"He's still alive," he said.

Dean swallowed hard. "He wont be if I keep doing this."

"Dean, you can't leave him like this either," Cas told him softly.

Dean gritted his teeth and braced himself as he put the jumper cables against Sam's skin one more time. His body jerked, eyes rolling up in his head, and as hard as it was for Dean to watch, he pushed through, until more goo started leaking from Sam's nose, and then his ears and then finally the worm eked its way out of Sam's ear and dropped onto the floor.

"Cas!' Dean yelled as he yanked the cables away from Sam.

The angel ground the thing under the heel of his shoe and it was extremely dead after that.

"Sammy." Dean crouched in front of his brother, cradling his head in his hands as he felt for a pulse. Nothing.

"No, no, no," Dean muttered as he drew a knife and slashed the ropes free. Sam slumped forward and Dean caught him, lowering him to the floor as he shoved a hand against Sam's chest, wondering if he had been wrong. "Sammy! Sammy, come on, don't do this!"

Cas crouched on the other side of him and reached out, placing a hand on Sam's chest. He closed his eyes and a small spark snapped from his palm into Sam's chest.

A second later, Sam's eyes flew open and he gasped, surging upright.

"Sammy!" Dean cried in relief, simply grabbing his brother in an embrace.

"D-Dean," Sam stuttered, hands shaky as they clutched at Dean's coat. "W-what ha-happened?"

"You got Khan wormed," Dean told him, pulling him back and taking up a handkerchief to wipe the goo from Sam's face. "But we finally found the bitch."

"I stepped on it," Cas offered reassuringly.

"That s-sucked," Sam said.

"Yeah, I know, little brother," Dean said gently. "But what do you say we get the hell out of here?"

Sam nodded and Dean and Cas helped him to his feet and supported him on their way out to the car. Dean shuddered at the thought of all the times he'd had to cause his brother pain in order to help him. He knew this probably wouldn't be the last time, but he hoped the next instance would be a long time coming.

At least this hunt and ended up all right after all.