Thunderstruck

by supernaturaldarkangel252018

A reimagining of Supernatural (season 1 and some of 2 so far) with a teenage Alec thrown in the mix.

33. Chapter 33: Born Under a Bad Sign

Chapter Thirty-Three: Born Under a Bad Sign

"You ready to eat anything?" Bobby asked him. He shook his head no, flipping his phone around in his hand, trying not to think about the fact that he hadn't heard from his brothers in two days. The first day, he'd been ok, he hadn't panicked, he'd just tried to ignore it. He couldn't ignore it now. His brothers hadn't called him…and they weren't answering. "C'mon kid, you gotta eat somethin'. Your brothers won't be happy when they get back and find out you haven't eaten anything in a while."

"They haven't called," he said. "They finished the hunt in Texas over a week ago, and two days ago they said they were on their way back. Something's wrong."

"Worrying about it ain't gonna help," Bobby said. He didn't say anything since he couldn't stop worrying and he didn't feel good and he just wanted to know if his brothers were ok. This was why he should've gone with them. It would've sucked since it hurt to move at all, but he hated not knowing. "You tried callin'?" Bobby asked. He looked down at his hands and nodded. "Text Dean and tell him that you're about to freak out 'cause he hasn't called. You tell him that and he'll call you."

"What if they're in the middle of something? What if they found another case? What if they got pulled over and Dean got arrested? What if-"

"You don't text Dean, I will," Bobby warned. "And you won't like what I tell him." He glared in a silent challenge since he doubted anything Bobby said would get Dean to call him. "'Dean, get your ass here now. The kid's getting worse 'cause you've gone radio silent. He won't eat and I'm guessin' a seizure is coming soon.' How's that sound?"

"I'll text him myself," he grumbled. Bobby was right; he didn't like that message one bit. He pulled up Dean's number and sent him a quick message that just said, 'When you get a chance, call me.' He knew that sounded like he wasn't freaking out, but Dean would know. If his brother was able to get to his phone, he would know.

He almost smiled when Dean immediately called him. "Alec, I'm so sorry," Dean said as soon as he answered. "I know I haven't checked on you, and I'm really sorry."

"Is everything ok?" he asked. Bobby was watching him, but thankfully, he hadn't said 'I told you so' yet.

"Sam's missing," Dean admitted.

"What? What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know. I woke up yesterday and he was gone. It was like when he ditched us last time," Dean said. "I've been looking everywhere for him. I've called him a thousand times, there's nothing but voicemail. I don't know where he went or why. Sam's just gone."

"We could come help you look. I'm feeling better and Bobby can drive," he said.

"No," Dean said, leaving no room for him to argue more. "You stay right where you are. I'll find Sam, I will."

"Dean…"

"Hold on," Dean said. Dean got off the phone for a little while, and he wished he could hear what was going on, but he couldn't. "Ok, I'm back," Dean finally said. "That was Sam on the other line. He told me where he's at, so I'm gonna go get him."

"Is he ok?" he asked.

"I don't know," Dean said.

"Are you sure-"

"I'm sure," Dean cut off. "Stay at Bobby's. You're still being held together with thread, so I need you to stay there, ok kiddo?"

He sighed, but then agreed, "Ok, I'll stay here."

"Good," Dean said. "I'll try to keep you in the loop more, ok? I'm sorry I didn't call."

"It's ok. Just go find Sam," he said.

"Try to rest," Dean said.

"I will," he said.

Bobby was still watching him as he hung up, but he still didn't say 'I told you so'. "You ready to eat something now?"

"Yeah," he replied. He still didn't want to eat anything, but he'd told Dean he would stay here, so he needed to eat. He just hoped Sam was ok.

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He practically ran down the hall of the motel to the room Sam said he was in. Sam sounded panicked on the phone, so his brother hadn't just ditched him again. He finally found room 109 and knocked.

"Sam, it's me," he said. He didn't hear any movement inside. "Sam!" Still nothing, so he tried the door. It was unlocked, which was not a good sign. He saw Sam sitting on the bed, just staring. "Sam?" he said as he walked over to his brother. Sam still didn't move. "He knelt beside Sam to try to see if his brother was hurt. "Hey."

"Hey, Dean," Sam mumbled.

"Are you bleeding?" he asked in concern. There was blood on Sam's shirt.

"I tried to wash it off…" Sam said as he pressed against Sam's stomach to see if he could find where he was hurt. There was a lot of blood… "I don't think it's my blood," Sam said numbly.

"Whose is it?" he asked.

"I don't know…"

"Sam, what the hell happened?" he asked. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Alec's freaking out. I had to tell him I couldn't find you. What happened?"

Sam finally looked up at him and admitted, "Dean, I don't remember anything."

He took a deep breath to try to figure out what to do next. He finally let his breath out, and then said, "Ok, here's what we're gonna do. You change. You can't go walkin' around like that. I'm gonna go out and see if I can find anything. You stay here and just…try to think of anything you can remember."

Sam nodded, so he left since he didn't want to freak out in front of Sam. His brother was freaked out enough already.

He didn't want to make things worse, but he needed to check in with Alec. He called his youngest brother and nearly sighed when Alec almost immediately answered. "You're supposed to be resting," he said.

"Did you find him?" Alec asked.

"I found him," he said. "He doesn't remember what happened. He had blood on his shirt, so we gotta figure out what's going on here, and then we'll head back to you."

"You'll still call when you can, right?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, I'll still call when I can," he said. He'd really freaked Alec out when he'd gone radio silent. Alec didn't do well with silence, even when he was hurt and barely awake for more than a few hours at a time. "Now, I'm serious. You need to get some sleep."

"I slept for a while," Alec said.

"Then go back to sleep," he said.

"Call me again in an hour," Alec said.

"Two hours at the earliest," he countered. "Go to sleep."

"Fine," Alec grumbled.

He smiled a little before he hung up. This situation wasn't great, but Alec was safe. He and Sam would figure out what was going on, and then they'd get back to Alec. If Alec ever got hurt again, he would put his foot down and flat out refuse to leave his little brother anywhere. They weren't going to hunt if Alec was hurt. If either of his brothers were hurt. Unless they absolutely had to. He wasn't ok with leaving Alec alone like this. Not when he wasn't even on his feet yet.

He went back to the room after he'd taken a short trip to the closest grocery store and asked around a bit. He was glad to see that Sam had at least changed his clothes.

"What'd you find out?" Sam asked.

"You checked in two days ago under the name Richard Sambaora," he said. "Of course, I think the scariest part about this whole thing is the fact that you're a Bon Jovi fan."

"Dean."

"Your room's been quiet," he said before Sam could complain. "Nobody's noticed anything unusual."

"You mean, no one saw me walking around covered in blood?" Sam said.

"Yeah. That's what I mean," he replied with a nod.

"Then how the hell did I get here, Dean? What happened to me?" Sam asked. His brother was clearly freaking out. He sort of wanted to freak out too, but he was the big brother. It was his job to take care of his little brothers.

"I don't know. But you're ok, and that's what matters," he said honestly. "Everything else we can deal with."

"Oh really? 'Cause what if I hurt someone? Or worse?" Sam challenged.

"Sam…" He was about to tell Sam that he didn't care what happened. Sam would always be his brother no matter what. He would do anything for him. Sam had to know that.

"What if this is what Dad warned you about?" Sam asked before he could tell his brother anything.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, come on man, let's not jump the gun here. We don't know what happened," he said. He wished Alec was here to help talk some sense into Sam. When Sam wouldn't listen to him, he'd almost always listen to Alec. "We've just got to treat this like any other job. What's the last thing you remember?"

Sam finally sat down on the edge of the bed as he ran his hand down his face. "Just me and you, just, in that motel room in West Texas, going out to grab some burgers, and…"

"West Texas?" he interrupted. "That was, that was over a week ago."

"That's it," Sam said. This was so not good. "Next thing I knew, I was sitting here. Bloody. Felt like I'd been asleep for a month."

"Ok, retrace your steps," he said. They just needed to take this one step at a time. He walked over to the window to try to see if there was anything outside that might spark something. He wasn't sure how Sam had gotten here, but a safe guess would be that he drove. He might be able figure out which car Sam had stolen to get here if he spotted it. He knew his brother, so he knew what kind of car he would steal. "The manager said you left yesterday afternoon and he never saw you come back, so…" He pulled back the curtain a little further, but then stopped when he spotted the bloody smudge on the windowsill. "Hey." Sam came over, and then looked up at him when he saw the blood. At least they knew how he'd gotten in without anyone seeing him. They went outside since they had a lead now. "Recognize anything?" he asked, looking around.

"Not really…" Sam muttered. They walked around the corner, but Sam stopped suddenly. "Wait."

"What?" There wasn't a lot back here. Just some sheds with all the doors shut. He wasn't sure what Sam could recognize out here.

"I think I was here," Sam said.

"You remember?" he asked.

"Not really. It just…feels familiar, you know?" Sam said. He shrugged since he didn't think it would look familiar, but at least Sam was getting with the program here. He wasn't going to be able to figure this out by himself. They started over to the closest garage/shed thing, and then Sam pointed to the second door. "Try that one. Yeah."

He pulled on the padlock. "Ok…" He could probably break this thing, but Sam was a little out of it right now, so maybe this wasn't the right shed. He didn't want to break someone's padlock just because Sam thought this random shed looked familiar.

"Wait," Sam said. He dug around in his pocket and frowned. He pulled a small key out of his pocket and handed it to him.

This was weird, but he was going to go with it. He unlocked the padlock with the magical key that Sam had found in his pocket, and then pulled the door up. He shook his head with he saw the beat-up VW Beetle inside. "Oh, please tell me you didn't steal this," he said in disgust.

Sam shifted but didn't say anything. They walked into the garage, going on either side of the car. Sam opened the driver's side door, while he opened the passenger side. Sam touched the wheel before he held up his finger to show him a red stain. "More blood," Sam said.

He caught sight of something in the floorboard of the backseat. This didn't look good. "Sam, backseat," he said.

Sam moved to open the door to the backseat, and then reached down to pick up a knife with blood on it. So not good. "You think I used this on someone?" Sam asked, just staring at the knife.

He hesitated for just a second before he said, "I'm not thinking anything." He was thinking a few things, but he wasn't about to tell Sam that. He looked around the front seat again while Sam wiped his prints off the handle of the knife. He frowned when he saw the pack of cigarettes. Before they'd found the bloody knife, he would've never thought these could be Sam's. But now…he wasn't so sure. "Ok, now this is disturbing," he said to try to gauge Sam's reaction when he held up the pack of cigarettes. "Come on, man, this couldn't have been you. Had to have been someone else, somebody who, uh…" He sniffed the pack of cigarettes before he finished, "Smokes menthols."

Sam dropped the knife back onto the floorboard, keeping from actually touching it again. He moved back to the front to look at the pack of cigarettes, but then reached out and snagged what looked like a scrap of paper. "Here…Gas receipt," Sam said, looking up at him. "Few towns over."

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"Dean give you an update?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah…they still don't know what's going on," he said. "Dean said they're heading to some gas station to try to see if Sam was there."

Bobby nodded, "Ok, well, that's a start." He expected Bobby to leave the room again since that's what he'd been doing every few hours. He'd come into the living room, check on him to see if he needed anything, ask him if Dean had called him, and then he'd go do something else. He could hear him in the kitchen a lot today, talking on the phone, but he was too tired to keep up with everything Bobby was doing. Bobby just fidgeted though, which was making him nervous. "You ready to head upstairs now?" Bobby finally asked.

"I think I'll stay here tonight…if that's ok," he said. He said it nicer than he would've if it had been his brothers. But Dean wouldn't have asked. Dean would have told him he was going to bed. He and Bobby were used to each other now. He liked staying at Bobby's house. He really liked the room Bobby had made up for him, and he wasn't freaked out to stay here alone anymore. But they still didn't really know each other.

Bobby shifted his hat and looked around the room. "Kid, I already let you stay on the sofa all day…If Dean finds out…"

"Dean won't find out if you don't tell him," he said.

Bobby still just stood there. He didn't know what to do, so he started fidgeting with his blanket. He wasn't supposed to fidget. He always got in trouble at Manticore for fidgeting. Bobby sighed before he sat down on the coffee table in front of him. "Ok, look, you're a good kid and I like havin' you here, but we gotta get some things straight, you and me," Bobby said. He tried to stay focused on the part where Bobby said he liked having him here. He was afraid that Bobby was going to kick him out. He couldn't really go anywhere right now, so he really hoped Bobby wasn't going to kick him out. "I don't know how to talk to you, and you look like you're gonna bolt every time I come in here to ask you somethin'. I ain't gonna kick you out."

"I don't know how to talk to you either," he mumbled.

"You're not gonna offend me or make me mad," Bobby said. "You don't wanna go upstairs, fine, just say so. I'll tell ya that you're an idjit, but I won't force you to go upstairs. Especially when you're hurt."

"I can stay here?" he asked just to make sure.

"Kid, you ain't my guest," Bobby said as he stood up again. He started to panic, thinking he'd already screwed up. But then Bobby said, "This house is your house. Do whatever you want. But if you get up without tellin' me, or you need somethin' and you don't say nothin' while you're hurt…I'm gonna be pissed and you're gonna hear about it." He smiled a little, feeling a weight lift. "But you're gonna regret sleepin' on that sofa the rest of the day," Bobby said as he walked out of the room. "Especially with that nice bed upstairs."

"You said I could do what I wanted," he said. He didn't want to push his luck, but he also wanted to say it.

Bobby chuckled from the other room, "You enjoy that sore back you're gonna have."

"I will," he said with a smile.

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He pulled up in front of the gas station and parked before he looked over at Sam. "Alright, receipt's for 10 gallons at pump number two," he said. He waited a moment to see if Sam would say anything, but he didn't. "You getting any, uh, any goosebumps yet? 'God, this looks familiar', déjà vu vibes?" Sam just shook his head no. "Maybe someone inside will remember you. Come on."

They went inside, and the guy at the counter immediately reacted to seeing Sam. "You. Outta here, now," the guy said before he picked up the phone. "I'm calling the cops."

"You talking to him?" he asked just to make sure.

"Yeah, I'm talking to him," the clerk replied. "Jerk comes in yesterday, stinking drunk. Grabs a forty from the fridge, starts chugging."

"This guy?" He couldn't believe this. None of this was like his brother. He looked back at Sam and asked, "You're drinking malt liquor?"

"Not after he whipped the freakin' bottle at my head," the clerk said.

"This guy?"

"What, am I speaking Urdu?"

"Look, I'm really sorry if I did anything," Sam started, but he didn't get very far into his explanation.

"Tell your story walkin', pal," the guy interrupted. "Po-po will be here in five."

"Wait, wait, put the phone down," he placated. "Sam, go wait in the car."

"But Dean…"

"Go wait in the car!" he repeated. Sam sighed, but then he left to do as he said. "Ok, look, man. I just want to talk to you, that's it. Ok?" The clerk slowly put the phone back down. "Now, when he took off yesterday, which way did he go?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

Really? He wanted to tell the kid to just answer the damn question, but he kept that to himself. For now at least. "'Cause I'm asking you. Now, please, you'd be doing me a huge favor."

"Oh, do you a favor? Well, that is what I live for," the guy said, rolling his eyes. "Y'know, your buddy didn't pay for the booze. Ok? Or the smokes, which he also illegally lit up."

"You saw him smoking?" he asked in shock.

"Yeah. Guy's a chimney."

This was so messed up. He cleared his throat before he got his wallet out and put some money on the counter. "This, uh, oughta cover it," he said.

"Hmm…It's, uh, it's coming back to me now. He took two packs," the clerk said.

He sighed and got some more money out, grumbling, "Of course he did."

"He went north," the clerk said, finally being helpful. "Route 71, straight out of town."

He nodded in silent thanks, but then snagged two candy bars. It was the least he deserved after all that. The guy was lucky he hadn't taken more.

He went back out to the car and started driving the way the guy had told him. Sam just stared out the window.

"How 'bout you call Alec and let him know you're ok," he suggested. Sam still didn't move. "He wants to hear from you. He wants to make sure you're ok, and, y'know, he's kinda in the dark here and it's driving him nuts." Sam still didn't move. "C'mon, Sam, we just left him at Bobby's and now all this shit's going on…we gotta at least keep him in the loop. You haven't talked to him since before you disappeared. Before all this, you were calling him every few hours. Don't you wanna make sure he's drinking his smoothies and all that?"

"Dean…"

"What's going on with you, Sam? Hmm? 'Cause smoking, throwing bottles at people, I mean, that sounds more like me than you. And you don't ignore Alec. You practically spoil the kid. Now, we aren't gonna figure this out if you don't talk to me."

"Dean, wait, right here," Sam said, interrupting his rambling. "Turn down that road."

"What?"

"I don't know how I know, I just do," Sam said.

He turned down the practically hidden side road, which was definitely private property. He hoped there wasn't a guy with a loaded shotgun waiting at the end of this driveway. He definitely didn't like the look of the security cameras all around the large house.

"Whoever lives here, I'd say they don't like surprises," Sam said.

He parked the car and slowly got out. He and Sam walked up to the front door, but he didn't see anything that made it look like someone was home. "Should we knock?" he asked Sam.

"Yeah, I guess…" He knocked on the front door, while Sam went around the corner. He didn't hear anyone moving around inside. He really didn't think anyone was here. "Hey, Dean." Sam waved him over, and then showed him a broken window.

"I'm surprised the cops didn't show. Place like this, you'd think it'd have an alarm," he said.

"Yeah, you would," Sam muttered, nodding to the disabled alarm on the side of the house. This definitely wasn't looking good.

He broke into the house, and immediately there were signs of a fight. There was broken glass on the floor, things were knocked over, and there was at least one dent in the wall. They slowly went through the house until they found a dead guy on the floor in one of the back rooms.

"Hit the lights," he said. Sam turned on the lights, so he walked over to the dead guy and crouched down. He slowly turned the guy over. The body was cold, so he'd been killed a while ago, but the smell wasn't overwhelming yet. It was a middle-aged guy with his throat slit.

"Dean…I did this," Sam breathed.

"We don't know that," he quickly defended.

"What else do you need? I mean, how else do you explain the car, the knife, the blood-"

"I don't know, man, why don't you tell me?!" he cut off. He took a breath, and then said, "Look, even if you did do this, I'm sure you had a reason. You know, self-defense, uh, he was, he was a bad son of a bitch, something!" Sam didn't say anything, so he patted down the guy to try to find anything on him. They didn't even know who this was. Or maybe he could find a knife on the guy or something to explain why Sam would've killed him. "He doesn't have any ID."

"I need your lockpick," Sam said from across the room.

"What?"

"I need your lockpick," Sam repeated. He stood up and passed Sam his lockpick, so his brother could open a closet. That was weird. Why was there a locked closet? Sam picked the lock and opened the closet, which was larger than it looked on the inside, but there was an entire wall covered with guns.

"Holy…Either this guy's a Unabomber…"

"Or a hunter," Sam finished. "Dean, I think I killed a hunter…"

He looked around, and his eyes caught on a security camera pointed into the room. "Let's find out," he said.

Sam figured out how to get into the guy's computer and found the security tape. They both watched as Sam came into the room on the video, fighting the dead guy. Sam and the other guy moved out of the frame, but then Sam drug the guy back into view. Sam knelt down and forced the guy closer before he slowly sliced his throat.

He stared at his brother in shock. He saw the whole thing with his own two eyes, and he still couldn't believe it. He needed Alec here. Alec was good at talking him down when he needed to. He needed help. But he couldn't drag Alec into this. His little brother was healing, so he wasn't going to worry him if he could help it.

Sam just sat there. He saw him pick up a piece of paper or something, but he had bigger things to worry about right now. He needed to wipe down every inch of this place. No one could know they had been here. If this guy had friends…

He walked back over to the computer, which still showed Sam staring down at the guy he had just killed. "How do you erase this? Huh?" he asked. He didn't know jack shit about computers. "Sam, come on, I need your help." He should not be the only one trying to clean up around here.

"I killed him, Dean," Sam mumbled. "I just broke in and killed him."

"Listen to me. Whoever this guy is, he's a hunter. Which means that other hunters are going to come looking for his killer, which means we've got to cover our tracks, ok?" he said. Surely something he said would get through to Sam.

"His name was Steve Wandell. This is a letter from his daughter," Sam said brokenly.

He looked at Sam for a few more seconds, but it was pretty clear that Sam wasn't going to budge. Fine. He would get rid of the evidence himself. He grabbed the computer and smashed it down onto the floor before he stomped on it a few times. He looked over at Sam, who was still just sitting there. He was done with Sam doing nothing. He tossed a rag at Sam, hitting his chest before it dropped down on his lap.

"Wipe your prints, then we go," he said.

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He was this close to calling Dean. The kid had been doing good for the most part since they left, but the stress of Sam being missing had taken its toll. He squeezed out the water from the washcloth and walked back over to the kid. His fever had spiked two hours ago, and it wasn't coming down. If anything, it was getting higher. He was either going to call Dean or call for an ambulance pretty soon.

He carefully put the washcloth on the kid's burning hot forehead. Alec looked at him blearily, his eyes glassy from the fever. But at least he woke up.

"I'm gonna have to call Dean," he said. "He needs to know that your fever jumped about four degrees…just this afternoon."

"He's got a lot on his plate already," Alec slurred.

"Your fever goes up one more degree, it's either Dean or 9-1-1 that I'm gonna call," he warned.

"Put a couple towels in the freezer," Alec said. He sounded exhausted just from saying that much, but he was having trouble sleeping. Just knowing that something was going on with his brothers was enough to make it impossible for him to rest. "It'll suck…but it'll bring down my temp…"

He didn't really like that solution, but he didn't have a lot else. At least he had towels, and he had a freezer, so it wasn't like he had to go out and get something. He couldn't leave the kid alone right now. He put two towels in the freezer, and then filled up a glass full of ice water. Alec had been refusing to drink anything for a while, which had been his first sign that he wasn't feeling good. The kid was on an IV to keep him hydrated, but he'd been pretty good about drinking his smoothies.

He waited 20 minutes before he grabbed one of the towels and brought it over to the kid. He was out of it again, but something told him to still be careful. Alec was a good kid, but he could tell there was something hidden in there. He had the ability to be very dangerous. Sam and Dean could be dangerous, but he was guessing Alec had a different level of danger.

"Alec, can you hear me, kid?" he said. Alec had always jumped awake as soon as he said something, but this time, he was out. He was hurt, and this fever wasn't helping, so how much damage could the kid really do? But if the kid felt threatened and tried to attack him, that was just going to hurt him more.

He grabbed the kid's blanket and pulled it down, and even though he'd been expecting something to happen, it still surprised him when he was shoved back, hard. He crashed down onto the coffee table, which crumbled under his weight. Cheap ass shit.

Alec looked around wildly, like he had no idea where he was. His fever was way too high. He didn't move. He stayed right where he was, so the kid wouldn't see him as a threat. It only took a few seconds before the adrenaline ran out and the kid's legs gave out.

He moved over to the kid as fast as he could, which regrettably wasn't very fast. The kid's eyes were still unfocused, but he didn't look as terrified as he had just moments ago. He started to reach out to help move the kid's legs, so he'd be a little more comfortable, but the kid tried to back away from him. He quickly raised his hands up in surrender.

"Alec, do you know who I am?" he asked, keeping his voice calm. There was a trail of blood snaking down the kid's ribs. They'd ditched the shirt two days after Sam and Dean left because he wasn't nearly as patient as Dean was when helping the kid into new clothes. Alec just stared at him. He wasn't sure if the kid was about to bolt, or if he was about to get attacked again. "I'm gonna grab my phone, ok? I'm not gonna hurt you." Alec just watched him as he got his phone out of his pocket and called Dean. He just hoped Dean would answer. He needed some help here.

"Yeah?"

"Dean, I've got a little problem," he said, making sure to keep his voice even, while he kept his eyes on Alec. "Alec spiked a fever."

"Shit…" Dean muttered, already knowing what that meant. "You ok? Is he ok? Is he still there?"

"Yeah, we're both ok," he said. "I thought maybe you could talk to Alec for a minute."

"He doesn't know who you are?" Dean asked, definitely concerned now.

"I'm just gonna put you on speaker," he said. He didn't want to set Alec off by saying the wrong thing, but he was really hoping just hearing Dean's voice would help.

"Alec, can you hear me, kiddo?" Dean asked once he'd put him on speaker. Alec looked up in surprise, recognizing Dean's voice. "You're at Bobby's house. Me and Sammy will be back soon."

"You wanna talk to your brother?" he asked. Alec's gaze snapped up to him; there still wasn't any recognition, but he didn't look terrified anymore.

"Alec, you gotta say something here," Dean said. "I can't see you, so I need you to talk to me."

"I don't know what's going on," Alec finally said.

"Damn, your fever's up pretty high, huh?" Dean said.

"I…I don't know…"

"Do you know who I am?" Dean asked.

"Um…brother?" Alec asked. "He said your name was Dean."

"That's right. I'm your older brother," Dean said. "Do you know your name?"

"You keep calling me Alec…"

"That's right," Dean said again. "And it sounds like you need to get cooled down. Think you could stand taking a cold shower?"

"I don't think so…" Alec admitted. "I…I don't think I can stand that long."

"I've got a cold towel," he said. "That might help. Remember? You told me a little while ago to put a couple towels in the freezer."

Alec didn't say anything, and he was back to watching him suspiciously. "Alec, use the cold towel," Dean said. "Get your ass back on the sofa and let Bobby take care of you."

Alec put his hand against his chest suddenly and looked down, surprised to see his blood. "I…I think I got hurt…" Alec said. "I'm bleeding."

"Alec," Dean snapped. That got the kid's attention. "Listen up, you're gonna let Bobby help you. It sounds like you tore your stitches. I'm not gonna be able to get to you for a while, so you need to let Bobby help. He can put your stitches back in. He's our friend, so don't hurt him, ok? I know you don't know what's going on, but you can trust me on this. Do you trust me?"

Alec thought for a second before he said, "Yeah."

"Ok, so trust me with this. Let Bobby help you and I'll get back as soon as I can, ok?" Dean said.

"Ok," Alec replied.

He took Dean off speaker and slowly moved to help Alec back onto the sofa. The kid still watched him, but he let him help. Alec had no idea who he was, he didn't really know who Dean was, but he instinctively trusted Dean.

"I'm comin' right back," he said to Alec before he snatched up his phone and walked over to the doorway. "He seems ok now," he said to Dean. "I'll patch him up again and try to get his fever down. Dean…I'm sorry. I knew his fever was up pretty high, but he was lucid not even half an hour ago."

"I shoulda warned you before we left," Dean said. He sounded exhausted. "He's a good kid, but that place messed with his head. He was just defending himself. He would never hurt you, I swear."

"Dean, calm down. My instinct was tellin' me to back off, but…anyway…I'm ok, and I'll make sure he's ok," he said.

"Thanks Bobby," Dean said.

"You gettin' anywhere with Sam?" he asked.

"I'll get back to you on that one," Dean said.

He went back to Alec as soon as Dean had hung up, and thankfully, the kid let him patch him up. He was burning up, and he was still watching him suspiciously, but he stayed where he was. Thank God for Dean. He wasn't sure how he would get the kid to listen to him while he was like this without Dean.

"Not your brightest move, kid," he said as he taped the new patch of gauze in place. "You ripped your stitches, tore out your IV…you're lucky you didn't get hurt worse." Alec still just stared at him. "Good thing we're both too lazy to deal with shirts without Dean here, huh?" That got him a tiny twitch of a smile. He wasn't sure if Alec was starting to remember, or if he just thought that was a little funny. "C'mon, time to lay down again. You'll feel better after your temp comes down."

Alec did as he was told and let him drape the cold towel over his chest. Alec looked pitiful, so he went back to the kitchen and made the kid another smoothie. He chuckled when Alec looked at the smoothie with disgust. He'd been drinking them every day since Sam first made one for him, but he obviously couldn't remember that he liked them.

"I made your favorite, so you can't turn your nose up at this," he said. "'Sides, it'll help with your temp too."

"I don't like those," Alec stated.

"Tough shit," he said. Dean had pretty much ordered the kid to let him help him, so tough love was the way to go. "You're gonna drink this shit even if you don't like it." Alec scowled at him, which was more like the kid, and then took the smoothie from him. They were definitely getting to know each other now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He ran his hand down his face as he followed Sam back into the motel room. The problems just kept stacking up. Sam couldn't remember anything and was killing people, while Alec had an insanely high fever and had hurt himself trying to get away. They should have just stayed with Alec. All of this could have been prevented if they had just stayed at Bobby's.

"Alright, we get a couple hours sleep, and then we put this place in our rearview mirror," he said. He wanted to get back to Alec now, but he had to sleep at least a little, otherwise he might wreck. "Look, I know this is bad, ok?" Sam wasn't talking to him, and it was pissing him off. He was mad that he didn't know how to fix this, and he was mad that he hadn't been there for Alec. He was just screwing up all over the place lately. "You gotta snap out of it." Still nothing. "Sam, say something!"

"Just get some sleep and leave in the morning?" Sam finally said. "Murder, Dean. That's what I did."

He hesitated, but then said, "Maybe." Sam huffed and rolled his eyes. "Ok? Hey, we don't know…Shapshifter!" He was grasping at straws here, but he had to get through to Sam.

"Oh, come on. You know it wasn't. You saw the tape. There was no eye flare, no distortion," Sam argued.

"Yeah, but it wasn't you! Alright? I mean, yeah, it might have been you, but it wasn't you," he said. That didn't make a lot of sense, but he didn't care. He needed sleep.

"Well, I think it was," Sam said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "I think maybe more than you know."

"What the hell does that mean?" he asked. Seriously? What the hell?

"For the last few weeks, I've been having…I've been having these feelings," Sam said.

He shook his head as he sat down on the other bed. He was so tired. He just wanted to get some sleep. Was that too much to ask? "What feelings?" he asked.

"Rage. Hate. And I can't stop it," Sam said. "It just gets worse. Day by day, it gets worse."

Maybe it was a good thing they weren't with Alec right now. "You never told me this," he said.

"I didn't want to scare you," Sam replied.

He nodded once before he stood up and said sarcastically, "Well, bang-up job on that."

"Dean, the yellow-eyes demon, you know he has plans for me. And we both know that he's turned other children into killers before too," Sam said.

He was so done with this conversation. He should've just let Sam sulk in silence. "No one can control you but you," he said.

"It sure doesn't seem like that, Dean," Sam said as he stood up. "It feels like no matter what I do, slowly but surely I'm, I'm becoming…"

"What?"

"Who I'm meant to be. I mean, you said it once yourself, Dean. I gotta face up to who I am," Sam said.

"I didn't mean this!" he yelled. He hated it when his own words were used against him.

"But it's still true! You know that! Dad knew that too!" Sam said. "That's why he told you, if it ever came to this…"

"Shut up, Sam."

"Dean, you promised him," Sam said. "You promised me."

"No," he instantly refused. He wasn't going to kill his own brother. "Listen to me. We're gonna figure this out, ok? I mean, there's gotta be a way, right?"

"Yeah, there is," Sam said. Sam walked over to his duffle and got something out. He scowled when he saw the handgun, and then Sam was shoving the gun at him. "I don't wanna hurt anyone else. I don't wanna hurt you."

He shook his head as he looked down at the gun Sam was holding. "You won't. Whatever this is, you can fight it."

"No, I can't," Sam said, tears filling his eyes. "Not forever. Here, you gotta do it."

He stared at his brother. He wasn't going to do this. But Sam grabbed his hand and forced him to take the gun. Fine. Whatever. He'd take the gun to make sure Sam wouldn't do something stupid. There was no way he was going to use it on his brother.

"You know, I've tried so hard to keep you safe," he started.

"I know," Sam replied with a nod, a tear slipping down his cheek.

He shook his head no. Sam wasn't getting it, so he'd spell it out for him. "I can't. I'd rather die," he said. He dropped the gun to the bed and pushed past Sam to go to the bathroom. He stopped though when he heard Sam move. He should really take the gun with him just to make sure.

"No, you'll live," Sam said as he picked up the gun. Dammit. He really should've just kept the thing. Sam turned, and then said, "You'll live to regret this."

He had a split second to realize all the bad decisions he'd made in just the last few minutes before Sam hit him hard with the gun. He hit the ground, and everything went black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alec, you awake?" Bobby asked.

He blinked a few times and looked over at Bobby. He really didn't feel good. He was freezing and his head was pounding, oh, and his chest felt like he was being stabbed. He frowned when he realized Bobby was across the room from him. And the coffee table was broken. What the hell…oh no…oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"You hurt yourself more than you hurt me," Bobby replied. But the older man was keeping his distance from him. He'd messed everything up.

"I just need some shoes and a coat, then I can get out of here," he said. "I'll call Dean and tell him where to pick me up at."

Bobby raised his eyebrows and just looked at him for a few seconds. "You done?"

"What?" Now he was really confused. He could probably just get up and go, but he needed a shirt at least. And some cash…Did he have any cash in his wallet? He didn't even know where his wallet was. Dean probably had it. That would make things more complicated, but it was ok. He could figure this out.

"You ain't goin' anywhere," Bobby said. "Your fever was up too high, so I'm guessin' you thought you were supposed to be at that place again. I tried to wake you up, which I know now was a mistake. We just gotta get to know each other, that's all."

"I could have killed you," he said.

"You couldn't even stand for two minutes," Bobby said.

"I broke the coffee table," he pointed out.

"No, dumbass, I broke the damn coffee table," Bobby said. "You may have pushed me, but it was my ass that broke it." He accidentally smiled, but then quickly stopped. That probably wasn't supposed to be funny. He was going to make things worse. "Just to make sure, you know who I am, right?"

"Bobby," he said.

"Alright, we're good," Bobby said as he walked over to him. He shrank back slightly since he didn't want to be in trouble. "Looks like your fever broke," Bobby said, taking a very cold towel off his chest. "Which is good 'cause Dean said he needs your help."

"What?" he asked in concern. Dean needed his help? He couldn't…

"Don't panic," Bobby said. "He just needs you to do some computer crap."

"I don't have a computer," he said.

"You don't?" Bobby asked. He felt like Bobby was messing with him. Bobby walked out of the room for a second before he came back carrying a laptop. "Happy Birthday, or whatever," Bobby said, adjusting his hat after he handed him the laptop. "Dean pitched in…said he used most of the money you won anyway…but we thought you could use a birthday present. We were gonna wait and give it to you once you were feelin' better, but…Dean needs some help."

"This is mine?" he asked. He felt like his brain wasn't working.

Bobby gave him a look, and then said, "Call your brother."

He quickly called Dean after Bobby left the room. He was still really confused, but Dean needed help.

"Hey kiddo, you feelin' better?" Dean asked as soon as he picked up.

"You knew?" he asked in embarrassment.

"Course I knew," Dean said. "I'm your big brother. I know everything."

"Dean…"

"Ok, so I do need your help," Dean quickly corrected. "I need you to hack into the cellphone website and turn on Sammy's GPS."

"Why didn't I do this two days ago?" he asked. He struggled to get the laptop open and hold his phone at the same time. He finally just put Dean on speaker and got the laptop open.

"Because I just thought of it, that's why," Dean grumbled.

"You do know that I don't know how to do this, right?" he asked.

"You hacked into that hellhounds crap," Dean said.

"Is this laptop really mine now?" he asked as he got onto the website for their phones.

"Happy Birthday, kiddo," Dean said. "Sorry…I wanted to give it to you when you were up to eating solid food and we were all there, but…anyway…Sam picked it up, so it's a good one. It's used, but it's good. He made sure the guy at the shop cleared it…or whatever."

"Thanks Dean," he said to stop his brother's rambling. Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably, so he decided to change the subject to make up for the chick-flick moment. "Just so you know, this thing is way better than Sam's," he said. "I mean, it's super-fast."

Dean chuckled, "Probably because there aren't a million pop-ups or anything."

"Good luck trying to watch porn on this thing," he said.

"Dude, now that's the only thing I'm gonna do," Dean said. He sounded like he was smiling, so at least he may have helped a little bit. Now if he could find out where Sam was, then that would really help.

"You'll never break into it," he muttered. "Unlike me…this is almost too easy. I'm gonna need a bigger challenge." That got Dean to laugh. "He's in Duluth, Minnesota."

"Got an address?" Dean asked.

"I'll text it to you," he said. "Get driving."

"Go back to sleep," Dean shot back.

"Right, like that's gonna happen," he grumbled.

"You couldn't help what happened," Dean said. "And Bobby doesn't blame you."

"Sam's missing again, and you sound more freaked out than the last time you called, and I was lucid, so…I'm not sleeping until you two get back," he said.

"Alec, no," Dean said.

"I mean it," he said. "So, you better get back soon."

"Alright…at least try to rest," Dean said. "I'll call you as soon as I know something else."

"I'll call you if Sam moves," he said.

"Good plan. Stalk Sammy until I catch up to him," Dean said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Good night, thank you," she said as the last customers left for the night. She wiped down the counter, ready to close up for the night. She nearly sighed when she heard someone else come in and clear their throat. "Sorry, we're closing up," she said without turning around.

"How about just one for the road?"

She turned at the familiar voice, forcing herself to not look hopeful. Her heart sank when all she saw was Sam. He wasn't here. Or if he was, then he didn't want to see her. "Well, you're about the last person I'd expect to see," she muttered.

"Well, I guess I'm full of surprises," Sam said. "So, can I get a beer?"

"Sure. One beer," she replied. She walked around and grabbed a bottle of beer before she set it on the counter. She immediately went back to cleaning up since she didn't want to think about Alec. Well, she did, but she didn't too. She liked him. A lot. But she'd messed up, and now she didn't think he wanted to ever talk to her again. She'd waited too long to get over it. But she was dying to know how he was doing. She had to at least try to be casual about this. "So, how'd you find me?"

"Well, uh, it's kind of what we do, you know?" Sam said.

Casual. She had to stay casual. But this was the perfect opening. "Speaking of 'we'…where's Dean? And Alec?"

"Couldn't make it," Sam said.

Well, now she was ready to leave. She liked Sam, but she wanted to talk to Alec. "So, what're you doing here, Sam? I mean, we didn't exactly part on the best of terms," she said.

"Right. Um, well, that's why I'm here," Sam said. He took off his jacket, which revealed a nasty-looking burn on his arm. "I kinda…I wanted to see if we could square things, you know?"

"That looks like it hurts," she said with a nod to his arm.

"No. Nah, just, just had a run-in with a hot stove," Sam said.

"So, you were saying something about squaring things?" she asked when Sam didn't just get on with it.

"Yeah. Um…Look, I know how you feel about my Dad. And I can't say I blame you," Sam said. "He was obsessed…consumed with hunting. And he didn't care who got caught in the crossfire. And I guess that included your Dad. But that was my father. That's not me."

"What about Alec?" she asked. She'd already said his name once, but now she needed to know at least something. How he was doing or…really anything.

"Alec's not part of the family," Sam stated coldly. She frowned since that was weird. Sam and Dean…they seemed really protective over Alec. "And you might as well forget about him."

"Why?" she asked. She knew she shouldn't fall for it. She should just drop it and text Alec herself. But Sam was his brother.

"Because he's dead," Sam stated. Sam smiled, which really creeped her out. She took a step back; she didn't believe him. She didn't believe that Alec was dead. He couldn't be dead. "It's true," Sam said. "So, you might as well forget about him."

"He's not dead," she argued. Sam took a step towards her, and this time, a shiver of fear went through her. "I think you should leave."

"Ok," Sam said as he turned to leave.

She breathed out in relief and turned back to clean the rest of the counter once he was gone. Alec wasn't dead. She would know if he was dead. Somehow…somehow she would know. She needed to call him.

She started to get her phone out of her pocket when she was suddenly grabbed from behind. "Sam, get off me! Sam! Get off me! Let go!" she yelled as she struggled to get away from him. He just held on tighter. She knew she couldn't fight him off, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying. She didn't know what was going on with Sam, but this wasn't like him at all.

She managed to grab a beer bottle that was on the bar, but he grabbed her wrist before she could even try to hit him with it. She gasped as he slammed her wrist against the bar, shattering the bottle.

"Jo, Jo, Jo," Sam said, pressing himself against her. He pinned her down to the bar and stroked her hair.

She screamed, "Sam, no! No! Please! Please!" This couldn't be happening.

Before she could fight anymore or even try to do anything, Sam slammed her head against the bar and she went limp in unconsciousness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She woke up tied to the wooden post. "What the hell is going on? What are you doing?"

Sam pulled on the rope to make sure it was tight. "So, what exactly did your Mom tell you about how your Dad died?" Sam asked.

"You're not Sam," she said. This couldn't be Sam.

"Don't be so sure about that. Answer the question," Sam said. She refused to play his game. This wasn't Sam. But Sam sighed when she refused to answer him. He moved around the post, and then pulled out a large knife. She glared at him as he moved the blade carefully down her cheek. He wasn't cutting her, but any second that could change. "Come on. It's me. You can tell me anything, you know that," Sam said. "Answer. The Question."

"Fine," she snapped.

"Fine," Sam instantly shot back.

"Our dads were in California. Devil's Gate Reservoir," she said. Obviously, Sam wasn't going to let this go, so she might as well just answer and hurry this along. "They were setting a trap for some kind of hellspawn. John was hiding, waiting, and my Dad was bait."

Sam laughed, "That's just like John. Oh, I'll bet he dangled Bill like meat on a hook…Then what?"

He moved to stand behind her again, so she couldn't see him. "The thing showed up. John got too eager, jumped out too soon, got my Dad exposed, out in the open. The thing turned around…and killed him."

Sam leaned close to her suddenly, "Hmm. Not quite."

"What?" How would he know?

"What?" Sam asked back before he said, "Oh. See, it hurt him. It didn't kill him." Sam looked at her for a moment before he moved back around and sat down to face her. "You really don't know the truth, do you? I bet your mom doesn't either."

"Know what?" she couldn't help but ask. She knew Sam wouldn't really know what happened, and she knew Sam was just playing some sick game with her, but she couldn't stop herself.

"You see, Bill…was all clawed up," Sam said. "Was holding his insides in his hands. He was gurgling and…praying to see you and Ellen one more time. So, my Dad…killed him. Put him out of his misery like a sick dog."

"You're lying!" she yelled.

"I'm not. It's true," Sam said before he sang tauntingly, "My Daddy shot your Daddy in the head."

"How could you know that?"

"I hear things," Sam said, standing up again. She tried not to jump as he stabbed the knife into the wood above her head.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked.

"Like Daddy, like daughter. You're bait," Sam said. "Open up." He shoved a strip of cloth into her mouth before he tied it tightly behind her head. Who was she bait for? She shouldn't hope it was Alec, but part of her did hope. If she was bait for Alec, that meant he was still alive.

The door busted open suddenly, and then there was Dean, aiming his gun at Sam. She waited for Alec to come in behind his brother, but he never showed up. Maybe he was going around to the back. He had to still be ok.

"Sam!" Dean yelled.

Sam grabbed the knife out of the post and held it against her neck. "I begged you to stop me, Dean!"

"Put the knife down, damnit," Dean growled.

"I told you I can't fight it! My head feels like it's on fire, alright?! Dean, kill me, or I'm going to kill her. Please! You'd be doing me a favor!" Sam said desperately. "Shoot me!" Sam pulled away from her and spread his arms wide, giving Dean a perfect shot. "Shoot me!"

Dean glanced over at her before he shook his head and slowly lowered his gun. "No, Sammy. Come on."

"What the hell's wrong with you, Dean? Are you that scared of being alone that you'd rather let Jo die?" Sam challenged.

Dean turned away from them, unwilling to shoot Sam. But then he turned back suddenly, flinging water onto Sam, which steamed as soon as it hit him. Sam yelled like he was in pain.

"That's holy water, you demonic son of a bitch!" Dean yelled.

Sam looked up, and his eyes were completely black. Dean threw more holy water on him, which made Sam growl before he bolted, crashing through one of the windows. Dean ran over to her as soon as Sam was gone and cut the rope that was tying her to the post. She yanked the gag out of her mouth once her hands were free, but Dean was already running over to the window where Sam had disappeared.

"He was possessed?!" she asked. Dean gave her a quick look, and then he jumped out the window after Sam. "Dean!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He snuck through the warehouse, trying to find his brother. He still had his gun out since he knew Sam would attack him as soon as he saw him this time. He moved to another stack of boxes and hid behind them, trying to listen to where Sam was.

"So, who are you?" he finally asked. He couldn't find Sam if he didn't make any noise. Sam would be able to pinpoint him soon now that he'd said something, but he was going to have to take that chance.

"I got lots of names," Sam replied.

"You've been in Sam since he disappeared, haven't you?" he said. He was so grateful Alec wasn't here right now. He'd really been missing him earlier, but he was so much safer at Bobby's house.

"You shoulda seen your face when you thought he murdered that guy. Pathetic."

"Why didn't you kill me? You had a dozen chances," he said.

"Nah, that would have been too easy. Where's the fun in that?" Sam said. "You see, this was a test. Wanted to see if I could push you far enough to waste Sam. Should've known you wouldn't have the sack. Anyway. Fun's over now. At least…with you."

It felt like cold water was just thrown on him. What did he mean by that? "Well, I hope you got your kicks," he said to cover up his new fear. "'Cause you're gonna pay hell for this. I'm gonna make sure of that."

"How? You can't hurt me. Not without hurting your little brother," Sam taunted. He sighed to himself because he really didn't want to hurt Sam. He wanted to hurt the demon. He put his gun away and pulled out the holy water instead. "See, I think you're gonna die, Dean. You and every other hunter I can find. One look at Sam's dewy, sensitive eyes? They'll let me right in their door. And I know where I'm going first."

He heard a noise, and then what sounded like a door. He got up and quickly followed. He had a really bad feeling about who the demon could be talking about going to visit first.

He went out onto the dock and looked around for his brother. He didn't see him, so he walked a little further out. He hoped he wasn't walking right into a trap. But he didn't see his brother anywhere. He walked over to the edge to see if maybe Sam went over the edge, but he still didn't see him.

He looked back at some noise or something, and then there was Sam. His brother raised his gun and fired. He turned just enough to get shot in the shoulder instead of the chest. The force of it knocked him backwards, over the edge, and into the freezing water.

He had to force himself to stay under once he was in the water. He didn't want to stay in this freezing water, but he wasn't going to move. Not yet. He was hurt, so it would be really easy for Sam to kill him now. He couldn't die out here. He had a sneaking suspicion on where Sam would go next, which meant he had to be alive. He had to get the demon out of his brother.

He waited until he was almost out of air before he went back to the surface. He was freezing, and he half expected to get another bullet as soon as he was above water, but nothing happened. He dragged himself up onto the ramp of the dock, thankful that his brother wasn't just waiting to kill him. He held his shoulder as he forced himself up to his feet, but his legs almost immediately gave out and he was down again.

He was so cold. He felt like he couldn't move. He needed to get up. He needed to help his brother. But he wasn't sure how he was going to help him. He would get up in just a minute. He just needed a minute to gather his strength, and then he would go after his brother again.

"Dean! Dean!" He woke up with a jolt, and then coughed, groaning in pain. He didn't remember going to sleep or whatever. But Jo was here now. Hopefully it hadn't been very long.

"Where's Sam?" he asked, shivering badly now.

"I don't know. I've been looking for you," she said. "C'mon, get up." She helped him get up, and he had to lean against her, holding his shoulder in pain. His legs started to give out again, but somehow, she kept him moving. He wasn't sure how since she was so little, but she did help.

She helped him back inside and got him sitting in a chair. She helped him out of his soaked jacket and overshirt before she ripped his shirtsleeve. He was still shivering, but it was warmer out of the water. He was still in his wet clothes, and water was dripping from his hair, but he needed to get out of here as fast as possible. It would help if he wasn't bleeding when he went after Sam again.

Although, he seriously regretted letting her help as soon as she started digging around to try to get the bullet out. He didn't realize how good he had it when Alec or Sam patched him up. He groaned and gripped the table as tightly as he could at a spike of pain.

"Don't be a baby," Jo muttered.

"God!" he groaned. His shoulder was radiating pain. Every time she even barely touched him, it hurt. He wanted her to stop, but he had to have the bullet out.

"Almost. Alright, got it. Got it," she said, dropping the bullet into a shot glass. He took a few chugs of the whiskey bottle she had brought over before she'd started tearing him apart.

"God, you're a butcher," he complained.

"You're welcome," Jo shot back sarcastically.

"Alright, are we done?" he asked. He needed to get moving.

"Would you give me two minutes to patch you up? You can't help Sam if you're bleeding to death," Jo said. She wasn't wrong, but he still didn't like it. He took another drink of whiskey, feeling warmer as the alcohol went through him. Jo started taping gauze over the bullet wound. It was a quick patch job, so he'd need to redo it later, but that was ok. He needed to get going. "So, how did you know? That he was possessed?"

"Uh, I didn't," he admitted. "I just knew that it couldn't have been him." He was so relieved to know it hadn't been Sam. It wasn't great that his brother was being possessed by a demon, but it was actually better than the alternative.

"Hey Dean," Jo said.

"Yeah?"

"I know demons lie, but…do they ever tell the truth too?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, sometimes, I guess," he said. "Especially if they know it'll mess with your head." He took another, smaller, drink of whiskey. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Doesn't matter," she said, even though it clearly did matter. "So, do you have any idea where he's headed to next?"

"Well, so far he's been going after the nearest hunter, so…closest one I know lives in South Dakota," he said. Where Alec was. He needed to call Bobby and warn him. He needed to get there in time…before Sam could do something to Alec.

"Ok, good," Jo said. "I'm done. Let's go."

"Yeah," he said as he slowly stood up. He put on his overshirt again, wincing slightly as the movement pulled at his shoulder. "You're not coming."

"The hell I'm not. I'm part of this now," Jo argued.

"I can't say it more plain than this," he said as he grabbed his jacket. "You try to follow me and I'll tie you right back to that post and leave you here. This is my fight. I'm not getting your blood on my hands. That's just how it's gonna be." There was no way he would let Jo get hurt if he could help it. He knew she hadn't talked to Alec since that hunt, but he also knew that Alec still liked her. He wasn't about to mess that up.

"Wait," Jo said before he could leave. "Alec…where is he? Is he ok?"

"You should call him. He's not gonna call first since he knows you're pissed at him. If you wanna know how he's doing, then you need to talk to him," he said.

"He's alive?" Jo asked. He frowned since she looked really worried for Alec.

"He's alive," he said. "He got hurt pretty bad on the last hunt." He hesitated, but then said, "We've been staying with Bobby Singer. He's recovering, so you might call before you just randomly show up."

"Here. Take these, they'll help with the pain," Jo said, her own way of thanking him. He nodded and took the bottle of pills before he left. He really hoped Jo would start talking to Alec again. Now he just had to make sure Sam didn't kill Alec.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He woke up a little when he felt something being moved off his lap. But he relaxed again when he saw it was just Bobby grabbing his laptop from where it was resting on his lap. "Didn't want this to fall," Bobby said softly. "I'll put it in your room for now."

"Ok," he mumbled, closing his eyes again.

He woke up again when he heard someone open the front door. Bobby was still upstairs, so he wasn't sure who was here. And why didn't they knock? He looked around for his gun, or at least some kind of weapon so he could protect himself.

He breathed out in relief though when he saw Sam walk into the room.

"Hey Sam," he breathed. "What's up with the disappearing act?" He snuggled down slightly and closed his eyes again.

"Sam? Where's Dean?" Bobby asked as he came back down the stairs.

His eyes flew open, and he looked at Sam, and he immediately wanted to get away from him. Something wasn't right here.

"Alec, get out of here," Bobby said, also sensing that something wasn't right. Sam threw his hand out, making Bobby go flying backwards

He forced himself up, clutching at his chest since it hurt to move, and he couldn't really breathe right now, but he needed to move. Sam laughed as he ran after him. He nearly fell over as he ran to the study. But he couldn't go any further. He was wheezing for air, so he turned to see how far away his brother was.

Sam walked into the study and laughed at him again. His legs suddenly gave out, so he had to drag himself back.

"This is fantastic," Sam said mockingly. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time."

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You don't remember me?" Sam asked with a smile. Sam took another step towards him, but then was forced to stop. He smirked in victory. He'd tricked Sam right into the devil's trap painted on the ceiling. "What?!"

"Oops," he said. His chest was killing him, and he could barely breathe, but the plan had worked.

"You ok, kid?" Bobby asked, walking in from the other doorway.

"Yeah…" he breathed, accepting the hand up. Bobby had to keep him steady once he was on his feet. Sam just paced around the trap like a caged tiger. "Whoever possessed him knows me, and really doesn't like me."

"Guess Dean was right," Bobby muttered. "Probably shouldn't tell your brother how you lured Sam into the Devil's Trap."

"Yeah, he's not gonna be happy about this," he said.

He had to sit down again after just a few minutes. He stayed in the study and watched Sam as he paced around. He wasn't sure how long it would be before Dean got here, but he hoped it wouldn't be long. He was pretty sure he knew who was possessing Sam, but he refused to talk to him. There were only a few demons who knew who he was and really hated him. And from that small list, they had all tortured him in that hotel where they'd kept him and John.

He heard the Impala coming up, so he painfully pushed himself up again and went to the front.

Dean nearly collided with him as he ran into the house. His brother grabbed him before he could fall, and then pulled him into a tight, one-armed hug. "You ok?" Dean asked.

He nodded, and then asked back, "You ok?" Dean held him back slightly and looked at him for a few seconds. "There's blood on your jacket," he said.

"Did he hurt you?" Dean asked in concern.

"No, I got away from him in time," he said. "Your call gave us enough time to work something out."

"C'mon, you should sit down. I'll get the demon out of Sam," Dean said.

"Me and Bobby will help," he stated.

Dean gave him a hard look before he eventually caved. "Just promise me you'll sit down, and you'll stay out of it. You can stay in the room, but don't get up, ok?"

"I can promise that I'll sit down," he said. "I can't promise that I'll stay out of it. I'll let you do the talking and the exorcising and all that, but if Sam breaks out, I'm helping."

"What makes you think he'll break out?" Dean asked with a frown.

"Because we're Winchesters and that's just how it is," he said. Dean laughed, which made him smile. "Plan for the worst, hope for the best and all that."

"Alright, c'mon," Dean said, helping him back into the room where Sam was trapped.

He looked over at Dean in surprise when they walked in and found Sam unconscious. "Thought it'd be easier to get him tied to a chair if he couldn't attack us while we were doin' it," Bobby said when he and Dean looked over at him. He didn't ask how Bobby knocked Sam out, mainly because he didn't want to know, and he liked the version in his head way better. He was pretty sure Bobby had ninja kicked Sam while he wasn't paying attention. Never mind the fact that Bobby probably couldn't kick that high. He liked the thought of it even if it wasn't plausible.

He took up the chair behind the desk where he'd caught Bobby sleeping before, and settled in. He was really starting to hurt, so he hoped this would go pretty fast. He was glad his brothers were back…now they just needed to get the demon out of Sam, and they could have some of Bobby's soup and go to bed. He was ready to sleep in his own bed again.

Dean smacked Sam across the face once they had everything set up to wake him up again. Sam looked around, acting like he was looking for a way out of the trap, but really, he was making note of where they all were in the room. He was starting to think maybe he should've stayed in another room just so Sam wouldn't know exactly where he was. He knew the demon really wanted him dead, and it probably would've helped to have someone out of Sam's line of sight just in case. It was a little too late now.

"Dean. Back from the dead," Sam said with a smirk. "Getting to be a regular thing for you, isn't it? Like a cockroach."

"How about I smack that smartass right out of your mouth?" Dean shot back.

"Oh, careful, now. Wouldn't want to bruise this fine packaging," Sam said.

"Oh, don't worry. This isn't gonna hurt Sam much," Dean said. He turned around and grabbed a bucket, "You on the other hand…" He tossed the holy water on Sam, which steamed and made Sam yell. "Feel like talking now?"

Sam growled, "Sam's still my meat puppet. I'll make him bite off his tongue."

"No. You won't be in him long enough," Dean stated before he looked over at Bobby and nodded, "Bobby." Bobby started the exorcism, which made Sam struggle to get free. "See, whatever bitch-boy master plan you demons are cooking up? You're not getting Sam. You understand me? 'Cause I'm gonna kill every one of your first."

Sam looked like he was in pain as he struggled, but then he threw his head back and laughed, which was really creepy and made Bobby stop reading. "You really think that's what this is about?" Sam taunted. "The master plan? I don't give a rat's ass about the master plan." Bobby started to read again, but Sam wasn't struggling to get free anymore. This didn't seem good. "Oops," Sam said with a smirk. "Doesn't seem to be working. See, I learned a few new tricks." Sam looked down suddenly and began mumbling some latin.

The fire from the fireplace suddenly roared to life. He grabbed the arms of the chair he was sitting in when the room started to shake. This so wasn't good. He looked to Dean and saw that he was just as worried about what was happening.

"This isn't going like I pictured!" Dean yelled over to Bobby. "What's going on, Bobby?"

Bobby looked at Sam and frowned. He tried to see what Bobby was looking at and noticed what looked like a brand on Sam's arm. "It's a binding link!" Bobby yelled over Sam's chanting. "It's like a lock! He's locked himself inside Sam's body!"

"What the hell do we do?" Dean asked.

"I don't know!"

"Alec, get the hell out of here," Dean ordered.

He didn't argue this time. He painfully pushed himself up and started out of the room. Sam threw his head back and screamed, making the entire house shake violently enough that he was knocked off his feet. He cried out in pain as he hit the floor, hard, clutching at his chest to try to stop the searing pain that was radiating throughout his body.

"There. That's better," Sam said. Sam jerked his head, throwing Bobby off his feet and into a pile of stuff. He scrambled back when Sam looked at him, knowing he wasn't going to win this fight. He needed a way out of here, or some kind of miracle, otherwise, he wasn't going to make it out of this. Luckily, he didn't need a miracle because Dean was here. His brother ran over to Sam to get his attention away from him. Sam saw him coming and threw him against the opposite wall with his demon powers.

Sam ripped his way out of the ropes and stood up. He shot him a dark look before he stalked over to Dean instead. He started to move to try to get up, but Dean looked at him, and he knew his brother was more worried for him than himself.

"You know when people want to describe the worst possible thing?" Sam asked as he knelt down in front of Dean and grabbed his jacket. "They say it's like hell." Sam punched Dean hard across the face, making him groan in pain. He grabbed Sam's shirt to try to hold him back. "You know there's a reason for that. Hell is like, um…" Sam hit Dean again. He struggled to push himself back up, unwilling to just let Sam beat the shit out of Dean. Possessed or not. "Well, it's like hell. Even for demons." He grabbed onto the desk and got up to his feet. Now he just had to move. That was going to be tricky. "It's a prison, made of bone and flesh and blood and fear." Sam hit Dean again, and he was afraid his brother was going to lose consciousness. "And you sent me back there."

"Meg," Dean forced out.

The color drained from his face, and everything went cold. He was in that room. John was nearly unconscious as Meg walked over to him. She smirked and gently turned his head before she slapped his cheek, hard. She jabbed a needle into his arm, and it felt like she was about to jam it straight through his arm. He weakly tried to push her off of him, but she just laughed.

Sam looked over at him suddenly as if knowing he was remembering everything. His brother laughed, and he knew it wasn't the same, but he felt like it was really her laughing at him again.

Sam threw his hand out toward him, and before he even knew what was happening, he was hitting the wall. He felt the plaster crack with the force he hit the wall, and then he was on the floor. His head was swimming now, and he was a little worried that something the surgeon had fixed inside of him was broken again. He really hoped he wasn't bleeding internally.

Sam looked back to Dean once he was no longer an issue. "No. Not anymore. Now I'm Sam." The demon hit Dean again, but then he dug his thumb into Dean's bullet wound in his shoulder. Dean groaned in pain and tried to pull Sam's hand away. "By the way, I saw your Dad there. He says 'howdy'," Sam taunted. "All that I had to hold onto, was that I would climb out one day, and that I was going to torture you. Nice and slow. Like pulling the wings off an insect." Sam slapped Dean's hand away that was trying to push him back. "But whatever I do to you, it's nothing compared to what you do to yourself, is it? I can see it in your eyes, Dean. You're worthless. You couldn't save your Dad, and deep down…you know that you can't save your brother. They'd have been better off without you."

Sam started to pull back to hit Dean again, but then Bobby was suddenly there. He grabbed Sam's arm and burned him with a hot poker from the fire. Sam screamed in pain as Bobby burned through the brand. Then he threw his head back and black smoke flew out of his mouth and up, out the chimney.

Dean looked over to him as he painfully sat up. Bobby walked over to him and crouched down next to him, putting his hand on his shoulder to keep him where he was for the moment. Sam looked around in confusion before he grabbed his arm in pain.

"Sammy?" Dean asked, pain clear in his voice.

"Did I miss anything?" Sam asked. He breathed out in relief since their Sam was really back. His eyes widened though when Dean suddenly slugged Sam hard across the face before he collapsed. Sam held his cheek in pain and looked at Dean, even more confused than before.

"Boys, we need some help over here," Bobby said. "Alec's barely breathing, and I can't get him up by myself." Oh…he didn't realize he was barely breathing until Bobby said that. Sam got up, and then helped Dean get to his feet too.

"Dean, you should sit down," Sam said guiltily. "I'll bring Alec back into the living room."

"Alec, do we need to get you looked at?" Dean asked. "You hit the wall pretty hard…"

"I don't know…I mean, I don't think so…but I don't know…" he breathed.

He did not like it once he was on his feet. He was almost completely out of it for a few minutes, but when he was able to open his eyes again, he was suddenly in the living room, back on the sofa.

"Do you think we should take him to the hospital?" Sam asked Dean. His brothers were both sitting near him. Sam was sitting on the arm of the sofa while Dean was sitting in a chair. Dean had his shirt off, while Sam patched up his bullet wound. He looked down and saw that his zip hoodie was off now too, and fresh bandages covered his chest. He must have been out longer than he'd thought.

"I don't know…" Dean muttered.

"I think I'm ok," he breathed.

"Hey kiddo," Dean said with a pained smile.

"Don't move," Sam warned Dean before he shot him a guilty look. "Alec…"

"I'm ok," he said, slightly stronger this time. Not great, but a little better.

"Alec, I think maybe we should still get you a scan or something," Dean said.

"Let's just wait a little," he said. "If I start to feel worse, then I won't argue about the hospital." His brothers both looked at him for a few seconds before they finally nodded, and Sam went back to patching up Dean's shoulder. "You should probably put some burn cream on your arm," he said to Sam. His brother shot him another look, but he was trying to hide his smile.

Bobby walked in after a moment, but he didn't look happy. "What is it, Bobby?" Sam asked as he helped Dean back into his shirt.

"You boys ever hear of a hunter named Steve Wandell?" Bobby asked.

"Why do you ask?" Dean said. Clearly, he knew something about the guy, but he wasn't sure what. He had no clue who Steve Wandell was.

"Just heard from a friend," Bobby said. "Wandell's dead. Murdered in his own house." Sam looked down guiltily but didn't say anything. "You wouldn't know anything about that."

"No sir," Dean quickly replied. "Never heard of the guy."

"Dean-"

"Good," Bobby cut Sam off. "Keep it that way. Wandell's buddies are looking for someone or something to string up, and they're not going to slow down to listen to reason."

"Do we need to hit the road?" Dean asked, shooting him a quick look.

"They don't have any leads on who coulda done it," Bobby said, also looking at him. If he wasn't hurt, they'd probably leave right now. But he wasn't sure how far he could go in the car. Especially right now. He didn't think he needed to go to the hospital, but he hurt. "I told 'em I'd keep an eye out, so you should be clear." Dean nodded his thanks, relieved that they could stay a little longer. "Here. Take these," Bobby continued, handing Dean three small necklaces with some kind of charm on them.

"What are they?" Sam asked after Dean handed him one.

"Charms," Bobby said. "They'll fend off possession. That demon's still out there. This'll stop it from getting back up in ya."

"That sounds vaguely dirty, but uh, thanks," Dean muttered. His brother gently put one of the necklaces over his head before he put his hand on his forehead to check his fever.

"You're welcome," Bobby said. "Now, we takin' the kid to the hospital or what?"

"Not yet," Dean said.

"I'm ok. I just hit the wall kinda hard," he said.

"Hard enough to dent the plaster," Bobby grumbled.

"If he gets worse, then we'll take him," Dean said. Dean looked over at him and asked, "You wanna go upstairs or stay here?"

"I don't want to move," he admitted.

"Alright, but get some sleep, ok?" Dean said.

He nodded and tried to relax against his pillow. He really didn't feel good, and he hoped he wasn't bleeding internally, but he didn't know for sure. If he was bleeding internally, maybe his body could heal itself before Dean decided he needed to go to the hospital.

"You ok?" Dean asked. He nearly opened his eyes again, but then he realized that Dean was probably talking to Sam. "Sam? Is that you in there?"

"I was awake for some of it, Dean. I watched myself kill Wandell with my own two hands…I saw the light go out in his eyes," Sam said.

"That must have been awful," Dean muttered. He felt Dean pull up his blankets again and fluff his pillow. He grumbled a little since he wanted to rest, but Dean kept messing with him. He knew Dean was freaking out a bit again, but he was tired. Although, he was really glad his brothers were back.

"That's not my point," Sam said. "I almost carved up Jo too. I woulda killed Alec if I'd had the chance. But no matter what I did, you wouldn't shoot." His brother had tried to hurt Jo? He really hoped she was ok.

"It was the right move, Sam. It wasn't you," Dean said.

"Yeah, this time," Sam snapped. "What about next time?"

Dean sighed, "Sam, when Dad told me…that I might have to kill you, it was only if I couldn't save you. Now, if it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna save you." Dean was quiet for a moment before he chuckled to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Dean, what?"

"Dude, you…you like, full-on had a girl inside you for like a whole week," Dean said with a laugh. "That's pretty naughty."

He chuckled a little to himself and barely opened his eyes again. Sam was doing the whole, I don't think you're funny but I can't help but laugh thing, but then both of his brothers gave him a look when they realized he was laughing a little.

"Pretty naughty," he agreed with Dean, making his brother crack up.

"You're supposed to be asleep," Sam said.

"Can I have something to drink instead?" he asked.

"You want a smoothie?" Dean asked. He nodded, so Dean said to Sam, "Go make Alec a smoothie."

Sam sighed, but he could tell that he was happy to have something to do.

"Hey Dean?" he asked as Dean sat down in the chair next to the sofa again.

"Yeah?"

"You really think these necklaces will keep a demon from possessing one of us?" he asked.

"Yeah, Bobby knows his stuff," Dean said.

"Just hope it won't fall off, I guess," he muttered. He really didn't want to ever be possessed. He never wanted to hurt his brothers.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Dean said. "I think I've got an idea about that."

"Yeah?"

"How would you feel about getting some ink?" Dean asked. He looked over at his brother in surprise and nodded. "Good. Once you're on your feet, we'll get some tattoos."

"Good," he said, snuggling down to get some sleep.

"You better not fall asleep after I made Sam go make a smoothie for you," Dean said. He smiled a little, thinking about how funny Sam's face would be if he fell asleep right now. His phone went off though before he could really fall asleep. He looked around, but he wasn't entirely sure where he'd put it. "Where's your phone?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," he mumbled. "It's probably nothing anyway. Everyone I talk to is here."

His phone went off again, and then again, and again. "Dude, you're blowing up," Dean said as he started to look around. He couldn't remember where he'd put the thing after he'd talked to Dean before.

"What're you doing?" Sam asked as he walked back in with his smoothie.

"Looking for Alec's phone," Dean said.

Sam handed him his smoothie, and then started helping Dean look for his phone. This was already fairly amusing, but then Bobby came into the living room and started helping too. He couldn't help but laugh since this was funny.

"Are you sitting on it?" Dean accused. He shrugged since if he knew that, then he would've just grabbed it himself. Dean started digging around in the sofa cushions, which jostled him a bit, but he didn't say anything. He smiled though when Dean pulled his phone up in victory. "You were sitting on it," Dean said. Dean looked at his phone, and then chuckled to himself. "You're gonna like this."

Dean handed him his phone, and his eyes widened when he saw all the messages. He tried not to smile since he knew his brothers were watching him, but it was Jo. She was talking to him again. A lot.

"Who is it?" Sam whispered to Dean.

"Alec?" Dean asked.

"It's Jo," he finally said, unable to stop his small smile. "Um, she says that she's sorry, she heard that I'm hurt, oh…she said Ellen's pissed at me for not telling her that I was hurt…" He scrolled through the messages, summing up some of what she sent. His eyes widened again when he got to the last message.

"What?" Dean asked.

"She's coming here," he said. He looked up at his brothers and smiled again. "She wants to come see me."

Sam and Dean both smiled. Sam might have gotten possessed, but he was back now, and both of his brothers were here, and Jo was coming to see him. Things were looking up.