Sam panted contently, slipping his gun back into his bag as he turned away from the limp form of the Kanima, sprawled on the floor.
"Alright, let's go."
He tucked his hair behind his ears and adjusted his jacket, slowing down when his brother failed to respond.
"Dean?"
He glanced backwards to see his brother stationary, sitting down leaning against the wall. Too stationary. His arms hung limply at his sides, fingers curled slightly and his legs sprawled out in front of him; whilst his chest rose and fell steadily, the rest of him was eerily still. Dean was looking down at himself, breathing heavily, an expression of fear and discontent ghosting his features as he scanned his body for inexistent injuries.
"Sonufabitch…"
He looked up at Sam, fixing his bright green eyes upon the brown as he struggled to catch his breath to form words.
"Dean?" he repeated, worry creeping into his voice as it dawned upon him that this wasn't right. Something was wrong with his brother.
"Sam, I can't freakin move."
Confusion and worry flashed through Sam's mind; he couldn't see any blood, or bruises; the Kanima had barely touched Dean. It had been about to attack him, yes, one cracked and scaly claw upon his brother's shoulder, but Sam had got there first to slam it into the wall opposite - he had barely noticed Dean drop to the floor behind him. And Dean was a fighter; Sam had seen him grit his teeth and push through stab wounds, gunshots, broken bones and who knows what else; he was never one to complain or falter in the face of injury. God, he had been to hell. But one look at his brother's face and Sam could see he was scared.
Sam took a couple of steps forward tentatively after another glance back at the Kanima to ensure its form was lifeless. "What do you mean, you can't move?"
"I ca-" Dean was breathing rapidly as he stuttered over his words, his eyes still moving over his limbs as if he was willing them to work. "Fuck! God damn it."
Sam dropped to his knees beside his brother, pushing his bag aside and slipping a hand onto his shoulder. "Pain?"
"No. Nonono, I'm ju- I can feel my legs, and my arms so it can't be spinal, but I can't move anything. Son of a bitch!"
Sam moved his hand down Dean's shoulder; it was the only place he had even been touched by the Kanima, and no blood was seeping through. He was pretty sure by now that whatever the hell this was it wasn't natural. No one had ever been paralyzed from the neck down from a couple of cuts on a shoulder. He reached for Dean's collar and undid the first few buttons of his shirt to pull it down around his arm, gently pushing the sleeve back in fear of hurting Dean more, though he still didn't understand what could have happened. He was met with a couple of grazes where the hybrid had gripped him; they weren't deep or bleeding, but surrounding them was a small amount of clear, thick substance that oozed slowly from the wounds. Sam's heart dropped - in all the lore they - well, he - had researched about the Kanima, nothing had said anything about the paralysis being transmitted through a wound.
"Damn it."
Dean's eyes were still fixed upon Sam. "It got me, didn't it?"
Sam exhaled. "Uh, yeah." He pulled Dean's shirt back up; there was nothing he could do, the damage was done. Even if he cleaned the wound of the venom, it was already seeping its way into his brother's blood, temporarily paralyzing him from the neck down. They had known of the monster's ability to render its victims helpless through its venom, but they had no idea that the Kanima had venom in its claws too. Plus, it wasn't like any of the other victims lasted long in its clutches anyway, so they aimed to just gank the fucker and be done with it. Shit - if they had known this they would have been more careful rather than just charging in, but it was done now.
"Damn it!" Dean parroted, glaring over at where the Kanima lay lifeless on the floor.
"It won't be permanent," Sam stated somewhat reassuringly, unable to keep the hint of concern out of his voice. He moved his other hand to Dean's good shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "It won't, we know that. The venom is only strong enough to last a couple hours, alright?"
Dean groaned and rested his head against the wall. He hated not being in control; usually he was on full alert mode, knowing he could gank pretty much anything that came his way. But being helpless like this? He would never openly admit it to Sam, but he's freaking out, his breathing subtly quickening again as he closed his eyes.
Sam could read his brother like a book. "Dean. I gotcha, okay? You-"
Sam's head snapped round as a snarl rang out behind him. He barely had time to register the flying dark shadow above them before it was next to them, its beady eyes glowing a malicious orange as it raised its muscled claw. Sam didn't even think before throwing himself in front of his brother, arm groping blindly for his gun in the bag next to them as an afterthought. He managed to yank it from the material; just as the Kanima's arm was coming down, a second gunshot echoed throughout the building and the monster flopped down onto Sam before he kicked it away in disgust.
"Dean, you good?"
"What the hell? I thought there was only supposed to be one!"
Sam glanced out the doorway. It was late, the building should be silent and empty except for them; but as the ringing in his ears died down, he could hear a distant scuttling echoing through the stairways below.
"Shit, Dean. I think we walked into a freaking nest." He shoved the gun back in the bag and slung it over his shoulder. "We gotta get out of here now. Come on - I gotcha."
"What are you-"
Sam shifted to Dean's side and slid one arm under his knees and one under his back. In one hasty movement, he hitched him up into a rough bridal carry, his limbs hanging lifelessly like a rag doll.
"Oh hell no. Put me down, Sammy!"
"Dude, are you expecting to walk yourself out?"
Another snarl echoed through the building, closer this time. Dean's head snapped to the door, brushing against Sam's chest, his green eyes wide and unable to mask his fear now. He trusted Sam, and secretly found his grip comforting, but if the fuckers came for them now Sam couldn't carry him and gank them at the same time. And if the Kanimas got Sam as well they were both screwed. They just had to get out.
Sam held Dean tighter to his chest.. "Just hold on, okay? I gotcha."
He marched towards the door steadily, clutching his reluctant brother in his arm