AN: Wow, the last couple of eps have been intense. Here are my thoughts on the matter with a slash twist of course. Enjoy.

Colby pulled the door closed and locked it. He hated having to do this to his little sister.

"She alright?" Dean asked, waiting outside the cheap motel room for him. Staying here was a bit of a risk, but they needed to regroup, and he was counting on Bella's dislike of cops to stop her from yelling for help.

"No," Colby sighed, taking a seat on an old bench so he could keep watch.

He leaned forward, arms resting on his knees. Looking down, he saw that his hands were shaking. Dean sat down beside him, laying a hand on his back.

"What about you?"

This was the first chance they'd had to take a breath since this morning. And thinking back, he'd done things he never thought he'd be capable of. Like forcing Bella to do something against her will. Throwing her over his shoulder as she struggled against him. His hand came up to his neck where she'd scratched him, it still stung. And then shoving her in the car. Exactly like Ross had done all those years ago...

He couldn't speak, couldn't voice and make real the fear that he had become what he hated.

He shook his head.

"Hey," Dean said, leaning in closer. "You did what you had to do."

He'd thought that once before too, and Dean had paid the price.

He lifted his eyes to meet Dean's, he wasn't so sure. There were always choices.

"Did I?"

Bella hadn't actually been in danger, just living a life he didn't agree with.

Dean knew him, knew what he was thinking.

"She had no options there. Eighteen-year-old girls aren't supposed to answer the door with a crossbow."

He was right, seeing that cold look in Bella's eyes, it was too much like what he'd faced down every day growing up.

Bella had changed for the worse. Dean had been her friend too and she'd fired that arrow right at him. In that moment when she'd taken aim, Colby had been terrified. For that split second, he'd thought he was going to lose Dean.

"I was so scared," he admitted.

"She isn't herself," Dean offered.

Colby wrapped his arms around Dean.

"I thought I was gonna lose you," he whispered.

Dean hugged him back.

"Nah, I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you. For everything."

Dean's foot bumped his and Colby hissed with pain, pulling back.

Dean looked down at the bloody rag wrapped around his shin.

"C'mon," he said, cupping Colby's cheek and looking into his eyes, leaving all the most important things unspoken. They'd said it all before, they both knew what this meant. "Let's go inside and fix that up."

Colby let Dean help him up, and unlocking the door they went inside the room. Bella was tucked up at the end of a single bed in the corner, looking like a caged wild animal. She was glaring at them hatefully.

"Figures you're a pair of fags," she spat. Colby winced, it hadn't even occurred to him that she would hate him for this too.

"Sit down," Dean instructed, easing him down on the end of the bed, before turning on Bella. "Shut up if you're not gonna help."

"Aw, I've upset your little boyfriend now," she sneered at Colby.

He was at a total loss. How did you reason with someone so unwilling to listen?

"Dean's your friend too..." he reminded her.

"I don't need friends like that..." It was Ross's ignorant bigotry coming out her mouth.

Dean shot him a look that said he was gonna snap. Fighting against abduction was one thing, personal attacks were another.

But Colby was a cop, he knew the tricks, she was trying to rile them up, maybe push them into making a mistake.

"Leave it," Colby said softly. "Just patch me up so we can get going in the morning."

Thankfully Dean let it go, and went to grab what he needed. That turned out to be a motel issue towel ripped into strips and some bottom-shelf vodka from the mini bar.

Dean unpeeled the blood-soaked cloth from around his leg and slid his jeans up. His leg felt swollen and tender and when Dean looked up at him, he knew it wasn't great.

"How long since you've had a tetanus shot?"

"A couple of years."

"That's good."

Colby leaned over to see for himself. It wasn't so much a cut as a jagged tear. It wasn't gonna heal pretty, especially without stitches, but that was a small price to pay.

"This is gonna hurt," Dean said apologetically. That was nothing new, they'd done this plenty of times before. Dean worked quickly because he knew what he was doing. He'd have made a good wartime medic, managing to get things done with basically no resources.

"I'll change it again in the morning," Dean said when he was done.

Colby looked up to see Bella watching intently.

"Dean's had plenty of practice," he told her. "Whenever Ross beat me up."

"I don't care what you do," she dismissed, turning away and laying down. At least she was settling in for the night.

Colby shared a look with Dean. What were they gonna do?

"Get some sleep," Dean decided. They'd been awake for close to thirty-six hours now.

"You need it too," Colby said.

Dean stood up and chucked the bloody rags in the bin.

"You need to heal. I've got this."

Colby couldn't argue with that, he'd be useless if this got any worse.

Dean sat on the bed, propped up where he could keep an eye on Bella. Colby laid down beside him, choosing to use Dean's thigh instead of the pillow.

"Wake me in a few hours."

"Alright," Dean agreed, running his fingers though Colby's hair. That touch was the best medicine of all.

It was a totally messed up situation and he had no idea what they should do next. But he drifted off to sleep, comforted by the knowledge that whatever it was, they'd do it together.