AN: Sorry guys. I've been bogged down with assignments and papers with school this past several days. Not to mention editing an upcoming book. I'd felt pretty constructive when I threw in writing a fanfic, but I had started ignoring the other stuff to do it…which in all honesty is exactly what I used to do all the time back when I was constantly writing fanfic. It's a great feeling to be back, but it's super overwhelming to try and do so much at once! So I'm finishing up this story here and I hope to get back to more fanfic writing once my editing is done with my book. (btw if you're interested, look on Amazon for Where the Teddy Bears Have Their Picnic, by C.M. Adams. But right now I'm trying out a new platform, so look for it on inkitt dot com. It's free right now! The book I'm working on now is another in the series with those characters.

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1:07am. That's what Sam's phone said when he checked it for the fourth time that night. He'd dozed on and off but couldn't seem to stay asleep for very long.

Dean had gone to sleep a few hours ago and Sam couldn't stop thinking about the fact that his big brother was not himself right now. He was scared that Cas might be wrong; might not be able to completely fix Dean's brain. It wasn't that he was afraid he'd have to deal with the change for the rest of his life, but that it would be more difficult to keep Dean safe. Sure, they could try and leave the life. They could stay in the bunker and just be like a dispatch for hunters. But in all reality, getting out of the life never quite worked out for them, and he couldn't expect it to be any different now.

On the plus side, Dean seemed less angry. Maybe the damage had let it bounce off of him, Sam couldn't be sure. He just knew that this version of Dean was less self-hating, angry, guilt-ridden…maybe it wasn't such a bad thing if he didn't get better.

Of course, this is what he'd thought during the witch curse before this witch curse had happened. That was a little different though. There was a huge difference between letting things go and forgetting them altogether. Still, it felt wrong to want him to stay this way, and Sam felt like a dick even thinking about it. Even if he could make it work.

"Sammy?" came Dean's voice suddenly and quietly from the doorway, and Sam would've noticed sooner had the phone screen not still been lit up. He rolled over quickly, sitting up partially in the bed as he clicked the light on. Dean was looking tired and a little scared and…oh so small.

"Dean? You okay?" Sam asked.

"Can… Can I sleep in here with you?" he asked in an even quieter voice. "The nightmare keeps coming back because I'm all alone. I need you to keep it away again. Please?" His arms were hugged around himself and he shifted awkwardly where he stood.

"Sure," Sam said as he moved over on the already small bed. "C'mon." He patted the mattress and lifted the thin blanket for him.

Dean gratefully crossed the room and crawled into the bed, curling up into Sam's side. It made Sam think back to the last time he'd done the same to Dean. He must've been eleven. He'd had a nightmare, too, but his was about Dean and their dad getting taken by monsters…

"You're my best brother," Dean said as he snaked an arm around Sam's middle, his head tucked onto his shoulder.

"You're my best brother," Sam replied with a smile at the absurdity of it all. "You took care of me whenever I got scared too, remember?" Dean seemed to think about that for a few moments before Sam felt him nod. "You always took care of me. Even when I was a pain in the butt." Dean snickered at that. "So of course you can stay with me if you need to. Any time you need to, okay?" Dean yawned big which made Sam smile again. "I love you, Dean."

"I love you too, Sam. G'night."

"Goodnight."

*~.~*

"So, let me get this straight," Dean said as he paced beside the table in the library. "For the past couple weeks, I've had a fried brain and you just let me snuggle in bed with you every night? What the hell?"

Sam couldn't keep the grin off his face. "Dude, you were having nightmares. How was I supposed to tell you 'no'?"

"You tell me to rub some dirt in it! Give me a bottle of whiskey! I dunno!"

"Yeah, like you'd have done that if it'd been me."

"I'd have gotten you drunk before bed is what I would've done. You sleep like a baby when you're drunk."

"Uh huh," Sam replied, not buying what he was selling. "That's not what you did when I was a kid."

"Key words there: being a kid. There's a difference."

"Maybe not, though. I mean…it sorta felt like you were." Dean looked like he was about to retort but Sam stopped him. "Look, man. All I know is that…you needed me, and I wasn't gonna let you down." He said it in a smaller voice. One that got to Dean every damn time. Dean wiped a hand down his face, then stopped his pacing and plopped down in a chair across from his brother. "I'd have kept doing it," Sam told him.

"What?"

"If Cas couldn't have fixed you," he elaborated. "It's not how I'd pictured us ending the life, but… You know I'd do anything for you, right?" Dean's eyes shifted between Sam's and down at the table top. "Just like you've done everything for me my whole life. I wouldn't have left you."

"Dude, there are innocent people out there that need our help. You can't just—"

"You are innocent people, Dean."

"You've gotta be joking…"

"No, I'm not. I know you like to carry around all this…guilt and stuff and it makes you feel like you've somehow wronged the universe, but you're so wrong. You're a hero. You're my hero."

"I'm not a hero, Sam."

"You need to look up the definition, man. I'm pretty sure your picture is right next to it."

"Stop," he deadpanned. "You're making me blush."

"I'm serious, Dean. And no matter how much you might think otherwise, you'll always be a hero to me."

"For the past 15 days I've been snuggling my little brother."

"Because of the damage you took to the brain while saving hundreds of lives!" Dean made a face. "You've literally sacrificed yourself over and over, just to save other people. To save me."

"It's my job, Sam."

"Well you could've quit whenever you wanted to," Sam retorted. "Hell, I did. Twice." Dean put his forehead down on the table top with a sigh. "The point is," Sam continued. "You don't need to be all embarrassed just because you needed me for a little while. And I'm not going to apologize for giving you what you needed. It's just…not gonna happen, so give it up."

Dean looked up at him for a long moment, took a breath as he straightened, and rolled his eyes with an exhale. "Okay fine. We'll never speak of it again." He tapped his fingers on the table top. "Now, I'm hungry," he said as he pushed away from the table and stood. "We got anything here, or do I need to make a run?"

"What you need to do is cook us something," Sam replied. "All you've wanted for the past couple weeks is fruity pebbles and Kraft mac n cheese."

"First off, that's the food of the gods. Let's just get that straight. Secondly, you really need to learn how to tell a kid 'no' sometimes. You think you'd be as freakishly tall as you are now if I didn't make you eat your vegetables?"

"You weren't a kid, Dean…"

"Well I was kind of a kid. I clearly didn't make any rational decisions."

"Yeah because giving you whiskey would've been a better solution."

"Dude…just gotta roll with the punches," he said with a grin.

"Just go make us some dinner, will you?" Sam said with raised brows and a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Fine, fine…" Dean stalked away toward the kitchen.

Sam watched until he disappeared from his vision, then closed his eyes for a moment. "Thanks, Cas," he prayed. "You really did it…"

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The end~