So, I've gotten a few really awesome reviews asking for more, and who am I to argue? I have some ideas other stories that will probably be similar to this (I can't get enough of tormenting Dean), so you can always check those out when I get to posting them. Thanks to everyone who alerted, favorited, and especially reviewed! This will probably be the last chapter of this story, but there's more where that came from, and the next one will probably be longer.

Also, writing this on my grandmother's computer where I can't turn off the grammar checks so that I can reinvent syntax… pain in the butt. Seriously.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did… I'd be rich. And awesome.

Dean slept for the next two days. Sam was worried, but Dean looked so peaceful that he felt a little relieved as well. It was a constant battle of wondering when sleep stopped helping and started tearing his brother away from him for good. But that wasn't all. There was also the fact that he wanted to see his brother whole again.

That made him sick all over again. Was Dean really whole, or was that just an act that would help Sam and not Dean? He found himself cradling his brother every so often, wanting to wrap him up and protect him from what was outside, inside, from Dean himself and Sam himself and everything, whispering to Dean how much he loved him, how much he had done from Sam and John, what a wonder he really was.

Two days of utter misery, not knowing what to expect when Dean woke up, and then Sam woke to find Dean's eyes looking at him from under his lashes. He shot out of his own bed and nearly collapsed beside Dean's in record time. "Dean?" he asked, his voice unable to rise over a croak.

Dean opened his mouth a made a little squeaking noise. Closing his mouth angrily, he tried again, but this time there was even little noise. Sam put a hand on his brother's cheek. "Can't talk?" Dean shook his head, but tried again, tears coming to his eyes in frustration. "Throat hurt?" Dean nodded, apparently giving up on his efforts to speak. Sam picked up a notepad on the side table and dug a pen out of one of the drawers. "Here."

The covers over his brother twitched a few times, and then Dean fixed him with a melancholy, helpless look. Sam realized the problem and dragged his brother's hand from under the covers. It shook him that Dean was too weak to lift blankets, but he said nothing. He pushed the pen in Dean's hand and directed the hand gently to the paper.

Dean wrote, his hand shaking from the effort. His letters looked like that of a five-year-old, but they were legible. "Bathroom?" Sam read. "Oh! You need to go?" Dean nodded. Sam looked at him, sighing. "Um…" He rubbed at his face. If Dean could barely lift his arm, could he go to the bathroom? "I'll carry you there."

Dean made face, and Sam almost giggled with the normality of it all. "Don't look at me like that. You can't walk." Dean looked at him as if to say, 'Watch me,' but he let Sam slide his arms under Dean's knees and his shoulders. "Ready?" Dean nodded, and Sam pulled him up with a grunt. Dean wasn't exactly light. Dean made a noise that was something like a moan. "You OK?" Sam asked, concerned.

Dean managed half a nod, raising a shaking arm to point at his head before quickly grasping back onto Sam as he slipped slightly. "Head hurts?" he asked, clutching Dean tightly now, afraid to let him fall. Dean nodded slightly. "Alright, let's get to the bathroom and then you can rest some more." He figured he was comforting himself as much as he was Dean, because he wasn't looking forward to carrying Dean all that way.

It was a slow march to the bathroom, but they made it. He set Dean down beside the toilet, and Dean reached out to grip the counter above the toilet, managing to pull himself to almost standing. "You can manage alone, right?" Sam asked, hoping beyond hoping that Dean could. Dean had suffered enough humiliation. Dean nodded, and Sam hurried away before Dean got too tired.

He stood outside the door until he heard the toilet flush and a small knock. He opened the door to find Dean sitting by the sink, almost asleep. "All good?"

Dean managed a quiet, "Mmm." Sam grinned and pulled Dean into his arms again. Dean was even more boneless than before, and Sam realized he was asleep again. He walked back to the bed and laid his brother down, smiling slightly. Dean would be alright. He always was. He looked at his brother's peaceful face and smiled. He'd all but promised his brother that he would still view him as invincible, and he would damn well give him that much.

-X-

Dean slept straight through another day. Sam's worries returned as he realized Dean hadn't really said anything of value when he had woken up, and could have still had some lingering scars that the poison had caused. When Dean finally woke up the next morning, Sam had once again worried himself near collapse.

This time, Dean already seemed a great deal stronger. He struggled to sit up, but he sat up nonetheless, looking blearily at a much relieved Sam for a moment before letting out a sneeze that could have probably exploded his head if he'd held it back. His face scrunched in pain, and Sam was by his side in a second. "Dean?" he asked. "What's the matter?"

Dean waved him back. He tried to say something, but only managed to grate at his tortured vocal chords. He glared sharply at nothing and pointed at his throat, then his head. "Want some Advil?" Dean nodded glumly and nearly rocketed himself into the headboard with another sneeze. Sam did his best not to laugh.

He came back with some Advil and water, both of which Dean gulped down so quickly he choked. "Shoot." Sam sighed and pulled his brother straighter so that he could swallow. Dean sniffed, looking like the very picture of misery.

Sam sat down beside his brother and placed a hand on his forehead. Dean jerked away, then leaned into his touch as soon as he'd fulfilled his pain-in-the-ass brother duty. Normally, Sam would have assumed that this meant he felt really, really bad, but now… maybe Dean was still just a little raw. And a little warm. "Fever. Man, Dean, you never do anything halfway, do you?"

Dean 'hmpf'ed, crossing his arms. He pantomimed writing with his hand and Sam quickly handed him the writing pad. He wrote something and displayed it, holding it like a shield into Sam's face. Sam sniggered. It wrote, "Cheeseburger?" He nodded. "Sure, Dean. You up for going out?"

Dean nodded eagerly, getting off the bed a little too quickly and swaying dangerously. Sam helped him stay upright, gently pushing against his back and saying nothing. Dean regained his balance and made his way slowly to his boots. He plopped down in one of the chairs to put on his boots, then carefully stood up again, looking and grinning at Sam as if to say, "Look how good I am!"

Sam smirked at his brother's triumph and resisted helping him to the door. Dean was walking like a three-year-old, but he was steadily making it to the car. At least he went straight for the passenger seat. Sam went to the driver's seat and drove to the nearest sit-in diner. Dean didn't hesitate to grin flirtingly at the waitress while Sam ordered for both of them. He ruined it with an explosive sneeze, but the way she babied him afterwards didn't seem to be all that unwelcome either.

Dean finished his burger without a second thought, which Sam took to be a good sign. After they had gotten back to the car, he checked his brother's forehead. His fever was still light, but there. Dean scowled at him, but Sam ignored him. "Man, it sure is nice that you can't talk," Sam quipped, earning a menacing glare from Dean that said clearly that he was going to resort to the kind of talking that didn't take a functioning throat soon. Sam grinned.

Dean opened his mouth and managed something that sounded more like dust falling than 'Bitch,' but which nonetheless got the point across. "Jerk," Sam replied.

When they returned to their room, Dean made for the bed. Sam stopped him. "At least take a shower and get some clean clothes first?" he asked. "You're still wearing your dirty stuff from the woods."

Dean looked at his dirty clothes and nodded in acknowledgement. He eyed Sam, then grabbed the notepad. He scrawled something and handed it to Sam, leaning down to untie his boots to avoid looking at his brother. Sam read the note, looked up at Dean, then read it again. All it said was, "Hoodie?"

Sam sat down beside Dean. His boots had been untied for a long time now, but Dean was still bent in half, fiddling with them. Sam sighed, unsure of how to handle this. He laid his hand on Dean's back, but Dean didn't react. Sam opened his mouth and stayed there dumbly for a long time. Dean had almost entirely unlaced both boots when he finally said, "Sure. You can have my hoodie."

He patted Dean's back and went to get one of his smaller, brown hoodies for Dean. Dean looked relieved when he took it from Sam and quickly went to shower. Sam, in the meantime, sat down heavily on one of the beds. He couldn't remember a time when Dean had actually asked to wear his hoodie. He put his face in his hands. He didn't want to confront Dean, force him to talk just like the poison had, but he didn't want his brother to have to deal with this all on his own.

He sat on the bed worrying until Dean was done. Dean smiled at his own bed like it was heaven and crawled straight into it, not even giving Sam the chance to say anything before he was dead asleep. Sam smiled and went to his own bed. He was asleep quickly, but there was no reprieve from his usual nightmares.

He woke to a small whimper. It took him a moment to recollect himself before he realized that it had to have been Dean. He shot up, entirely alert in one moment. "Dean?" he whispered, not wanting to wake Dean if he was wrong. "You alright?"

Dean moaned, struggling against the blankets he'd managed to tangle himself into. Sam stood and walked over to his brother, who appeared to be asleep, eyes shut and his face contorted in pain and panic. He kicked out against the blankets, and Sam reached out one hand to steady him while he untangled his panicked brother. Dean let out a frightened cry and tried to roll away, finding his blankets still in his way. Sam settled his hand on his brother's head. Dean squirmed, but Sam kept his hand steady. "Dean," he said loudly. "Wake up. You're having a nightmare."

Dean whined and tried to escape his attacker, moaning when Sam clung to him. "Dean. Wake up," he repeated, sounding severe, like his father giving orders.

Dean shot up, attempting to scream and ending up with a loud choke and a lingering cough. Sam rubbed his brother's back until Dean managed to get some air in. Dean gasped for air desperately, then looked up, confused. "Where…" he rasped, coughing some more.

"Motel, Dean," Sam said. "Remember? The motel?"

"Got back?" Dean asked, rubbing at his eyes clumsily. His voice was still rusty, barely managing a whisper.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, we got back."

"Woodpecker dead?" Sam couldn't help but notice the fear that laced into his brother's question.

"Yeah, Dean," he said. "And trust me, we're never hunting one of those again."

Dean mumbled. "OK." He pulled himself under the cover again. "Go back to sleep." He closed his eyes and his breathing evened impossibly fast.

Sam gritted his teeth. "Dean, I know you're not sleeping." No response. "Dean." He sighed and went back to bed in defeat. Hopefully his brother would be ready to talk to him eventually.

He hadn't even fallen entirely back asleep when he felt a little nudge at his side. He looked up at Dean, who loomed over his bed, looking ashamed. Dean rubbed at his collarbone where the woodpecker had gotten him and said nothing. "No, Dean," Sam said, feeling mean about it but knowing Dean needed it.

Dean stared at him, wide eyed, looking crushed. Sam rolled over and closed his eyes. There was no sound from his still brother for a long time, then a crinkle of sheets as Dean crawled slightly onto his bed to poke him on the shoulder. "Get out of my bed, Dean," Sam growled, refusing to look at his brother.

The bed dipped as Dean sat on the side of it, presumably baffled. "Sam?" he squeaked.

"You made it clear you were fine and I really just want to sleep, so no cuddling."

The dip was removed from his bed and he could hear the other bed creak. He waited. Dean sniffed. He counted down. "It just hit below the belt, you know?" Dean whispered finally.

Sam rolled onto his back. "I know. But we're here to help each other, Dean. You don't have to work through all this alone." He paused. "Listen, I'm not saying you have to spill your heart out to me every day, but… let me at least know when you're not OK."

Dean sniffed again. "Sam, don't bother. You know now anyway."

Sam wanted to sit up, but refrained. "Know what?" Dean didn't reply. "That you're weak?" Dean's sniff told all. Sam sat up, but Dean wouldn't look at him, staring at the ceiling with great interest. "Because I don't know that. All that I've gotten from this whole thing is that you're the strongest person I know." He waited for a response, clearly in vain. He sighed. "Dean, if I was in as much pain as you, if I had as much on my shoulders as you, I would have collapsed ages ago. So what if clinging to dad and me is your way of dealing with more than anyone should have to deal with?"

Dean rubbed at his eyes and subtly turned a small sob into a cough. "You mean it?" he whispered, going even quieter than his throat forced him to. Sam marveled at his brother. Amidst all his toughness, Dean also managed to be like a little child.

"You bet I mean it, Dean." Sam got up and slid into his brother's bed, taking the blankets into his hands. "And even if you let me share some of that weight, you'll still be my freaking hero, you got it?"

Dean nodded as Sam settled the blankets around both of them and then pulled Dean into his long arms. "Thanks, Sam," he whispered, shuffling closer and laying his head against Sam's shoulder.

"Thank you, Dean," Sam answered, feeling Dean drop off in his arms. He grinned. "You're still a jerk, though."

"Bitch," Dean mumbled back with a tiny smile before he fell asleep.

D'aw. Anyway, hope you liked! I love reviews and I am not ashamed to beg for them. :D