We're not calling it Babe 19/?
Chapter 19
Dean's first instinct when he had his brother and his pig bundled up in the car and the vet clinic in his rear view mirror was to drive straight through back to the bunker. It was only half a day away and he could get there faster if he pushed it.
But now that the immediate danger was gone, both Mac and Sam mainly needed rest, at least in Sam's case he hoped that was enough, exhaustion crept up on him. By now it was early morning and he hadn't slept all night. Plus there were the aftereffects of what he'd done under the influence of the Mark. It wasn't exactly a physical exhaustion, more an emotional one, but it left him drained and tired nevertheless. Dean yawned and rubbed his palm over his stubble to keep himself awake. He needed to at least put some distance between them and the bodies they had left behind.
Dean threw a glance over at Sam. He was sleeping with his head against the window, using his jacket as a makeshift pillow that didn't help much to cushion the vibrations from the car. It didn't look comfortable even for someone who didn't suffer from a concussion.
Dean's gaze wandered down to Mac but in the darkness of the car he couldn't make out more than a vague shape. There was no movement, the pig was still out like a light. Which was probably for the better, Dean knew how much of a bitch wounds could be that went over the ribcage. Every breath was fun even without the almost gutted part.
To not jostle them around too much Dean drove like a grandma and he was just glad that Sam was out because he would never hear the end of that. Not that Sam wouldn't be secretly grateful for the not jostling part but he was a pain in the ass little brother.
Dean only drove for about an hour or two before he started looking for a place to crash. By now he had to fight to keep his eyes open.
At a gas station he helped himself to a strong coffee and bought some bottles of Mountain Dew and crackers for Sam.
When he came back to the car, Sam hadn't moved but Mac blinked up at him with a questioning sound.
"I'm here." He reassured the pig and leaned down to scratch him behind the ear. Mac leaned into the touch as if he needed to make sure that Dean was really there but then he dropped back into his nest. The way he went limp and drifted off to sleep, Dean hoped that the meds still worked and Mac wasn't in pain.
Dean used the coffee break to have a look at the motels around here on his phone. He wanted something a bit more upscale than the dumps they usually stayed at. A place where he didn't have to fear that his patients caught something nasty on top of the injuries they already had.
And a comfortable bed would be nice too. Not that Dean expected to get much sleep any time soon. He still needed to keep an eye on Sam. If things got worse he would bring him into the next ER. Which he also checked out on his phone while he was at it. Just in case.
A destination in mind Dean eased the Impala back on the road.
Sam slept through everything and didn't even notice when Dean parked the car and left to get them a room. It only took a few minutes but Dean couldn't help but glance in the direction of the car every few seconds even if he couldn't actually see it from here.
"Sick baby?" The clerk, an elderly woman with a warm smile, asked.
"Something like that." Dean answered absently before he turned back to her. "That obvious?" He didn't correct her, it was kinda true. Even if one of his babies was a seven foot giant and the other one a pig.
He hadn't asked about pets but it was early enough in the morning, nobody would notice when he carried Mac inside. And even if somebody noticed, as long as nobody had a closer look, he probably could pass Mac off as a baby.
Back at the car Dean had to be careful when he opened the passenger side door that his brother didn't just fall out.
"Dean?" Sam smacked his lips without opening his eyes.
"C'mon, Sam." With a steadying hand on his shoulder he tried to navigate Sam's freakishly long legs out of the car without hitting Mac. At least the pig had woken up and scrambled out of the way by himself. At least he tried to. The pained noise he made broke Dean's heart but first he had to get Sam inside.
"It's okay." Dean tried to sooth both of them. It was lost to Sam who's head just lolled from one side to the other but Mac settled down with a sigh.
"Sam." Dean lifted Sam's head to get his brother's attention. "There's a bed waiting for you."
Sam rose far enough to get out of the car and make his way over to their room with a minimum of help from Dean.
However, he did need help with his shoes, bending down with a concussion was never a good idea, but he managed to wiggle his way out of his jeans by himself. Dean helped him out of the blood soiled shirts but before he let Sam crawl under the covers he set him up with painkillers and fluids.
Sam was out again the second his head hit the fluffy pillow and Dean was out of the room to get Mac a second later.
Mac was awake but hadn't moved since he'd tried to get away from Sam's feet.
"Hey." Dean crouched down in the open door, pondering his options. He didn't want to cause Mac more pain than he absolutely had to. "How are you doing?"
Mac answered with a noise that almost sounded like a question. He pinned Dean down with his stare and it did feel like he had thrown the question right back at Dean.
"I'm fine." Dean assured him and only felt a little stupid for explaining himself to a pig. The way Mac pressed his head into his palm, he wasn't buying it.
"I'm at least not injured." Dean pointed out. It was too dark in the foot room to actually see him but Dean had no doubt that Mac was rolling his eyes at him.
"Let's get you inside. You can have my bed, sounds good?" Dean asked but didn't wait for an answer. He scooped Mac up with his nest and everything and carefully carried him inside.
He put him down in the middle of the second bed. They usually shared a bed nowadays so it wouldn't be a problem. Not that Dean was ready for sleep just yet.
By now Sam was snoring softly and Dean breathed easier, at least he didn't have to deal with two patients at the same time.
"You good?" Dean sat down next to Mac who wiggled into a more comfortable position with little pained noises before he went still.
"I know." Dean petted his head, keeping his hand from the bandages covering more than half of his body. "I'm sorry."
Before he had acted on instinct. Get Mac out of the trailer and to the vet, take care of Sam and then get them both to safety. Now that that was all done, Dean had time to think. He could have lost Mac, he could have lost Sam. He could have lost himself to the Mark.
His hand on Mac's head stilled and he had to swallow against the sudden lump in his throat.
"I almost got you killed." He would have never said something like that if Sam had been awake but Sam was sleeping and with Mac he could pretend that the pig didn't understand him. He was pretty sure that he was lying to himself with that but it made things easier.
At his words Mac did move. He was clearly in pain but determination kept him going, he was a Winchester after all, and he didn't stop until he lay spread over Dean's lap.
"I take that you disagree?" Dean asked but couldn't shake off the feeling that he had failed at protecting him. Magic or not, Mac was just a little piglet and luck and glamor can get you only so far.
They stayed like that for a while, Dean sitting on the bed with Mac in his lap. It wasn't really comfortable for Dean, his legs were going numb and he had to brace himself with one arm on the bed, but Mac had dozed off again and he didn't want to wake him up.
He wondered if he could scoot up to the headboard without waking Mac, when Sam bolted out of his bed and after a confused second dashed towards the bathroom.
Dean let out a sigh when the retching started.
"Sorry, bud." As gently as possible he transferred Mac back to his nest and then went to check on his brother.
He found him on his knees, arms curled around the toilet and his head resting on the seat. Dean was really glad that he had spent more money than usual on their room so at least the toilet looked clean and chances were good that it actually was.
"You done?" He filled a glass with water and handed it to Sam who took it with a shaking hand.
Sam knew better than to nod or move his head more than absolutely necessary. That was why he rinsed his mouth with his chin still resting on the toilet seat.
"How do you feel?" Dean took the glass back before Sam could drop it in the toilet. "Ready to go back to bed?"
He gave Sam's neck a squeeze. The muscles were tense and the skin was clammy but he had expected it. Concussions were never fun.
While he waited for Sam to collect himself, Dean rubbed circles with his thumb in the nape of his neck. It never failed to relax him and like this Sam was too out of it to really notice so Dean could get away with it.
On their way back to the bed Dean sneaked in a few questions to make sure that Sam was orientated and wasn't suffering any symptoms more worrying than nausea and a mother of a headache.
Sam clearly didn't like it when Dean didn't let him go back to sleep immediately but he knew the drill and played along. A few sips of Mountain Dew to give him back some fluids later Dean let him go back to sleep.
By now the sun was up and Dean drew the curtains close to block out the light. Sam commented it with an approving huff before he buried his face in the pillow and was out again.
Mac was sleeping as well and Dean stretched out next to him on the bed. He hadn't slept all night and he should catch an hour or two before Sam was done with sleeping and became all whiny and clingy.
As a true Winchester Sam suffered in heroic silence when it came to dying but with something like this he suddenly remembered that he was a brat of a little brother. Dean was looking forward to it. Now. Later he would be tempted to strangle his brother, he was sure of it.
So he should rest while he had the chance but he was too tired to sleep.
He didn't really remember what had happened in the trailer after that guy had hurt Mac but bits and pieces were coming back. The details were lost to him but he did remember the feeling.
It had felt good. And that was what scared him the most about the Mark. How he embraced that feeling and how it became more and more difficult to not give in to the temptation.
Without realizing it he had reached out for Mac and now the pig slept wedged into his side. And just like that the dark thoughts eased off and Dean drifted of to sleep.
Chapter 20
Masterpost