amalthia | Whisper of the Heart (Complete Single File) (Reply)

Chapter One

Dean didn't know what woke him up. He lay on the lumpy bed with his eyes closed a moment longer, listening to the loud droning of the window unit AC as it struggled to pump cool air in their cheap Motel 6 room. The scratchy thin sheets had fallen off onto the floor during the night and his feet hung off the end of the bed. His body didn't feel right; his feet should have been cold because the AC was blowing across the foot of his bed as he tried to fall asleep.

Wary for any signs of danger, he sat up slowly, pulling the knife out from under his pillow. The handle felt slippery and was difficult to grip properly, the size was off. The sunlight shining through the gaps in the curtain provided enough light for Dean to see that his arm was covered in bright yellow fur. His hand had changed shape into a paw with no claws and a thumb-like appendage. It now looked like a furry yellow child's mitten. The knife handle was smaller because he'd grown large like the Hulk, except yellow and furry instead of green and mean.

He raised his eyes past his new paw-hands and saw his new yellow fur covered paw-feet sticking off the edge of the bed. The wind of the AC ruffled the short fur on his feet and legs sideways like blades of grass on a prairie, but he didn't feel cold. Apparently, the fur kept him well insulated.

On the verge of panicking, he swallowed hard, took deep breaths, and laid the knife down on the nightstand. This was not the time to panic. This could be an elaborate dream or a hallucination; in either case he needed a mirror.

He jumped out of bed to and came to a halt when he saw what was sleeping in Sam's bed. It was a giant Care Bear, the one with the red heart on its stomach and brownish-orange tan fur, though this one was alive, as its soft snuffling snores could attest to.

Heart lurching in his throat, he stumbled over his shoes and around the foot of Sam's bed, somehow managing to keep his balance until he reached the bathroom light switch. The florescent light came on and he saw that he had indeed turned into a giant yellow Care Bear. He had a round body, with a big white circle where his stomach should be, and a smiling sun shining yellow rays out of its ass! And he didn't think he'd ever recover from seeing a literal heart shaped yellow nose on his face.

"SAM!!!!" Dean bellowed, backing away from the mirror, unable to stop starring at the ugly swirl of yellow hair sticking out of his head. He didn't want to turn around to see if what he thought he felt was really a button tail on his backside.

Sam rolled over on his side and snuggled into the nasty flat pillow that came with the motel room. "Sleeping," he muttered waving a paw at Dean to go away.

At least the snoring stopped.

"Wake up!" Dean yanked on Sam's leg to get his attention. He got a pillow in the face for his efforts.

"Jesus, Dean! Shut up, I'm trying to sleep." Sam rolled the other way, ignoring him. This gave Dean the perfect opportunity to see a button tail and a red heart tattooed on Sam's hip. Dean checked, yep he had both of those, too.

"Dude, we're freaking Care Bears!"

"Not funny," Sam grumbled. "I'm tired."

"Do I sound like I'm kidding?"

When Sam pulled the other pillow over his head, Dean shouted, "Get up!" Dean knew he was being an asshole; Sam had been up late last night studying the latest case Bobby had found. But he needed Sam awake and figuring out how to turn them back to normal human beings.

"What time is it?" Sam's muffled voice came out from under the pillow.

"About eight."

Sam tossed the pillow aside with a dramatic sigh and rubbed his eyes with a paw. Dean didn't say anything when Sam paused, blinked his huge eyes a few times, and stared at the paw on the end of his furry arm.

"Holy Shit!"

The AC clicked off with an abrupt silence.

*****

It took Sam ten minutes to figure out how to use their cell phone to call Bobby and Castiel. Dean had tried first and threw the phone at the wall in frustration. It was not easy to use a cell phone with furry paws and only one thumb-like finger. The fur made the phone slippery and it hid the tiny buttons as well as half the screen. The only reason they succeeded in making the call was because Sam had the patience of a saint and a number 2 pencil.

Dean paced while Sam was on the phone with Bobby. He listened to the one-sided conversation, strangely grateful that they still sounded like themselves even though everything else had changed.

Sam was sitting at the motel desk near the window to make the phone calls. Glints of sunlight, coming in through the gaps in the curtain, shined on the pristine whiteness of Sam's stomach, ear tufts, and muzzle.

"No, this is not a joke," Sam said firmly while holding the cell phone tight near his rounded ear which was located on top of his head. His other ear, not hampered by a cell phone, twitched.

Scowling, Dean resumed pacing. Not even the sight of Sam holding a phone on top of his head, one of the most ridiculously funny things he'd ever seen, broke him from his black mood.

Sam's eyes narrowed with irritation. "You can stop laughing, Bobby." Sam's ears furled inwards hiding the white tufts of fur before he sighed heavily and held the phone away from his ear, the glow of the screen reflecting off the white fur on the palm of Sam's paw. From Dean's position by the table, he could hear the laughter.

Sam glowered at the phone before he brought the phone back to his ear. Sam nodded his head at whatever Bobby was saying on the other end and said, "So you'll see what you can find, right?"

Sam frowned at Bobby's next words and said, "We can't just stay in the motel all day, what about the case?"

Sam paused listening to Bobby before he replied, "No, we can do it. I left a voicemail for Castiel but I'm not sure he knows how to use that feature. If he contacts you first, tell him what's happening. Thanks Bobby."

Sam slapped the phone closed, stood up from the cramped motel chair, and stretched until his paws brushed the ceiling. Dean heard the scrape of the cell phone against the ceiling.

Sam winced and hastily brought his arms back down. He brushed the plaster off the phone and said, "Bobby said he'll look into it."

Dean rolled his eyes behind Sam's back. He figured that part out on his own. "So, theories?"

"I have a few but my best guess is the Trickster, I mean Gabriel." Sam shoved the phone in the pocket of his laptop case. "It makes sense, and he's turned me into a car before. It's not that far a stretch from a car to a Care Bear."

"Good point," Dean agreed with Sam's assessment. "But what the fuck! Care Bears? This makes no fucking sense!" Dean knocked the lamp off the dresser.

Sam eyes widened at Dean's display of temper but he still came to Dean's side, with only a hint of wariness in his posture. Dean didn't know what Sam could be wary about since he was the big hulking grizzly bear sized Care Bear, albeit without claws or jaws full of razor sharp teeth. He actually looked quite harmless with a white muzzle, surrounded by brown-orange fur and a heart shaped red nose to match the heart on his stomach, which allayed any worry on Dean's part as Sam approached.

"Calm down, Dean," Sam said, and gripped Dean's shoulder gently, offering his support and comfort.

Warmth flooded through Dean at Sam's touch, calming and relaxing him. Sam’s paw felt like silk and heat against Dean’s shoulder. Dean didn't freak out until after Sam had let go and stepped back. "Hey watch your paws!"

Sam looked bewildered. "What?" He spread his huge paws out innocently.

"You whammied me!"

"I did not!" Sam stood straighter and put his hands on his hips, ready for a shouting fight. It was all Sammy, even the scowl, but Dean had a hard time feeling threatened when Sam had a red heart on his stomach and tufts of white fur in his ears that twitched with his emotions.

But Dean knew whammied when it happened and didn't like it one bit. "You did! You said 'Calm Down' and I did when you touched me."

Before Sam could respond, there was a soft knock at the door. Instantly alert, they reached for their guns lying out on the dresser, only to find that they couldn't actually use them except as clubs because their Care Bear paws were too big and the wrong shape to fit in the trigger guard.

"Who is it?" Sam asked, coming to a rest alongside the door.

"It is I, Castiel."

Sam visibly relaxed at the sound of Castiel's voice and unlocked the deadbolt. "Thank you for coming," Sam said quietly, stepping back.

Castiel entered the room wearing the same tan trench coat and accountant suit he always wore. His eyes went wide with surprise at their furry new forms.

"I'm guessing you haven't spoken to Bobby yet?" Dean asked, closing the door behind Castiel so no one in the parking lot would see them. The AC churned back on in an agonizing groan.

"I have not. You left a voicemail saying you needed to see me. That there was an emergency."

"Yeah, there's an emergency!" Dean scowled at Castiel's obvious cluelessness. "Look at us!"

Castiel ignored Dean's outburst and stepped closer to Sam, obviously not intimidated by Sam's towering stature. He held his hand out over Sam's stomach, close but not touching. "May I touch?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, if it helps you figure out how to fix us."

"I can't offer any assurances," Castiel said as he placed his hand carefully on the heart in the middle of Sam's stomach. Sam's tail twitched and he shifted side to side.

Dean shuffled closer, mollified now that Castiel was trying something; he wanted to be near Sam in case anything went wrong, well more wrong than waking up as freaking Care Bears. Outside Dean could hear footsteps and suitcases rattling along the sidewalk going past their room and car alarm beep as someone either locked or unlocked the door. The AC muffled most outside noise of people yelling not to forget the pillow or shampoo to their traveling companions.

"I am done," Castiel said, as he released his hold on Sam.

"Well?" Sam asked.

"There is nothing I can do to transform you back to your original form."

"That's it?" Dean complained. "You barely touched him for a minute!"

"Dean, what was done to you and Sam is far beyond my power. All I can advise is don't let anyone touch your stomachs and be careful not to touch anyone with your hands." Castiel had vastly improved at giving bad news, Dean noted.

"What's wrong with our stomachs and hands?" Sam touched his own stomach, nothing happened.

Castiel shook his head. "I cannot say, yet." Before they could protest, Castiel held up his hand forestalling them. "I will investigate this matter." And then he was gone.

"Great, that's just great." Dean wanted to hit something and yell but seeing Sam's slumped shoulders he decided to keep silent.

Weary of change beyond his control, Dean craved the numbness that came with alcohol. Thinking of drinking brought Dean's attention to another matter he'd completely overlooked. He eyed the bathroom and looked down at his body, which wasn't easy with his huge, round head. "Uh, Sam I think we're missing some parts."

Sam's head shot up, "What do you mean?"

"I mean when was the last time you had to take a leak?" Dean gestured to the tiny bathroom door that they probably couldn't even fit through.

"Oh!" Sam's eyes widened and he pushed past Dean to reach the mirror over the sink. He flipped on the light, then twisted and turned in an effort to find the parts Dean already knew were missing. "We don’t have dicks anymore!" he announced after feeling himself between his legs with a paw.

Dean's lips twitched in an effort not to laugh. "Does this mean we're girl Care Bears?" Dean asked, winding Sam up.

In the mirror, Sam's mouth dropped open, before his expression twisted into a scowl. "Of course not, Tenderheart Bear and Funshine Bear were male Care Bears in the cartoon and the movies!"

"And you know this, how?" Dean smirked. He knew full well Sam used to watch the cartoons when he was a kid.

Sam's mouth opened and closed. "This isn't funny, Dean!" He spun around to face Dean and put his hands on his hips again. "We have to meet Melanie Bell at 6pm tonight at the Harrington Mall food court. We can't go looking like this."

"Actually, it's not totally a bad idea," Dean said. "Every mall has a Hallmark store. We can tell Melanie we're working for Hallmark to market their new line of Care Bears, as a disguise of course."

Sam shifted from side to side, his mouth twisting down in an unhappy frown. "I can't go outside like this." He covered his stomach again with his hands, as if two paws could hide the gigantic red heart.

Dean rolled his eyes. It wasn't like they hadn't worn other disguises in the past, though nothing as embarrassing as cartoon characters. But if he didn't say something reassuring, he'd have to use a crow bar to pry Sam from the room. "Come on, it won't be so bad. It's not like you'll be alone. Hell, it might even be fun." There, that sounded convincing.

Sam twisted his hands together, a sure sign that Dean was winning.

"Come on Sam, we don't have a choice. People are dying and the one person who agreed to contact us isn't going to wait around forever."

Sam dropped his hands to the side, and nodded. "We should start packing. We still have about four hours of driving to cover today."

"Well at least we won't need bathroom breaks." Dean clapped his hands and said, "Let's start packing." Only the clap didn't sound right, instead of a sharp crack of skin hitting skin, the two paws hit each other and made a muffled noise similar to hitting a bed with a pillow. Dean glared at his paws in betrayal while Sam covered his mouth to hide a smile.

*****

Packing took much longer than either of them anticipated. Dean decided in the future they should pack the night before just in case they wake up as ants, or with wings, or some other weird shit like that.

Outside in the sunlight, Sam's fur color looked orange instead of the tan-brown from the dim light in the motel room. Dean rubbed his eyes as he watched Sam move from the shadows into the sunlight, amazed at how swiftly his fur changed; it looked like his fur couldn’t make up its mind whether to be orange or brown, like Sam's hazel eyes, which thankfully remained the same.

A little Hispanic girl about four years old wandered over to watch them pack their car. She was still in her pink bathing suit from the pool and wore a plastic purple dragon flotation device around her stomach. He didn't have a problem with her, that is, until she sat down on the curb next to their car. Dean stepped on the dragon's tail and almost fell on his ass. Instead of taking that as a sign to move, she giggled and continued to watch them, her eyes wide and fascinated like she was watching Barney the Purple Dinosaur singing and dancing, instead of two Care Bears packing a car.

Two other kids wet from the pool came looking for the little girl, and instead of dragging her back to play and away from the parking lot, they hung around speaking in Spanish to each other. They would not leave, not even after Dean made shooing motions with his hands. Sam kept his head down and ignored the kids. Finally, the dad came out and dragged all three kids back to the pool area.

Dean thought they'd never get the car loaded. When they finally got in their car an hour later, Dean felt relief for about a microsecond. Discomfort quickly set in. Their sides were much more round; they both barely fit in the front seat. Sam was squished against the door holding the map out on his stomach.

"I swear Dean, we should get a printer. These maps are not our friend," Sam complained, attempting to refold the map. He gave up eventually and threw the map in the backseat.

Dean looked straight ahead and ignored the other drivers on the road, who did double takes when they saw them in the car. Kids plastered their noses to the glass as parents drove by quickly. Dean thought he'd known humiliation when he was in hell but this took the cake. His car would never forgive him.

They were driving on the I-30 N for about an hour when Sam asked, "Do you think we have the Care Bear Stare power?"

Dean lost control of the car when he twisted his head to look at Sam. It took a moment to get the car going straight ahead. He ignored the drivers who flipped them off.

"Isn't it enough we're big and fluffy? And how the hell do you remember that shit!" Dean now knew he shouldn't have let Sam watch the Care Bears at such an impressionable young age.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I remember because I actually watched the cartoon and I think they said 'Care Bear Stare!' every episode. I'm serious, Dean. Castiel wouldn't have given us a warning if there wasn't something more going on."

"I don't know, call Bobby again. I’m still pretending this is all a bad dream."

Sam huffed and dug the cell phone out of the laptop bag that shared the seat between them.

"Seriously, you're going to ask Bobby to research Care Bears?" Dean asked as Sam flipped the phone open.

"Earlier, I only asked Bobby to find out what could have transformed us. I forgot to ask him to research Care Bears themselves." Sam paused to dig for the number 2 pencil in the side pocket of the laptop bag, "I only remember vague details about the cartoon. Bobby is the only one who can check this out for us, unless you suddenly remember watching the cartoon."

Dean shook his head. "Dude, you know I was too cool for that show."

"You were eight," Sam countered. "You totally watched it with me."

Sam was right on the money. "You'll never prove it." Dean said and tapped the wheel in time to the music.

"I still need Bobby's help to research. My memories are too faded to be reliable and so are yours." Sam sighed heavily, "And it's not like I can use my laptop with these." Sam held up his unencumbered paw. It looked like a furry orange mitten.

"I don't know, you were kind of handy with that pencil," Dean said gleefully.

Sam made a huffing noise, shook his head and said, "If you can get your mind out of the gutter you'd see how impractical that suggestion was."

Dean just raised his eyebrow and said, "You need a sense of humor, Sammy."

"My humor is just fine and I’m not browsing the net with a pencil!" Sam held the pencil up in his huge furry fist shaking it. Dean could barely see the tip sticking out of Sam's clenched paw.

"Okay, okay, message received," Dean said placating Sam before he blew a gasket. "Call Bobby, Princess Overly Dramatic."

Sam sighed before he flipped the phone open and carefully dialed Bobby with the pencil. "Hey Bobby, I forgot to ask you earlier but can you find out if Care Bears have any other power besides the Care Bear Stare?"

Over the roar of the engine and the highway, Dean could hear Bobby laughing.

"Bobby…Bobby!"

Sam didn't talk the entire run of Dean's Metallica mix-tape after that conversation.

When Dean went to flip the tape a second time, Sam said, "I think we should go over the details of the case."

Dean turned down the volume. "Sure good idea, tell me what we got."

Sam grabbed the articles he'd printed out at the library yesterday, from the laptop bag, and reviewed his notes while Dean tapped the steering wheel waiting for Sam to start reading.

"We have what looks like urban legend murders. Two weeks ago, a college woman returned home from a party, went to bed and when she woke up, her roommate was dead, and on the wall in the roommate’s blood the killer wrote, 'Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light.' Then last Saturday, babysitter Melanie Bell, our contact, started to get phone calls telling her to check on the kids upstairs, which she ignored. Finally annoyed with the excessive phone calls, she had the operator trace the phone call and found out they are coming from upstairs. Melanie left the house immediately and called the police on her cellphone. When the police arrived, they found all three children murdered and no sign of the killer." Sam's voice caught on the last sentence of his notes cases where children died were the worst.

After a moment of silence, Sam continued, "Melanie Bell agreed to meet us in a public location for an interview but so far we have no clues because the two cases make no sense. None of the victims are related, there’s nothing unique about the geography. Our original plan was to hit the university archives."

"So what's the new plan?"

"For now I'll just be happy to make our interview with Melanie without getting laughed out of the mall." Sam sighed heavily; the self pity act was wearing on Dean's nerves. It's not like this affected only Sam.

"You know, I don't get why you're supposed to be Tenderheart Bear, isn't Grumpy Bear more your speed?"

"Grumpy Bear, me! What about you? This morning you could barely talk to Castiel without biting his head off. If anyone should be Grumpy Bear, it's you!"

"I'd just found out I'm a Care Bear! What did you expect? Sunshine and flowers?"

"No, just some respect! We need Castiel on our side now more than ever, you're going to push him too far one day and then we'll really be up shit creek without a paddle!" Sam crossed his arms over his chest radiating pissyness like a drama queen.

Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times too angry to speak. "Castiel is a grown man-angel. He can speak for himself and if he doesn't like how I talk to him, he can fuck off!" Dean flipped the tape over and turned up the volume, his way of saying the conversation was over. Dean just wished they could talk without everything turning into an argument.

Sam touched his arm to get his attention and once again Dean felt all his irritation and anger melting away replaced with calmness and happiness.

"I'm sorry," Sam shouted over the sound of screaming guitars.

Dean didn't know if he should yank his arm away or enjoy the waves of joy and happiness filling him like a bucket under the Niagara Falls. Dean's confusion last only a moment before he realized he was still pissed off. He fought through the waves of happiness, shook off Sam's hand, and turned down the volume.

It was hard to recapture his anger, and when he did, it wasn't nearly as powerful. It was impossible to stay angry with Sam especially sitting on his side of the car looking at him with those stupidly cute giant eyes and heart shaped nose in the center of his white muzzle.

There was no way they should have this conversation in the car. Dean saw an exit sign with a yellow Shell logo hovering over Dairy Queen's and Arby's logo. He took the off ramp.

"I thought we were good on gas for another hour at least." Sam tried to peek at the gas gauge.

"We need to talk."

Dean slowed the car down at the intersection, turned left after the light turned green, and passed under the interstate. This Shell was one of the newer gas stations and it had about twenty rows of gas pumps and everything was shiny and clean. Minivans, Toyotas, and eighteen wheelers were pulling in and out as Dean drove up along-side the pump number twelve. It wasn't until he opened the door that he realized he'd need a lot more room to open the door and get out, but it was too late to tell Sam, who had already begun to open his door.

"Shut your door," Dean ordered, reversing the car. "Not enough room to get out," he explained.

Sam slammed the door closed and said, "I'll wait."

What felt like a thousand years later he parked far enough away for him to open his door all the way but still close enough to for the gas nozzle to reach the Impala. Dean grabbed the wallet off the seat and carefully pulled the gas card out; it wasn't easy because the plastic was slippery in his fur-covered paw. Once he had a good grip on it, he got out and started the payment process. He used his thumb to enter the zip code and had to do it twice until he got it right.

While he stood at the pump wondering just how dirty his feet were from standing near the pump were gas leaked onto the pavement all the time, the owners of a blue minivan at pump thirteen returned from Dairy Queen. A little black boy in a red button up shirt and blue jeans stopped walking and stared at him with a wide delighted smile, his vanilla ice cream cone forgotten in his hand. Dean waved and smiled at the kid, who seemed enraptured at the sight of a life sized Care Bear. The mom grabbed her son's hand and continued walking him to the minivan. She gave Dean a tight smile and did her best to ignore him. The dad nodded and went to the driver's side. As they drove away the kid craned his neck to keep looking at him.

Dean was beginning to notice how attracted kids were to their new forms, first the kids at the motel, and now this little boy, and briefly wondered why monsters that fed on kids didn't adapt super cuddly forms instead of creepy old faces and black cowls. He placed the gas nozzle back into the pump and closed the tank. He opened the car door and handed Sam the card. Then he tried to get back into the car, which was hard, because sucking in his stomach didn't work he had to use his hands to squish his body until he fit behind the steering wheel.

"I saw some picnic tables on the other side when we were pulling in," Sam said pointing in the direction of the area where Dairy Queen was attached to the gas station.

Thinking of the attention the kid and parents gave him as they entered their minivan, Dean decided this would not be a good place to talk after all. "I changed my mind. We can talk at the next rest area."

"That's not for another seventy miles," Sam pointed out. "And there will be people there as well. We can't avoid everyone."

"We can try." Dean grumbled turning the key and shifting into gear.

Chapter Two

Seventy miles later, Dean pulled off into a picnic area that had trees blocking the view from the interstate. Northeast Texas was nice to drive through with all the tall pine trees and greenery. Dean parked in a spot in front of a picnic table. A few families were already at picnic tables with their ice chests and coolers making sandwiches while the kids ran around screaming, yelling, and rolling around in the grass where people walked their dogs. Dean was once again glad he wasn't a parent.

Still it was nice to get out of the car; he had a dent on a stomach from the steering wheel, and Sam had looked thoroughly miserable scrunched up in the car. The space inside was almost too small for him already and they'd both puffed out.

Sam jumped up and down a few times on the grass and swung his arms around stretching, then bent and touched his toes, which in his human form was embarrassing enough, but the tail dropped him at least a million cool points. Dean was more circumspect in his stretches, not that it helped with his eye-catching bright yellow fur. Dean saw at least two people gapping at them while their tiny lap dogs yapped at the end of their leashes. Dean ignored the attention and went back to shaking out his arms.

"I don't know how we're going to drive long distances," Sam said after he finished pinwheeling his arms. "My whole body hurts and that was after just two hours."

"We'll just take more breaks," Dean said brushing off the picnic table seat. He didn't want stray bread crumbs getting stuck on his ass and transferred to the Impala, plus he didn't exactly have a comb for his fur.

Sam brushed off his own section of the wooden plank and sat down. He fisted both paws on his legs, a nervous habit Sam never quit. "You said we needed to talk?"

"This is about our earlier argument and some of what Castiel said about us not touching anyone."

Sam reached out to touch his shoulder in reassurance, but stopped. "What happened when I touched you earlier?" he asked as he lowered his hand back to his thigh.

"It's hard to explain," Dean stalled, not wanting to tell Sam he hadn't been that happy since he'd returned from Hell.

"Why don't you touch me so we'll know if it goes both ways," Sam offered. He scooted closer.

Dean nodded and reached his paw out and touched Sam's arm. After a minute Sam pulled away. "I didn't feel anything odd."

After a moment, Dean realized how this touch power may work. "It may only work on negative emotions. Earlier this morning, after I knocked the lamp over, you touched my arm and it calmed me right the fuck down. Then in the car I was pissed off and your touch filled me with pure happiness."

Sam clapped his paws, which was about as effective as the last time Dean tried clapping, but Sam didn't seem to care, since he continued to speak without pausing. "It's like in the cartoon! The Care Bears would go around helping kids who were unhappy or sad and I think they gave lots of hugs. I think you're right, this only works on negative emotions."

After a moment, Dean realized he was screwed. Sam must have been thinking the same thing because his eyes widened. "Dean, you're like one of the kids in the TV show!"

"What about you!” Dean asked, trying to distract Sam. “You've been moping since Ruby betrayed you like I said she would and you broke the final seal."

Sam straightened up and poked his finger at Dean. "You're an emotional cripple and moron. Yeah, I feel bad about my part in breaking the final seal, but when we're together I can deal."

Sam stood up to leave and Dean reached out and grabbed his wrist. Sam gasped and yanked his arm back hard enough that when Dean let go, Sam fell on his ass. "I'm sorry." Dean said and immediately reached down to help Sam get on his feet, not sure if he should also apologize for bringing up Ruby.

A bright flash distracted Dean from brushing grass off Sam's fur; he turned and saw a teenager with a cell phone rushing back to her car. She waved as she got in and then drove off.

"Great that'll be on YouTube in no time," Sam said coming to stand by Dean's side, now picking at the grass stuck on his paws. Sam frowned as he rubbed his paws together trying to get the grass off.

Dean looked down at his own palms, bits of dirt and green grass clung to the white tufts, he shook his hands but it didn't come loose. They ended up wiping their palms against the wooden table to get the worst of the grass off. Dean decided at the next stop to look for combs, otherwise they'd end up tracking everything they sat on into the Impala.

"Let me guess, you felt something that time?" Dean asked triple checking Sam's fur for stray dirt and grass while Sam did the same for him. Picnic areas were off their list of stops until they were human again.

Sam nodded. "It was a bit like you described and overwhelming." Sam brushed his paw against Dean's arm, which sent shockwaves of happiness through him and shivery feelings of pleasure. It felt too nice to tell Sam to stop.

Dean placed his paw on Sam's arm, and this time instead of pulling away, Sam leaned into the touch, his mouth curved up into a smile and he tilted his head up towards the sun. Dean smiled at Sam's obvious happiness, he ignored that it was artificially induced.

Dean looked past Sam at a family with a video camera recording them. Nervousness broke through the spell and he immediately let go of Sam's arm. "Come on, we've spent enough time here," Dean said. "We still have a long drive ahead of us."

"Of course," Sam agreed much too easily. There was a bounce to Sam's step on the way back to the Impala. His eyes had rainbows reflected in them.

*****

A mere forty minutes later, Dean was already irritated and uncomfortable driving. Not even his favorite tape was enough to distract him from his discomfort, not to mention, Sam would not stop fidgeting.

"How do you think Care Bears have sex?" Sam asked casually like he'd just asked if it looked like rain tonight.

Startled, Dean shouted, "Jesus fucking Christ Sam! You can't ask questions like that when I’m driving!" Dean scowled, and gripped the wheel tighter. This time he kept better control of the car. He did not look down at his lap for his missing equipment.

With the unerring instincts of a bloodhound, Sam pressed the issue. "I'm serious," Sam said. "It makes no sense how they reproduce since we don't have the necessary equipment."

"How is this relevant? We'll be back to normal in no time and you can go and get laid to your heart's content."

"That's not the point," Sam said. "Aren't you at all curious?"

Dean thought about it a moment. "Nope. Someone was smoking crack and obviously came up with Care Bears. It's like the Smurfs and all the mushrooms. It was just one big gay community since there was only one girl Smurf. I don't even know why Dad let us watch that crap."

"I think it was Gargamel that made the Smurfs and the Smurfs escaped or something. Maybe all the Care Bears are gender neutral like angels," Sam speculated.

"No way." Dean had to defend his manhood, such as it was. "They had guy and girl Care Bears." And he was a guy Care Bear. He watched enough of the cartoons with Sam to know that much.

"And you could tell this how?" Sam asked, "And don't say their voices. Except for their voices, the Care Bears all sound alike, all high and furry. Funshine Bear could have easily been voiced by a woman, and Tenderheart Bear has a big heart on his stomach. It doesn't get more feminine than that."

"But Tenderheart is brown, which is a guy color." Dean felt proud for coming up with that one.

"So what about yellow?"

"Everyone knows yellow is for men," Dean shot back.

"Do they? Give me an example of another male superhero that wears yellow."

Dean racked his brain for an answer. He hadn't read any comics in years, and Batman certainly did not wear yellow. He must have taken too long, because Sam spoke up.

"I thought so." Sam smiled with an air of smug satisfaction.

"Let's listen to some music." Dean turned the volume back up. It was a stupid conversation anyway.

During the next twenty or thirty miles Dean tried to think of any famous dude that wore yellow so he could prove Sam's theory wrong. He finally hit the jackpot, "X-Men! Wolverine wore a yellow costume."

Sam only rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever. You're the one with issues here."

They stopped for gas about an hour later at another busy gas station. This time they both got out of the car.

Sam slapped the roof of the Impala. "I'm going to stock up on candy. You want anything."

"We need combs," Dean said.

He didn't need to explain what for because Sam already knew they needed something beyond their fur covered paws to help keep their fur clean of debris. If they could eat, Dean would have asked for M&Ms but they'd just melt in the car if he didn't eat them right away so there was no point. Sam's favorite candies didn't melt.

Sam nodded before he turned and walked into the Chevron gas station, which was bustling at two in the afternoon. Children stopped in their tracks to stare at Sam. Something about their forms was fascinating to young children, who could probably tell they were the real deal. Parents literally had to drag them to get them moving again, whereas most adults just assumed they were grownups in costume.

Dean shook his head and went back to looking at the display; gas prices were in the three dollar range now. He didn't feel thirsty, hungry, or had any other urges for that matter. If Dean thought about it too much it he'd go nuts.

Once he'd finished with the gas, he decided to head on into the store and wash his paws. His paws were pristine white but he didn't want to take any chances with gasoline in his car or on his steering wheel. He didn't know why he forgot at the last stop. Possibly he was too distracted by this change.

Inside the store, it was loud with the cash register ringing up a purchases and someone was hitting the ice maker on the soda machine. There were kids playing at the McDonald's next door as well as a line of people waiting to place an order. He looked up and read the signs looking for the arrow pointing to the restroom. There wasn't a line when he got there so he took care of his paws and exited.

A man and a young boy were waiting in line when he opened the door. They froze for a second, like a T-Rex had exited the bathroom.

"Dad, it's a Care Bear!" the kid exclaimed, eyes wide with delight.

Dean almost rolled his eyes but then thought it was probably best to act in character, "You betcha!" Dean smiled and edged his way down the hallway to get away. "Have a nice day!"

Before he turned the corner he heard, "Son, it was just a guy in costume. You're too old to believe in this stuff anymore."

He found Sam in the candy aisle, as well as four kids who followed him like he was the Pied Piper. Under the harsh florescent lights, Sam's fur looked orange instead of brown.

One five year old girl reached over and touched Sam's leg, "You're soft!" she announced, giggling.

Sam sighed. "Yep, all Care Bears are soft." Sam smiled down at the girl.

"Can I touch you too?" a little boy asked next.

"You can shake my hand," Sam said quickly, as if he didn't offer something they'd try climbing him like a Care Bear tree.

The boy held out his hand and when Sam's paw reached out and touched, the kid swayed, and the brightest smile Dean had seen stretched out on his face. "You are soft!" The little kid let go of Sam's hand and hugged him; the girl had latched onto his leg.

Sam looked up at him with a very familiar 'help me' expression. Dean clapped his hands, which had no effect since no one could hear it. Not one to let that stop him, Dean whistled sharply. It worked far too well. Everyone in the store turned to look at him.

"All right kiddos! Fun time is over there!" He pointed towards the McDonald's and the kid playground attached to the side. Dean might as well have thrown a bucket of water on napalm for all the effect his words had on dispelling the children.

"It's Funshine Bear!" the little girl attached to Sam's leg shrieked. The parents looked at them, attempting to find the seams of their costumes and growing confused when they couldn't. Dean heard the pitter patter of feet running toward them, as children from the playground rushed over to check out the life-sized Care Bears. Sam gently pulled the little girl off his leg while other kids pushed in close to touch Sam's furry legs.

Dean pushed through the litter of children surrounding Sam, and grabbed his paw. "Come on, leave the candy. We have to go." Waves of happiness and peace filled Dean as he held onto Sam's paw, which made him smile, which made the kids shriek with laughter. If it weren't for a few parents who had held onto their kids, they'd have been mobbed.

Only the small spark of fear that something might happen to Sam helped overcome the happiness filling him to the brim. They carefully waded past the children, who clutched at their legs and had to be shaken off like rodents, before they escaped outside. People had their cameras and cell phones out taking pictures of them. Those that didn't stared at them with mystified expressions. Dean wanted to run to the car but did not think his dignity could survive being caught on camera running away from children.

Once they arrived at the Impala, Dean had a horrible moment when he realized he'd have to let go of Sam. But they didn't have a choice, otherwise they couldn’t get in the car and drive away, before the bolder of the children ran outside to clutch their Care Bear legs again.

Sam let go of Dean's hand first and got to his side opened the door and squished himself inside. As Dean got himself situated, the happy feelings didn't end abruptly; they faded slowly. Dean drove away without saying a word and without any candy or new combs.

Sam was the first to speak. "We have a problem." Dean hadn't heard that tone since the shapeshifter bank job clusterfuck in Milwaukee.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Dean hit the steering wheel, which didn't hurt his paw like it might have if he had hands. "What the fuck is going on? They should only think we're people in costume and I never saw anyone flock to Mickey Mouse like that!"

Sam latched onto the important bit of information. "Wait, you've been to Disneyland?"

Dean rolled his eyes, "Once! And it was a date! The point is I don’t know what it is we're doing that's drawing children to us. It doesn't seem like a good thing."

"It wasn't just the children either." Sam added. "One of the adult women grabbed my arm as we were leaving. She looked right through me or something." Sam rubbed the heart on his stomach and frowned.

"We can't go out like this!" Dean hit the steering wheel again, "Shit!" Cursing didn't help but it made him feel better.

The phone rang on the seat between them; it played Metallica's Sandman, so he knew it was Bobby. He picked it up since his paw was closer. Flipping it open got easier with practice. "Hey Bobby, what's up?"

"What the hell are you two knuckleheads doing?"

"Driving…" Dean offered hesitantly.

"That was rhetorical!" Bobby said, and then lowered his voice. "You two are all over YouTube and the ranking is climbing. I already found a community already devoted to sightings of you. You've even made it to CuteOverload."

There went another million in cool points because CuteOverload didn't sound good. "What's CuteOverload?" He was afraid he already knew the answer.

"Never mind that," Bobby said. "The point is you're attracting way too much attention."

Wary of Bobby's temper and grateful for his help, Dean said, "Thanks for the heads up."

"Dean, while you're on the phone. I did some searching online for Sam and so far the only power I've found is the Care Bear Stare. I think you two may be able to use it based on the reactions I've seen in the videos. Something more is going on and I don't know what it is. You two be careful and stay away from crowded areas."

"Will do." Dean assured Bobby and hung up.

*****

Sam and Dean don't talk much the next two hours, just some directions from Sam, who mostly sat with the map on his lap, looking out the window. Dean concentrated on driving and the music. They passed the giant billboard welcoming them to Arkansas three hours before they were supposed to meet up with their witness and Dean did not have a plan. They couldn't show up at the mall if every Rugrat in the state planned on flocking to them like pigeons.

This was turning out to be a really crappy day. Another car passed, kids plastered to the window like the parents had never heard of seatbelts.

*****

By the time, they reached Ashdown, Arkansas, Dean was ready to run for the hills. They had decided to find a motel first since they made it with time to spare. The Blue Sparrow had vacancies and an air of abandonment, which fit them perfectly. Dean went into the manager's office to get a room key, the twenty-something clerk barely looked up from the "Guns & Ammo" magazine he was reading to take Dean's cash. Perfect.

Sam and Dean unloaded the car in record time. Dean had just shut and locked the door when Sam's cell phone began playing 'Send Me and Angel'.

Sam dropped his duffel on the robin-blue bed nearest the bathroom before digging into his laptop bag. He flipped the phone open just as the song began to replay itself. "Hey Castiel."

Dean set the weapons bag down on the other bed and checked out their room for the night. Tiny blue birds graced all the wallpaper and the blue carpet looked liked it hadn't been replaced since the seventies. It could be worse, like the disco themed room they had found a few years ago. At least the place was clean. He didn’t smell stale cigarette smoke or mildew.

He turned on the light in the bathroom, the overhead vent turned on automatically with the light, and the rumbling metallic noise drowned out the sound of Sam on the phone. The yellow light gave the room a dim glow. None of these cheap motels had good lights in the bathroom or quiet air ventilation. At least the door was wider than the one at the last motel; Sam and Dean could both walk through this one without having to squeeze in sideways. Dean flipped off the switch and closed the door. It wasn't like they'd be using either the toilet or the shower.

Dean flipped the light switch on the wall next to the sink. The florescent light over the mirror buzzed as it flickered to life, it was almost too bright, as the light hit his fur intensifying the effect. The sink was like most motels, not connected to the bathroom facilities. It was embedded into an off-white counter top that faced the rest of the room and had a metal clothes hanging rack perpendicular to it.

The mirror had a giant crack splitting it down the middle and yellow stains lurked in both corners of the countertop. A neat stack of white towels sat in a basket, with a tiny bar of soap on top. Through the reflection in the mirror he saw Sam walking back and forth while holding the phone near his ear. It looked uncomfortable.

Dean flipped the light off, annoyed with the electrical hum. He walked over to the bed near the door to unpack his weapon bag. At least they could still use their knives. Dean carefully slipped past Sam, careful to not touch his brother.

Dean's efforts to avoid temptation were for nothing. Sam not paying attention to anything else in the room while on the phone, brushed by him on his way to the nightstand between their beds to grab the stationary that was tucked behind the ugly blue phone. The brief contact shot sparks of joy through Dean. It briefly reminded him of what he was like before hell, when all it took was a really good cheeseburger, or a short dress on a beautiful woman to make him happy.

Sam's rattled off their address from the stationary for Castiel, while Dean resisted the urge jump over the bed to pat Sam on the shoulder or touch his arm. A small part of him thought he didn't deserve happiness, not even fake happiness. While they'd been in the car, the compulsion to touch Sam had grown, and in the close confines, it had been impossible not to brush against each other, which had probably satisfied the craving or fed into it.

Now with the length of a bed separating them, the urge to touch and hug Sam became unbearable. He shouldn't give in because once they were back to normal no simple touch would bring either of them instant happiness or joy. They could go their whole lives struggling to find these feelings again and never succeed. He clenched his paw into a fist, still annoyed that he had no claws. Their bodies were like huge declawed kittens.

Castiel transported into their room just as Sam flipped the phone closed. Even expecting it, the sudden appearance always startled Dean. "Fuzzy hopping bunny!"

Sam's mouth dropped open and then he laughed. Castiel's expression didn't change at all.

"That's not funny!" Dean protested, "I didn't mean to say that!"

"Really?" Sam stopped laughing but the smile stayed on his lips, his muzzle was scrunched up with laughter and Dean had this irresistible urge to feel Sam's nose, to see if it was as soft was it appeared.

"Yeah, I meant to say Fuzzy Hopping Bunny…" Dean stopped speaking and tried again, "Fuzzy bunny, Hopping mad, Bunny, Fuzzy."

Sam's said, "Fuzzy Bunny me." His eyes widened.

"Oh, come on! We can't say any curse words now?" Dean felt like breaking another lamp. This was too much to bear.

"Cas, please tell me you have some answers? We were able to say bad words earlier today, why not now?" Dean begged.

Castiel's expression softened with a hint of amusement. His shoulders dipped. "I'm sorry, all I can say is this is not permanent."

"So when will we change back?" Sam shuffled closer to Dean. "Whatever is happening to us is affecting other people when we're nearby."

Sam's reached over the short distance between them and grabbed Dean's paw and held on. The pads of Sam's paw were soft and Dean could feel Sam's anxiety melting away as the happiness feedback loop kicked in. It was beyond Dean's power to shake Sam off his arm.

Castiel looked down at their joined paws and frowned. "I warned you two not to touch anyone with your hands." A hint of worry flavored his tone.

"It's hard not to touch," Sam admitted with a smile, which confirmed Dean's own suspicions that the urge to touch and be near Sam went both ways.

"It's not safe for either of you," Castiel said sharply.

Dean thought about pulling his paw out of Sam's, but he'd never felt this happy and he could sense Sam's happiness and love for him. Underneath the surface emotions rested a pool of fury at Castiel for telling them they couldn't have this. The good sensations multiplied every moment they stayed connected, and the connection grew deeper with each touch; Dean didn't want to break the connection, too curious to see where it led.

The deeper Dean fell into Sam, the more they began to merge; it was impossible to keep his own memories separate from Sam's. He remembered Ruby's warm skin, dark eyes, and lush lips parted in pleasure. Dean saw himself smiling and laughing at a pool table. Memories poured in like a tidal wave too numerous to contain, and too intimate to forget. Sam carried the scent of rain, thunder, and pine trees and tasted like sugar, almonds, and cherries.

Dean lost himself in Sam and they may have remained stuck if not for outside interference. A force of blue lightning and sound crashed into them and threw Sam and Dean to opposite sides of the room. The window cracked from the force of the impact. For a moment Dean hung suspended against the blue trimmed polyester curtains until gravity resumed and he fell to the floor banging his elbow on the grey plastic AC unit on the way down.

No one spoke. Dean lay on the blue carpeted floor longer than necessary, trying to wrap his mind around what he'd gone through with Sam. The happy-high faded with each passing moment. He regained control over his limbs, and it wasn't until he sat up and saw Sam's Care Bear head peaking over the top of the other bed, that Dean felt a keen sense of loss, though Sam was less than ten feet away. His mind felt clear in a way it hadn't since before Hell. A door in his mind had blown open and Dean didn't know if it could be closed again.

Castiel stood between the double beds arms still outstretched, breathing heavily liked he'd just returned from running a ten-mile marathon. He lowered his arms before he turned his head to look at Dean. Castiel's piercing blue eyes spoke volumes. The rest of his face had a noticeable lack of expression. Dean could sense the trapped energy that was Castiel barely contained by the human body it inhabited.

Castiel lowered his arms back to his sides. "I recommend neither of you touch each other until I have trained you to shield yourselves. In the meantime, I have placed wards on each of you. They should help temporarily."

"Wards?" Sam asked.

"In other words, a shield powered by myself. This is why they are temporary. I cannot maintain them long without draining my own power," Castiel clarified.

"What happened, Cas?" Dean took his time standing and managed sit down at the foot of the bed before he fell, his legs were unsteady. Sam was similarly struggling to his feet.

"You've been given a few powers only angels are supposed to possess." Castiel responded, his tone grim. "I suspect the reason your forms were radically changed was to protect your human bodies from burning out from the powers you now hold."

Dean's mouth dropped open, and Sam's eyes were wide with shock, equally flabbergasted.

"But who…no why!" Dean demanded an explanation. Sam nodded his head at Dean's line of questioning.

Castiel shrugged his shoulders a human gesture he'd taken to using recently. "I don’t know. What was done has never been done to a human, let alone two. That is why I'm worried. Every hour you're in those bodies your powers will gain strength until they burn you from the inside out. These forms only delay the inevitable."

Dean did what he did best when presented with bad news. He changed the subject. "Okay, so in the meantime until we figure out how to change back, we still have a witness to interview. Castiel until you can teach us to 'shield' ourselves, you'll have to meet our witness and find out what's going on."

Castiel raised his hands in his about to say no pose. "You can do this, Cas," Dean said confidently. "Besides, if Sam and I leave here, we'll be mobbed and torn to pieces. You don't want that to happen, right?" Dean wasn't above using emotional blackmail on the angel.

Castiel lowered his arms back to his sides. "I don't know what case you're on, or what questions to ask."

"Sam, get the notes you made yesterday." Dean went over to his own duffle bag and dumped the contents onto this bed and sifted through them until he found the recorder he picked up more than a few towns back.

Dean handed it over to Castiel, careful to make sure no part of his fur touched Castiel's skin. "You take this with you and record your conversation with the witness, Melodee."

"It's Melanie, Dean," Sam corrected, shifting through the papers he'd laid out on the round faded-brown table top, which wobbled on uneven legs. "Melanie Bell. Age 16, wears braces, and is a cheerleader at Ashdown Public High School." Sam handed over a photo he'd pulled from the high school yearbook website.

Castiel stood a moment, both hands full, a slight look of puzzlement as to where to store the items. Sam saved the day when he plucked the recorder out of Castiel's hand and held it up so Castiel could see the buttons.

"Cas, when you want to record press the red button and place it back in your pocket. The recorder should pick up the conversation without problems." Sam passed the recorder back to Castiel who then carefully slipped it into a pocket of his trench coat along with the photo of Melanie.

Sam made an aborted gesture with his paw to brush something off Dean, before he stopped, paw hovering midair. "You have blue fuzz," Sam pointed at Dean's side where the dark blue carpet fibers had stuck to his furry yellow body.

Dean sighed and began to brush the fuzz off. The carpet fuzz was charged with static electricity and clung tenaciously to his fur. His paws were as effective as using a blow dryer to remove cat hair from a wet shirt. Instead of coming off his legs, tiny bits of blue fuzz stuck to his paws which made the mess worse. Dean had thought removing grass from his fur was difficult but this was impossible.

Sam laughed sharply before covering his mouth with his huge paw to hide his smile. It didn't work at all because Sam's ears twitched happily. Sam did not look repentant at all when Dean glared at him.

Dean gave up on fixing this problem himself. Hoping the angel would zap the carpet fuzz off his body, Dean tried to catch Castiel's gaze, except, Castiel refused to look him in the eyes. Dean stepped it up a notch and said, "Cas, you know how to clean this off, right?"

Castiel looked up at the ceiling; Dean bet he was asking his Heavenly Father what he did to deserve this. Castiel sighed heavily, shook his head, and said, "I'll help when I return. In the meantime, please refrain from any physical contact." Without another word, he vanished.

Without Castiel in the room, it was hard to ignore the longing to move closer.

"I'll take this bed," Dean said. He snatched the remote from off the TV stand and got comfortable on his bed, back against the headboard. Just because he looked like a stuffed animal didn't mean he had to act like one.

Sam got onto his own bed. Dean had barely picked a channel, women's beach volleyball when Castiel appeared right in front of the TV blocking Dean's view.

"That was quick," Sam commented.

Dean muted the TV and tossed the remote to the side before standing up again. "What happened? She said she'd be there."

"I recorded our conversation," Castiel said and pulled the recorder from his pocket.

"I'm amazed you got her to give you the information you needed so quickly." Sam sounded impressed, though it was hard to tell if he was impressed by the woman athlete on TV that had just made a spectacular dive into the sand or Castiel's quickness.

Dean snatched the recorder out of Castiel's hand. It only took him three tries before his thumb finally hit the play button and only the play button. Sam joined him at Castiel's side, careful to keep a safe distance from temptation.

As it played past the empty portion of the tape, the recorder made a low hissing noise, until the sound cleared into an echo of voices, too many to hear any one conversation. That is until they heard Castiel say, "Melanie Bell?"

"Yes." A young high pitched women's voice responded to Castiel's inquiry.

"Sam and Dean Winchester sent me here to interview you," Castiel said.

"Why couldn't they make it?" Melanie asked, raising her voice.

"They have been turned into angelic Care Bear avatars and cannot be seen in public."

It was silent for a moment, and then they heard the sound of metal grating against the tile floor. "Oh! Look at the time! I have to go."

"But it is exactly 6 p.m.," Castiel pointed out calmly.

"Yeah about that, there's a slight change of plans. I got a text message; my parents just adopted a dog and need me to take him walking." She lied like a champ. "Seriously, I gotta go!" Melanie scampered off.

A moment later, the tape went silent.

Dean pushed the stop button down, or at least tried to. They heard chipmunk voices as the tape fast forwarded until Dean finally got it turned off properly.

No one said anything for a moment. Then the room burst into noise.

"You said he knew how to interview!" Sam yelled. He pointed one paw at Dean and placed his other paw on his hip, which was an unfortunate habit he'd picked up as a teenager. Right now it was rather distracting because he looked like a furry brown teakettle.

"I told him to lie!" Dean protested holding up the recorder in his paw. He glared accusingly at Castiel.

"I did not anticipate Melanie running away so quickly." Castiel rubbed the point between his eyebrows. "I did not have time to explain better."

Sam sighed and said, "I'm not sure this is something you can explain," he waved his arm down Dean's body like Vanna White in the Wheel of Fortune.

"Well we can still do research," Dean said. "Castiel should be able to visit the library and read up on any unusual deaths in the house where those children were murdered while Melanie was babysitting."

"I will do my best," Castiel said and vanished.

"Wait!" Sam and Dean both yelled at the same time, alas one second too late.

Sam spoke first. "Maybe we should ask Bobby for help on this case?"

Dean shook his head, "No, we need to him to research us first. I don't want to be stuck like this a moment longer." At Sam's doubtful look he added, "It's not like we haven't solved hundreds of cases like this one." And almost got killed on cases like this hundreds of times was the unspoken thought in the room.

"You're right." Sam's shoulders slumped and he sat back down on the bed. His ears curled inwards hiding the white tuffs of fur. Again, Dean was hit with the urge to take those few steps over to Sam and comfort him. The shields Castiel had placed on them earlier were wearing off fast.

Dean sat back down on his bed and focused on the beach volleyball game, which wasn't easy with a six foot five giant Care Bear pouting in the next bed.

Dean caught himself looking at Sam's ears more often than the women in bikinis on TV. He wondered if his ears furled inwards like Sam's. Based on a quick feel, his ears were upright. They felt silky soft. When he pushed one ear down flat on top his head, sounds didn't muffle like normal; instead his other ear became even more attuned to the noise in the room. He tried the other ear next and got the same result.

It took Dean a moment to realize Sam was watching him; possibly for awhile based on the remote hanging loosely in Sam's paw; his were lips pressed together in an obvious effort to not laugh at him.

Dean scowled at Sam until Sam turned back to the TV smirking. "What?" Dean demanded and folded his arms.

"Nothing." Sam rubbed his nose before changing the channel, to outdoor tennis. His ears unfurled to their full upright position and his white parts turned moonbeam bright for a moment before settling into their normal unnaturally white whiteness.

Dean glared at the TV screen until he got caught up watching the ball go back and forth over the net. They watched in companionable silence. He must have napped at some point because was dark outside when he next opened his eyes.

Sam was in the same position Dean last saw him in, except for the snoring. Which lasted until Dean threw a pillow at Sam and told him to wake up. Sam jerked awake and the remote fell out of Sam's paw and clattered onto the floor. They must have been more tired than they realized. Dean rubbed at his eyes. Sam rolled over to grab the remote from the floor.

During the Snuggle fabric softener commercial, Castiel returned. He appeared right in front of the TV blocking Dean's view of the Snuggle bear floating into a basket of fluffy freshly cleaned blue and green towels, which was probably for the best. They didn't need to watch that kind of crap on TV. Sam's eyes were practically glazed over. Dean hoped it wasn't with lust.

"Cas!" Dean leaped off the bed, "Please tell me you have something."

"I do," Castiel said and pulled a manila folder from his trench coat. "The librarian was most helpful."

"I'll bet," Sam said and turned off the TV to join them at the table, where Castiel quietly spread out the articles he'd printed from the internet. Half the sheets had to be thrown away because all they had on them were URLs and page numbers. Dean doubted Castiel cared much about saving the redwood forests. What they had left wasn't much to work with.

But it looked like they had a name and a grave. They just had to get out there and dig and burn. "This isn't a lot to go on." Sam pointed out as Dean shoved him out the door.

"I don't care," Dean said locking the door after them. "I just want to go burn something."

Sam rolled his eyes and got in the car. Castiel joined them in the backseat to help give directions. It was past eleven and the streets were quiet and empty as they drove to the town's graveyard. The entrance was blocked by an old fashioned metal gate with decorative leafy spires. In the past they would have jumped over the fence but with Castiel there to wave his hand over the lock there was no need to risk poking or ripping themselves. Dean drove slowly into the graveyard, the moon hidden by orange clouds made the road harder to see with the headlights turned off but not impossible. The reflected light pollution helped once his eyes adjusted.

Castiel tapped him on the shoulder. "We're here."

Dean parked under the branches of an oak tree which overhung the one-lane road. He turned off the engine and opened his door. Sam and Castiel quickly joined him at the trunk. Not trusting himself to keep his hands off Sam, Dean handed Castiel the shovels. Lightning rippled across the orange clouds. A major storm front was moving in fast.

Dean glanced at the street over two hundred yards away, worried that they'd attract unwelcomed attention. He felt like a giant moving target with his bright yellow fur. Sam blended into the shadows except for his stomach and ears which reflected every bit of light in the city graveyard.

Wind blew leaves up off the ground and onto Dean's legs; the groundskeeper probably had a tough time maintaining the grounds with so many leafy trees. Sam stopped every other minute to brush the dead brittle leaves off his fur. It was almost funny except Dean had the same problem.

Castiel did a good job with the directions and their walk to Molly Wentworth's grave was short. It sat under another huge tree and it would have been creepy except they did this all time. Dean didn't waste any time; he pushed the head of the shovel into the dirt and started digging. Sam joined him with the other shovel while Castiel stood watching. The wind picked up above them and the gently rustling leaves began to thrash furiously. Castiel and Sam switched off as they dug deeper into the ground and it became impossible to work side by side with Sam without accidently touching. Castiel was relentless with the shovel since he had no need to stop for breaks or to rest his arms or hands.

The first drops of rain splattered against Dean just as his shovel hit wood. By the time he broke a hole into the coffin, the wind had picked up and it started pouring. His fur kept him comfortable, whereas normally he would have been shivering from the cold wet rain.

Sam reached down to help Dean out of the grave but Castiel slapped Dean's arm down before they touched.

"Oh sorry," Dean muttered and tossed his shovel up and out of the hole. He was able to heft himself out of the hole, though not without consequences. Mud stuck to his belly all squishy and wet in a way that felt wrong. He quickly tried to brush off what he could. The pounding rain didn't help, it only spread the mud. Castiel appeared next to him a moment later.

Dean looked down at the grave and then at their supplies. They needed lighter fluid.

"I'll be right back," he told Sam and Castiel before jogging back to the Impala. He found the lighter fluid in the trunk easily enough since his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. More lightning flashed and rumbles of thunder drew near.

Back at the grave again, Dean was about to pop the cap open and start pouring when Sam knocked the container out of his paw, it slid a few feet in the grass before coming to a stop at the base of the tree. "What did you do that for?" Dean complained.

"Dean, think about it," Sam said.

Dean looked at the white container and back at the grave. "I'm not seeing a problem here."

Sam rolled his eyes, "You're all fur! What would happen if you got any of it on you and any flames hit your body? You ever see a person's hair catch on fire?"

Dean's imagination gave him a mental image of turning into the Flaming Torch Care Bear; he shuddered inwardly, and then said. "I'm sure I wouldn't burn much with it raining so hard."

"Gah! I don't even know why I bother!" Sam threw down his shovel and pointed a finger at Castiel. "You better do this before I kill Dean."

Castiel nodded once and retrieved the lighter fluid.

Castiel did a decent job pouring the fuel all over the grave and used one of the Bic Lighters stored with their supplies to light the grave on fire.

After the fire fizzled out and they determined the remains were destroyed Sam, Dean, and Castiel took turns filling the grave, which seemed so much harder now that the dirt was compacted and wet.

Chapter Three

It was two a.m. when they finally made it back to the room. Their muddy wet fur stuck up in all directions, like wet cat fur. Sam claimed the bathroom first. Dean shook his body, spraying droplets of water and mud everywhere. Castiel wiped the mud flecks off his cheeks, and then stood there not sure what to do with his muddy fingers.

Dean sighed, "Come on." He grabbed Castiel's wrist and lead him to the sink. He turned on the light over the mirror so he could see what he was doing. In the bathroom, through the closed door, they could hear the shower curtain rattle as Sam showered. Dean was content to wait, even with his fur soaked he felt warm and comfortable. Under his hand, he felt a weird vibration and humming. He quickly let go of Castiel's wrist.

"The power is growing," Castiel said with his hands under the water. "The shields I placed only slowed it down." Castiel dried his hands and handed the wet towel to Dean. The mud on Dean's paws stuck to the towel so he toed it under the countertop rather than try to hang it on the hand towel rod without dirtying the other towel, or drip mud on the remaining hand towels in the basket.

Castiel faced the mirror looking for more traces of mud. Spots of it stood out on his white collar and tan trench coat. Then he turned his intense blue eyes back towards Dean. "After you two are done cleaning, I will train you to shield yourselves."

"It's 2:30 in the morning, Cas. We're kind of beat. Can't this wait till morning?"

"No."

The door opened and Sam stepped out of the bathroom. Steam billowed out of the tiny room. Sam had a huge towel wrapped around his shoulders and used another one to pat his fur dry. It looked like Sam had used all the towels. Then Sam shook his body, flinging the excess water everywhere.

"Sam!" Dean complained.

"Sorry," Sam muttered pulling the hairdryer off the wall mount, even though there was no way that little thing could possibly dry all the fur on Sam's body.

"Sam, come on. There is no way that'll dry you. It'll short out before you reach your stomach."

Sam glared at him, "I don't care." He turned the drier on and ran it over his ears.

Sam was not in the listening mode right now; it was possible he was still upset about earlier.

Dean clapped Castiel on the shoulder, leaving a muddy heart-shaped paw print on Castiel's coat. "Going to clean up!" he yelled before disappearing into the shower room. Sam must love him because he did leave him one dry towel on the top rack.

It wasn't until after his shower that he felt cold. Dean shook his body all over until his fur spiked out and most of the water ended up on the shower curtain. He stepped out of the tiny shower and onto a floor towel. It squelched beneath his furry feet. Dean flipped the light off to stop the air vent noise and opened the door of the bathroom to join Sam in front of the mirror. His bright yellow fur had puffed out and looked scraggy.

Sam was still blow drying his stomach, his fur a weird blend of puffy and damp. Dean's fur didn't fare much better wet. He toweled his fur with more force as if he could burn the water off if he just had enough friction.

Sam turned off the dryer and began to pass it over to him. "You want to use it?"

Dean held up his hand to ward off the offending machine. "No, I'm good," he said and scrammed before Sam had the bright idea to try and blow-dry him. He didn't want his fur to look like a giant cheese puff like Sam's currently did. He headed over to his bag, where he stored extra towels for emergencies.

It took him a moment to notice Castiel wasn't in the room. "Hey, where's Cas?"

"He said he'd be back when we're done grooming," Sam answered while placing the blow drier back on the wall mount. "He says we need to learn how to control this connection before he'll leave us alone."

Dean remembered how good it felt when Sam and he had touched earlier. His mouth went dry with temptation. He swallowed and pushed back the longing and focused on the matter at hand. "He's leaving us alone now," Dean said.

Through the mirror's reflection, Dean saw Sam roll his eyes, "He put another shield on me before he left. We should be fine for now." Sam didn't sound so certain with the last statement.

Dean shrugged his shoulders and concentrated on drying himself off. Once he finished, he tossed his used towel on the floor and jumped onto his bed. The remote to the TV had big buttons and he easily turned it on hoping for a Die Hard marathon or something with explosions on TV. Luckily the closed captions were already on, otherwise he would not have been able to watch over the noise of the hair dryer.

By the time Castiel returned, white motel towels covered the floor, brown and yellow fur decorating them like casualties. Sam had finally given up on drying himself with the motel hair dryer, muttering something about buying an industrial strength drier next time they visited Wal-Mart.

"I'm back," Castiel announced.

"We see that," Dean said and turned off the Foreman Grill infomercial. Not like they could eat steaks in these forms anyways.

"Is it really such a good idea to try learning this stuff when we're tired?" Sam asked doubtfully.

Castiel shook his head slowly. "Probably not, but it's not a good idea to wait much longer. Maintaining your shields weakens my own powers."

"Okay, so what do we have to do?" Dean asked clapping his paws together, no longer caring that it didn't sound right. Sam made a face at Dean's enthusiasm and moved to where Castiel directed.

Castiel's eyebrows furrowed with concentration, thought, or maybe constipation, it was hard for Dean to tell. "The most important part is choosing your mental shield. Both of you need to visualize a wall or shield, something you can call up easily."

A giant stone castle popped into Dean's thoughts, with high stone walls, and each stone a different size. The castle looked like the old medieval castles he saw on plenty of re-runs of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves and the Excalibur movie. "Um, does this seem too easy?" Dean pointed out unsure how visualizing a castle would protect his thoughts from leaking into Sam anytime they touched.

"You'll find that visualizing your shield and maintaining it is, as you humans say, easier said than done," Castiel said. "Once you have your mental shield in place let me know."

Dean volunteered to go first. There was no way he'd let Castiel experiment on Sam without testing the waters.

"I'm going to lower the barrier and touch your hand. If your shield is adequate you'll feel nothing but my hand." Castiel placed his hand in Dean's palm.

Dean concentrated hard on visualizing the castle. It didn't quite work. The AC came on and in the moment his attention waivered Castiel's power knocked him off his feet. He bounced off the bed and landed on the floor by the AC, again.

"What the hell?" Dean complained and gingerly climbed to his feet. He had blue fuzz all over him again. Sam snickered into his cupped paw. "Laugh it up, furball. You're next." The white fur surrounding Sam's red heart glowed.

"You need to concentrate, Dean," Castiel said.

Dean scowled at Castiel. "No kidding, Sherlock."

"I am Castiel, not Sherlock."

"Never mind," Dean muttered.

Sam didn't fare much better when it was his turn.

Castiel squared his shoulders and frowned as Sam picked himself up off the floor, "I can see this may take awhile."

They then spent the next two hours practicing, which meant letting Castiel's power fling them into walls, bounce them off beds, and occasionally they hit the ceiling. Dean began to wonder if this is what a Popple from the 1980s cartoon felt like?

Sam mastered the technique first. That Sam might have picked it up so fast due to his demonic powers made Dean's stomach hurt and his ears wilt.

Dean decided something simpler than a stupid castle may work better. He visualized himself in the Impala. Her gleaming black lines were as familiar as the back of his hand. When it was his turn again, Dean had a hard time holding his paw open, beginning to feel conditioned to expect an overwhelming intensity of power, followed quickly by pain as his body slammed into a hard surface. His back still ached from hitting the headboard. However, this time, with the Impala firmly planted in his mind, all he felt were Castiel's fingers which tickled as they touched Dean's open palm.

Castiel withdrew his touch and with a faint smile said, "I think you two may be ready to touch each other now."

"You know that doesn't sound right, right?" Dean pointed out.

Castiel's penetrating stare gave nothing away.

"Whatever," Dean muttered.

Sam held out his paw first and Dean reluctantly reached out and grasped Sam's offered paw. He could feel the hum of Sam's thoughts faintly but it appeared the mental shields worked.

He let go of Sam's paw reluctantly, refusing to admit that he hoped the shields wouldn't work. Sam's ears furled down at the lost contact. Maybe they were both disappointed. He wondered when touching Sam had become the highlight of his day.

"You two need your rest," Castiel said. "I'll be back in the morning."

"With donuts," Dean ordered.

"And a newspaper," Sam added.

Castiel nodded and disappeared.

Sam collapsed onto his bed once Castiel had left and flopped onto his back. "I hope we never have to do that again," Sam complained at the ceiling.

"I've had more fun chasing a Wendigo. In the rain," Dean said and sat down on his own bed. His body ached. "Come on, let's get some rest."

Sam rolled over and hit the lamp switch, blanketing the room in darkness. Dean didn't need to prepare much for bed, he just lay down and grabbed a pillow. He didn't bother with covers because his fur kept him warm enough.

*****

The sun shining through the gap in the blue curtain woke Dean up at the ungodly hour of 1 p.m. A quick glance at his body told him that yes, he was still a bright yellow Care Bear.

He looked over at the sound of soft snores coming from the bed next to his. Sam, still in Care Bear form, slept on his back with the light blue sheets pulled up to his chest. One paw rested on his stomach, the other lay at his side. His brown fur made him look deceptively like a real bear for one sleep fogged moment, a cute cuddly bear. Dean rubbed his eyes and placed his feet on the floor.

A rustle of feathers announced Castiel's arrival. In one hand he held a white paper bag with a pink logo that smelled like fresh Duncan Donuts. In his other hand he carried what looked like the morning newspaper. When his stomach did not grumble at the smell of fried dough and sugar, Dean realized that the only one in the room capable of eating was Castiel.

Dean frowned unhappily at the donuts Castiel set down on the only table in the room. He wondered what would happen if he tried to eat anything.

"I see you are awake," Castiel said.

Dean manfully resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Castiel's announcement, and said, "I see you still know how to state the obvious."

"I brought donuts," Castiel said placing the newspaper next to the bag.

"Yeah, thanks for remembering." Dean climbed out of bed and headed over to the fresh smelling donuts sitting innocently in their cute bag with bright lettering. He opened it up and inhaled. They smelled heavenly the bag felt warm, like they'd just come out of the oven. It really wasn't fair that he couldn't eat any; Castiel had picked up his favorite cherry jelly filled donuts, the glaze topping looked fresh, and Sam's favorite chocolate covered lime filled donut was hiding at the bottom.

With regret, he set the bag down and looked at Castiel. "I forgot about not being able to eat anything last night. So you may have to eat them on your own." Dean pushed the bag in Castiel's direction; there was no point in letting good donuts go to waste.

Castiel's slight grin faded. "I can take them away if they make you unhappy."

Dean thought about the offer but realized that he still liked the smell, it reminded him of morning. "Naw, it's okay. Maybe the smell will wake up Sam."

"I'm already awake," Sam grumbled. "Like anyone can sleep through your yammering."

Sam stretched and stood up and joined them at the table. He picked up the bag of donuts and peered inside. "Oh! He got my favorite!" Sam smiled broadly at Dean then he looked at his paws. Dean saw the slow realization hit. "Oh, we can't eat."

"Yeah, but they do smell awesome." Dean grabbed the bag out of Sam's paws and placed it back on the table."Castiel will get us more donuts when we're back to normal. Right, Cas?"

Castiel nodded gravely and said, "Of course."

Dean picked up the paper intending to read. He had a moment of realization that it was weird not having to brush his teeth, use the bathroom, or style his hair. It certainly freed up more time for research. "I'm going to read and see if anything happened last night," Dean said and sat down on the uncomfortable motel chair the room came with.

Cas sat down in the other chair across from him, while Sam went over to the bathroom countertop with the mirror. Sam turned on the light and picked up his comb and brushed his fur, which was matted from the night before. Dean shook his head and opened the paper; if Sam wanted to waste his time combing fur, Dean would not stop him. Dean did not plan on being in this form longer than necessary.

Reading the paper required all of Dean's concentration, his paws were not made to flip over thin sheets of delicate paper, and Sam was impossible not to watch as he moved about grooming himself, turning on the TV, packing his duffle bag. It didn't matter what Sam did, Dean found it more entertaining than scanning the headlines and bylines. As a result it took him over five minutes before he noticed the headline BABBYSITTER MURDERER STRIKES AGAIN!

"Sam!" Dean snapped. "Come look at this."

Sam hit the mute button and joined him at the table, looming over Dean as Dean spread the paper flat. Castiel shifted out of the way to give Sam and Dean more room to maneuver so they wouldn't risk touching each other. Newspaper ink smeared Dean's white paws but Dean didn't care, he was focused instead on grisly details in the article. In the yellow glow of the motel lamp, Sam's looked again like a brown grizzly bear leaning over to read the tiny font. Only the startling white muzzle and lack of claws reminded Dean that he was not in fact standing next to a dangerous wild animal.

Dean resisted the urge to smooth down a bit of Sam's fur that was still standing up. Visualizing himself in the Impala didn't lessen the impulse to reach over.

Dean's brain ground to a halt with the realization that he missed touching Sam. It had become a habit, the light touches of living in close quarters. A friendly pat on the back, tips of his fingers guiding Sam, bumping their shoulders together while they walked, and their occasional sparing practices all added up to a lifetime of connecting with his brother physically. Now, it looked like he'd have to curb his impulse to touch or risk their sanity if they lost control of their shields, nothing like a little pressure on a Sunday morning.

It only took Sam a minute to read through the article and come up with a conclusion. "It looks like we have a copycat or our job isn't done here." He stood up to his full height, but his shoulders slumped; reading about kids murdered in their beds tended to bring them both down.

"I fear I have failed to find the real killer," Castiel said.

"It happens," Dean said abruptly, before Sam could join the self-pity fest. "What we need to concentrate on is finding out what is going on." In hindsight, torching Molly Wentworth was obviously a waste of time.

They were back at square one.

"Maybe we should try calling Melanie and see if she'll talk with us?" Sam offered. "Now that we can shield ourselves we may not be a danger to the public."

"You mean we won't be in danger of being ripped to shreds by a horde of children, don't you?" Dean said and then wished he hadn't. Removing the resulting visual of Sam and himself ripped to pieces with white stuffing coming out of their bodies took concentrated effort.

Sam's mouth dipped into an unhappy frown. "I don't see any other options right now, do you?" His ears furled inwards.

Dean tried to come up with another solution now that they knew Castiel sucked at interviewing, but couldn't. They needed to talk with their main lead and only witness. His shield seemed to be working okay with Sam standing close to him. Dean concluded his reluctance had more to do with going out in public in his current form. However, with more dead children, neither of them had the luxury of hiding out until they got back to normal. Though, it didn't hurt to take precautions.

"Cas, you can come with us right?" Dean asked.

"Yes." Castiel sounded apprehensive.

"Great," Dean clapped his paws together to drum up some fake enthusiasm. There was no way he'd let Sam think he was afraid of a little public humiliation. "Cas, you'll be our bodyguard in case something goes wrong with this shielding thing."

Dean continued to outline his plan for the day, "Sammy, you'll call up Melodee and convince her to meet us again at the mall and we'll go do our thing."

"It's Melanie," Sam corrected automatically. His ears unfurled to their full upright position.

"Yeah, I said Melanie."

"Whatever," Sam huffed while his ears twitched happily.

Dean smiled at the response and continued, "I'm not sure if we can go to the new crime scene like this so we'll hack into the police database to pull the records."

"And when you say we, you mean me, right?" Sam interrupted leaning closer to Dean, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Dean leaned into Sam's space, his body tightened with tension. "I meant us," Dean said refusing to give in on their ongoing argument of who was the better hacker. After all, Dean was the one that got them all the free porn they could watch. Porn sites had more internet security and firewalls than most government agency websites.

"You couldn't hack your way out of a wet paper sack," Sam said slowly and deliberately.

Oh, it was on!

Before Dean could jump Sam and force his brother to admit Dean was the better hacker, Castiel interrupted by sliding between them and placing a hand on each of their chests holding them apart. "Neither of you will 'hack' anything since you no longer have fingers with which to type."

Sam's red heart shaped nose twitched and his wide mouth twisted into a grin. Then his hazel eyes did something weird. Sharp white light flickered from his irises like diamonds. Sam didn't seem to notice his eyes were literally sparkling as he rocked back on his heels, unable to stand still when his emotions charged up.

Enchanted by the sight, Dean lost his train of thought. Luckily Castiel was there to jab them both in the stomach with his elbows, which wasn't hard. They'd squished Castiel between them in their attempt to move closer. Sam winced and rubbed his heart and backed away giving Castiel more room. Dean backed away until the back of his furry legs bumped into the motel room chair.

Castiel soothed his rumpled suit, a very human gesture he'd picked up recently. "This is not going to work," Castiel said and rubbed his bloodshot eyes, he looked weary in a way Dean never expected to see. "Dean, you have to stop playing. It is bringing out your Care Bear nature and making your powers stronger and Sam you need to stop smiling at Dean."

Sam's smile vanished in an instant, the white fur surrounding his red heart faded to a duller white. His shoulders slumped with guilt.

Castiel's sharp reprimand cut Dean deeply, which sucked. It's not like he didn't have his shield on, he didn't know what had just happened. However seeing Sam's presence diminish pissed him off. Castiel had turned into a black hole that instead of trapping in light and mass now vacuumed in happiness and fun. "Look, it's not our fault! We were shielding…and nothing would have happened. We were joking. You know having fun! Something you should try sometime." Dean ended his rant by poking Castiel in the chest his paw.

Castiel looked down at the yellow paw poking him and then back up at Dean's face. His eyes were inscrutable. "You are right," Castiel said after a moment's pause. "We should do something fun. What do you have in mind?"

Dean's mind blanked out for a moment, shocked that Castiel agreed with him so easily. After remembering that they had a deadly monster to catch before another group of children were murdered, Dean said. "Why don't we save it for after we solve this case?"

"I do not think that is possible, Dean." Castiel said. "You could not give a debriefing for five minutes before you lost control in order to have 'fun' with Sam, which made him in turn lose control of his powers. There is no point continuing this case until you two are returned to normal. If you decide to continue this course of action I will not stick around to 'bail' you out of trouble."

"Cas," Dean said, weirdly guilty now.

"Do not interrupt," Castiel snapped. "Neither of you are in control of yourselves. Dean you have smiled more in the last twenty-four hours than in the last six months. Sam, you radiate love and affection and it is impossible for any human to resist. Both of your positive emotions and love are amplified to the point where you cannot help but be drawn to each other let alone control the results. If either of you were in your right mind, you would be more worried."

Dean looked over at Sam and tried to feel worried about how much closer he wanted to be to his brother, but it was impossible, all he felt was the ache of being too far apart, and the urge to do anything that would put a smile back on Sam's furry face. Dean wondered if this is what he'd always felt when he was with Sam but after 40 years of hell he'd suppressed the feeling?

"Castiel, it'll be fine," Sam said reassuringly. "If you come with us to help, nothing will go wrong. Dean and I will behave. No teasing each other, no joking, it'll be all business, I promise."

Castiel frowned but Dean could see Castiel's resolve wavering under Sam's friendly assault.

"I cross my heart," Dean said, crossing his heart.

"What good does crossing your heart do?" Castiel asked.

"It doesn't matter, it's just a saying," Sam said before Dean had the chance to respond. "The point is our shields work and we'll try harder to focus on the case when we're out in public. If something goes wrong, you can zap us back to this room, right."

Castiel took a moment before responding, "I prefer not to find ourselves in such a position." Then in the same measured and calm tone he landed the mother of all bombshells, "In the state you are in, I find it difficult to keep my distance when your powers flair to life. I find myself wanting to shed my vessel and join with you. I am concerned that the next time I will not be able to stop myself. If this were to happen in public the results would be disastrous. I do not want to take the risk that even in your current forms that you can hear or see my true form. If I am wrong…."

The rest went without saying, if Castiel were wrong and they saw his true form and heard his true voice, they'd go blind and deaf. Worse yet they would become locked into a three-way Vulcan mind meld with no one to break them apart. "Well, Fluffy Bunny me." Dean said and then snapped his mouth shut before he could mention anymore bunnies.

Aggrieved, Sam asked, "Why didn't you say something sooner?" His ears furled down until the tips touched his head.

Castiel held out his hands in a placating gesture. "Yesterday this was not an issue." He paused, "I am telling you now."

Sam shook his head, turned, and walked away. He stopped next to the cheap wooden dresser the TV stood on. Unhappiness and anger radiated off of him, along with a heavy dose of guilt, if Dean read him right.

Dean's urge to smack Sam out of his melodramatic bad mood warred with the urge to hug him. Instead he settled for ineffectual words, "It'll be all right. Nothing bad has happened so stop being a pansy."

"Dean, this is serious!" Sam snapped and straightened to his full height, which would have been scarier if Sam wasn't a declawed Care Bear. "If Castiel is affected by our lack of control then it's no longer all that safe for him to be around us any longer."

"I am not at that point," Castiel dryly added, "yet."

"Look, can we concentrate on the matter at hand?" Dean interrupted, angry that they were still on this topic instead of focusing on the case. "We still have a killer to catch. Cas, if you feel the urge to Vulcan mind meld with Sam, first I don't want to hear about it, and second you're a big angel now surely you know how to run away."

"I do not know what a Vulcan mind-meld is…" Castiel paused as his attention turned inwards, "But I will stay and help until you are returned to your true forms. If I feel I may lose control I will leave."

Dean slapped Castiel on the arm. "That's the spirit!"

Dean was relieved that Castiel choose to stick around. It gave Dean a small measure of comfort to know they had an extra person to watch their backs when they went out in public. Dean could handle just about anything except the idea of children ripping him and Sam into pieces and scattering their white fluffy insides all over the mall. Dean smiled at Cas before turning his attention back to Sam, who had not moved from his spot by the TV.

"Sam you still need to call Melodee and convince her to meet us."

"For the last time, it's Melanie!" Sam's exasperated exclamation exploded across the room. Car alarms simultaneously activated with loud beeping and honking horns caused no doubt from the vibrations of Sam's outburst.

Sam's mouth gapped open and his eyes widened to their fullest extent, completely shocked that his voice caused car alarms to activate. "I didn't mean to do that." Sam said in a quieter tone, subdued.

"Now if only you had the power to turn them off." Dean rolled his eyes at Sam's crestfallen expression. He opened the curtain and looked out to see if they drew any negative attention. Motel room doors opened, and various car owners remotely de-activated the alarms, before shutting their doors again, not at all concerned. Not all owners were present sadly enough, one lone car continued to wail for police protection. Only a minute or two passed and Dean resisted the urge to help the car into a lake, if only to stop the incessant racket.

"Cas, can you do something?" Dean asked pointing his arm in the vague direction of the beeping car. "I'm going to do something illegal to that car if I hear it a moment longer."

Castiel nodded and vanished. A moment later the car quieted.

"I'll just call Melanie." Sam grabbed the phone off the table, along with the number 2 pencil, and took both items to the other side of the room. Sam sat on the edge of the bed his paws dwarfed the flip cell phone but he somehow managed to find a way to open it and dial.

Dean sat back down on the wide motel room chair. The cushioning had long since gone the way of the dinosaurs. He watched as Sam talked on the phone, convincing Melanie to meet with them again at the mall and that yes, this time they'd be there but in disguise.

Dean snorted at that and went back to flipping through the newspaper. There wasn't much to read; Ashdown wasn't exactly a one horse town but it wasn't New York City either.

A rustle of wings alerted Dean to Castiel's return from the parking lot. Castiel sat down in the other chair and didn't move a muscle for minutes. Dean felt a pang of sympathy in his own back but shrugged his shoulders, figuring if Castiel could heal a knife wound then surely he could heal bad posture.

The AC rumbled to life while they waited. It blasted cold air at the back of Castiel's head and the force of the air ruffled his hair and collar. Dean only felt the edge of the cold air but this time it didn't freeze his skin, his fur protected him from the cold and insulated him from the heat.

Thunder rumbled off in the distance, not loud enough to cause vibrations but a sure sign of another storm front on the horizon. Dean flicked the heavy curtain back to peer outside. Dark storm clouds hung low in the sky, casting a grey shadow on the world as the wind pushed in their direction. Dean hoped the storm blew right over them and on towards Texas, he hated driving in the rain, especially heavy rain.

Sam flipped the phone off and joined them at the table. Dean sat straighter, and let the curtain close in anticipation for Sam's news.

"She'll meet us in thirty minutes at the food court," Sam said. "She said she's bringing a taser for 'just in case'." Sam's air quotes didn't work as well without opposable digits, or with a cell phone in his paw.

A flash of lighting peeked through the gap in the curtain followed by a low rumble of thunder. A spattering of rain drops began to patter against the window pane. So much for not driving in the rain. Dean wondered if he could rig up something to cover his fur when they went outside. He did not want matted wet fur.

"Castiel, can you take us to the mall?" Sam asked after opening the curtain and checking out the cloud coverage. His voice sounded hopeful and Dean remembered how long it took Sam to dry himself last night.

Castiel hesitated only a moment before nodding his head.

The power flickered before resetting. It was going to be one of those kinds of storms, Dean huffed inwardly. These shitty motels always lost power at the slightest breeze.

Sam stood up and said, "I think we better go to the mall now and test our shields. If they don't work, it's better to find out now. We'll need time to come up with a script for Castiel to follow if he has to interview Melanie on his own."

Dean didn't argue.

Before they left, Dean dropped the digital recorder into Castiel's front jacket pocket and a silver clip of twenties in the opposite pocket. The fully loaded Glock 9mm semi-automatic went in the back of Castiel's jeans. The Glock was too heavy to hang in any of Castiel's pockets without drawing unwanted attention from security guards haunting the malls in greater numbers.

Once Dean was satisfied with Castiel's apparel, he clapped Castiel on the arm and said, "Okay, we're ready. Beam us up, Scotty."

Sam covered his eyes with his paws. "Castiel, please tell me Dean was switched at birth, or replaced by aliens, and he's not really my brother?"

"My name is not Scotty. However, Dean is truly your brother. The other life forms in this galaxy have not visited this planet in over a millennium."

"Seriously, life on other planets?" Dean checked to make sure he heard correctly.

Castiel just shook his head and placed one hand on Dean's shoulder and the other on Sam's and took them to the mall.

Chapter Four

Castiel transported them near a side entrance to the mall, outside the sliding doors and under the concrete overhang. This protected them from the rain pouring out of the sky, like the rain was ready to flood the Earth again. Dean scanned the parking lot to see if anyone had seen them appear out of thin air but the rain and dark thunderclouds masked their appearance. Wind whipped through the decorative trees lining the sidewalk, making the thin fragile branches thrash against the ties holding the trunk upright inside to the metal mesh support. Dean hoped they hadn't just planted the trees, he didn't think newly planted baby trees could survive this kind of abuse for long.

The area smelled like old cigarette smoke, and a cylinder concrete trash can was littered with old butts. Dean looked down at the ground to see if he was standing in a bad spot, he didn't want any sticking to the soles of his feet. This must be where employees come out to smoke on their breaks.

"Come on," Sam said and waved his arm towards the entrance, which hid the aborted move to physically guide Dean inside. This not touching each other was easier said than done, Dean noticed.

It was less humid inside the air conditioned mall, something Dean appreciated.

An old woman gapped at them as they entered. She was sitting on the bench situated in the middle aisle with her white and yellow purse on her lap and a JC Penny's shopping sitting next to her feet. Her position on the bench gave her a perfect view of the walkway outside, which meant she'd seen them appear.

As a car pulled up outside and honked its horn, Dean smiled weakly at the lady and lengthened his stride. He was almost to the mall Directory when he heard Sam call out, "Ma'am you forgot your bag!"

He turned and saw Sam, now orange under the florescent lights, holding the white plastic bag up in the air. Dean could see the lady in the open doorway halted with the indecision: should she turn around and get her purchases from a giant Care Bear or should she let it go and go to Target instead for her granddaughter's birthday gift. How Dean knew what the lady thought he didn’t know, but he knew with complete certainty as to what was in the white plastic bag. Sam's shoulders slumped and he was on the verge of placing the shopping bag back on the wooden park bench when the woman turned around and came back for her purchases.

"Thank you," she said taking the bag from Sam's paws. She looked tiny next to Sam.

Sam nodded, and watched her leave and continued to watch until she made it safely into the blue mini-van that had come to pick her up. Sam hurried and joined him at the mall directory, Castiel had joined him at some point but Dean missed it while absorbed with watching Sam.

"Are you all right?" Dean asked softly.

Sam's answering smile was like a ray of sunlight breaking through a dark cloud, "Yeah, it was no big deal. I didn't like the idea of her forgetting her granddaughter's birthday gifts just because we startled her."

"What did you say?" Castiel demanded turning to face them, his attention no longer devoted to the backlit colorful directory.

"I just said it wasn't a big deal." Sam's smile dimmed, and he answered cautiously like he was afraid if he got the wrong answer Castiel would give him a zero on an important term paper.

Castiel rolled his eyes, a nasty habit he obviously picked up from Sam. "No, Sam. How did you know the item in the plastic bag was for Rita's granddaughter?"

Dean's ears perked up as it hit him; neither of them should have known that just from looking at a person.

"I just knew," Sam said. "Is it that big of a deal?"

Castiel pressed his lips together and his brows furrowed as he gazed at them steadily. "All angels know God's children's names and can read their souls. That you know what was in Rita's heart, is as you said, a big deal."

Dean let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It could be worse they could be gaining demonic powers instead of angelic powers. Sam joined them at the directory stand. Dean made sure he stood on the other side of Castiel so that the angel could act as a buffer to prevent them from accidently touching.

Dean found the food court easily on the yellow, purple, and pink map of the mall. He then moved onto checking out the list of stores. The text was tiny and grey on salmon pink but he managed to find what he was looking for and it had been a long time since he'd gone shopping. Sports Time was near the food court, which made it perfect for a quick stop.

Once Dean finished finding the store that interested him, he lost interest in the directory. Unfortunately, it looked like Sam was having a great time teaching Castiel about the directory and the various stories. His animated gestures, the pointy ears, and smile as he pointed to various areas on the map reminded Dean that Sam probably would have been a great dad or a teacher.

When it looked like Sam was winding down, Dean interrupted. "Come on I found the store I want to visit."

"But I haven't had a chance to pick out one for me," Sam protested.

Dean already anticipated this. "I already found a book store on the way. I think it's a Borders."

Sam's eyes lit up, again.

"I also want to go shopping," Castiel said.

This wasn't good. They only had about twenty-five minutes before the meet up. "What? Since when? I thought you were here to hold the money and make sure no one tears the stuffing out of Sam?"

This time Sam and Castiel both glared at him.

Dean sighed. "Okay what is it you want to visit?"

"I do not know yet," Castiel said.

Dean could work with this. "Okay in that case you can follow along and look at the shops through the windows. We stop at the book store first for no more than twenty minutes before we head to Sports Time. If we run into anything of interest for you we can stop and check it out. Sound good?"

Castiel nodded and said, "It is acceptable."

Sam's reaction was a little different. "Sports Time? Since when do you like visiting sporting good stores? You always said they had cheap rifles and only yuppies visited those types of places!"

Dean didn't bother dignifying that with a response. "Come on we're wasting time."

He turned and started walking down the hallway heading towards the pedestrian traffic. The echoing of voices and background music all mixed into together reminded Dean as to why he rarely visited these consumer traps. He passed the Eye Masters and a Game Stop before Castiel and Sam caught up.

The three of them attracted quite a bit of attention on their way to Sports Time. Dean was used to attracting attention, not to with the way he looked and Sam wasn't exactly hard on the eyes either, with his hazel eyes, brown hair, and goofy smile. This time, the attention was more along the lines of dropped jaws, kids staring, and a few teenage boys snickering and pointing. Castiel seemed oblivious as he studied his surroundings and each store they passed.

Kids in strollers strained their necks watching them pass. Luckily many parents had their kids on leashes so they didn't have a pack of them following them. Even with the shields it wasn't enough to hide their emerging natures from the small children. Dean concentrated hard on not paying close attention to any one person, otherwise he began to know things about the person that made him want to stop and help. The lady at the checkout counter at Game Stop felt guilty for buying Dance Dance Revolution Supernova2 for herself when she still hadn’t paid the electricity yet, but it had been so long since she’d bought herself anything. God, Dean didn’t need to know that!

Dean's felt a hint of unease as they passed an art gallery, like someone or something was watching him, but he didn't see anyone in the gallery shopping. Just his reflection in the showcase window and the artwork on display. A mixture of still life fruit, landscapes, and a horse. Nothing ominous. Dean focused on strengthening his shield until the uneasiness faded. He quickened his pace to catch up with Castiel and Sam before they realized he'd paused and almost lost control in the crowded mall.

They hit a Hallmark store that had balloons, stuff animals, and cards on a stand just outside the open walkway into the store. Care Bears of all types lined a shelf in various sizes, most still in their boxes but a few plush toys hung out on the table in a pile. Castiel picked one up and shook it; the light blue legs flopped all over the place because it was a five inch plushy Care Bear not a true original Care Bear. When the cashier saw Castiel with the Care Bear she smiled indulgently. Dean turned away quickly before he found out what she had for lunch.

Finally Castiel put the Wish Care Bear back down with its cousins and sister Care Bears. Dean spotted a pink Care Bear with an elephant trunk and realized getting turned into Care Bears could have been so much worse. Though, he admitted, it would have been hysterical if Sam had turned into the Monkey Care Bear. Dean would have taken photos and clipped them to the Impala's visor.

Sam was already halfway down the hall when Dean and Castiel caught up. It wasn't hard to miss him, it wasn't often you saw a six foot five inch brownish orange Care Bear. Sam took up even more space now than he had before the change, but he somehow managed not to hit the market booths stationed in the middle of the walkway selling Arkansas souvenirs, scented lotions, blown glass figurines, and one stand that sold sugar coated pecans.

If Dean were still human, he'd have gotten a bag of the roasted pecans, they smelled warm and fresh, and for only three dollars he could have gotten a medium cone. Dean gripped Castiel's arm before Castiel completely walked past the vendor. Dean figured just because he couldn't eat them didn't mean Castiel couldn't.

"Cas, you should try these."

Castiel paused possibly on the verge of saying no before he nodded. "I will try the honey roasted pecans." He handed the vendor the whole clip of money. Dean almost squawked at Castiel's lack of care with his money, but the vendor only slipped out a 20 and gave back the correct change. While Castiel put the money away, the vendor got Castiel a cone and filled it up with fresh roasted pecans.

Sam joined them. "Oh those smell good."

"When things are back to normal, we have to stop by one of those road stands and buy some for ourselves," Dean said captivated by the amount of pecans in the cone.

Sam nodded. "I'll have to find us a hunt in Texas. I remember they have stores along their highways advertising roasted pecans."

Castiel took his cone from the vendor and they continued walking. He picked up one pecan sniffed it cautiously, then popped it into his mouth and chewed. "These are delicious," Castiel announced and promptly popped another one in, and then another. Dean stopped counting after five.

The pecans quickly vanished down Castiel's stomach and were gone by the time they reached Sports Time. Sam stopped once they reached it and turned and gave Dean a look.

"There is no Borders, is there."

Dean shook his head, "Afraid not, Sammy."

"You are unbelievable! I can't believe I fell for the "there is a book store here" trick again." Sam stopped ranting and pointed his paw at Dean's chest. "Next time we go to the mall. I pick the store!"

Dean waited for Sam to get it all off his chest before he said, “Are you done?”
Sam scowled.

"Don't look at me like that, I didn't design the place," Dean protested while fighting the urge to smile.

Castiel was completely ignoring them in favor of shaking out the last pits of pecan shards from the empty cone.

"Dean, I am out of pecans," Castiel said, interrupting them. "I need to get more." Then he vanished with all their money. Great.

Sam shook his head and began walking towards the sports store while Dean hurried to catch up.

The entrance to Sports Time was remarkably free of clutter and sales gimmicks. Bike racks took up wall space just inside the door. A mother and daughter were trying out two mountain bikes in the aisle, and the teenage girl ran into a shelf when she saw them standing in the doorway, completely forgetting to hit the brakes. Dean winced at the sound of plastic water bottles hitting the floor in large numbers. Sam crowded near him which got Dean moving in another direction. He knew he found the right spot when he spotted fishing net and poles sticking up over the high shelves.

Sam paused in the walkway. "You brought us here for fishing supplies?" he said with disbelief.

"I just want to look," Dean said trying not to feel defensive. Fishing was a manly hobby and looked relaxing.

"But you never said …" Sam trailed off. "We haven't gone fishing in years."

"Dad and I used to go when you were at Stanford. He had a storage locker for our gear but I think the place was sold to new owners and this was just after Milwaukee so I couldn’t afford to go down there and re-do the lease. I think all of my stuff got auctioned off."

Sam didn't say anything so Dean continued. "I've been thinking about it for awhile, fishing again, you know when this is all over."

"I like it," Sam said softly, "Does this mean I'm invited?" Sam wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I don't know, you might scare all the fish away when they see you," Dean said, "Plus the only way you'd catch a fish is if you dropped a grenade in the lake."

"A grenade? I'm not that rusty!" Sam protested loudly.

"We should get grenades!" Dean said completely caught up in his fantasy of grenades and fishing. "It'll be fun and a great way to catch hundreds of fish at once. I'll let you chop off the heads and gut them. It'll be great."

"Funshine Bear wouldn't do that," Sam pointed out archly, hands still on his hips. Dean imagined somewhere in the world, someone owned a bear shaped tea kettle and it probably looked like Sam, minus the giant red heart. "Besides, we can't eat that much fish."

Dean basked in the glow of his brilliant plan to blow up fish for a brief shining moment, until Sam's words had a chance to sink in. "Hey!" Dean objected, "You do know I'm Dean, not Funshine Bear, right?"

Sam just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Funshine would not be so ecologically irresponsible." Like that was a perfectly valid reason.

Dean crossed his arms mostly to help him resist the temptation to punch Sam in the arm or on the head. "You know Funshine would totally blow up fish. Do you know why?" Dean didn't wait for Sam to answer barreling on ahead, "Because it's fun! Now stop standing there like a lump and let's go check out the crossbows.”

Dean turned and walked away expecting Sam to shuffle after him after a minute. "'Ecologically irresponsible' my ass," he muttered on his way over to the guns and ammo section of the store.

Sam caught up in a second and kept pace with him, radiating happiness in waves. Dean's shields held up, mostly. Their feet padded on the tile floor and made no noise, unlike their sneakers and boots, which usually either squeaked or clicked as they walked. Tile made stealth nearly impossible with modern footwear.

The crossbow selection was disappointing since it was limited to two models that were a year out of date and not all suited to their purposes. Joe, according to the name tag, behind the counter eyed them warily and did not offer any assistance. Dean checked out the rifles next but grew bored in minutes. This was more of a sports store not a guns and ammo store; they needed to find another gun show to attend if they really wanted to increase their arsenal.

Dean joined Sam at the glass knife case counter. So focused on a gleaming serrated edge knife, Sam acknowledged his arrival with nothing more than a grunt, and Sam said Dean was a caveman. The orange-brown gigantic paw on the countertop hid most of the knife Sam liked from Dean’s sight. The day before yesterday, Dean would have swatted Sam’s arm down so he could check out the weapon, but today he kept his hands to himself and leaned closer. With all the bright florescent lights shining within the counter it took a moment for his eyes to adjust enough to see past the bright yellow face with a heart shaped red nose reflected at him.

Dean tried to see what Sam saw in this weapon but it looked like any other knife, with some superficial resemblance to the demon killing knife they’d taken from Ruby. Knives were Sam’s specialty and primary weapon, Dean preferred a safe distance away from their target. If they needed to rely on a knife to wound their prey then they weren’t doing their jobs. Though having knives had saved their lives more than once now so he understood why dad made them learn both types of weapons.

After waiting long enough for Christ to have risen from the dead and died again, Sam straightened up to his full height. "Dean, what do you think?" He pointed at the knife in nestled amongst about a hundred other knives.

So bored he felt brain dead Dean replied without thinking, "It looks like a knife."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know that but I want to buy it and it's over fifty dollars."

His eyes flickered down Dean's body presumably looking for a wallet. "Do we have any money?"

"You know, I'm not a mind reader, right?" Dean asked wryly. "'Dean, what do you think?' doesn't exactly say 'Dean, show me the money.'"

Sam's woe-is-me expression melted Dean's resolve to keep giving Sam shit, and he answered Sam's stupid question. "We were good to go on the money front, but Castiel has my wallet, and he hasn't returned from finding himself more honey roasted pecans."

"Ah, I'd forgotten about that." Sam rubbed the side of his nose, embarrassed at forgetting this major detail, and trying to play it off, which would have worked on anyone else except Dean.

"We can come back later," Dean said throwing Sam a bone. "Besides, we don't have time right now to really enjoy buying new weapons; we need to meet Melanie at the food court in five minutes."

Sam's lips quirked up in a smile a sight Dean never got tired of seeing. "Castiel, is probably already there waiting for us."

"He better be he has all our money," Dean said and pushed off the counter.

The florescent lights in the counter flickered before returning to their normal brightness and low buzzing.

"Weird," Sam said.

"Probably a faulty wire," Dean said only vaguely concerned since none of the other lights flickered. Joe had vanished to some other part of the store so Dean couldn't have the man check.

The hallway outside Sports Time had emptied of people in the short time they were inside the store. The classical music playing from the mall's sound system kept them company as they walked towards the food court. They passed empty benches and giant potted plants, and stalls full of merchandise but no one was there to hawk their wares or guard the cashier's machines.

"Sam, I'm not much of a mallgoer but aren't malls normally busier than this around five o'clock?"

Sam paused briefly before answering, "There was that thunderstorm heading this way, maybe most people headed home to beat the bad weather or they decided to go shopping another day." Sam sounded unsure and uneasy.

Sam's reassuring words did nothing to alleviate Dean's growing anxiety and sense of wrongness. They reached the stairs heading up to the food court on the second floor. Through the skylight overhead, Dean saw that the dark black clouds had finally reached the city while they were shopping. Thunder rumbled loud enough to make the floor vibrate, which meant the storm was right on top of them, and lightning flashed ever couple of seconds, which left black afterimages in Dean's eyes. Dean hoped no tornados formed as a result of the storm front.

They took the stairs instead of the enclosed glass elevator. It gave them a greater view of the mall and more freedom of movement, and neither wanted to be trapped in an elevator in case their suspicions of something wrong came to pass. Earlier the mall had echoed with voices and music. Now, minus the zombies, it was like the newer Dawn of the Dead movie, creepy, empty, and brightly lit. Soft music still played over the speakers narrating their journey.

Ahead of him at the top of the stairs Sam stumbled to a halt like he'd been shot. Clutching the lime-green hand railing with one paw, Sam fell to his knees on the concrete stairs. Sam rubbed his heart with his free paw and his body trembled like he had an upset stomach. Alert for hidden dangers, Dean focused on his own shield and didn't move. Whatever was at the top of the stairs had hurt Sam, Dean was sure of it.

"Sam, tell me what's going on." Dean hated the edge of desperation in his voice. It was all he could do to not run to Sam's side. The uneasy feeling in his gut intensified with each minute on the open staircase, a target for any enemy.

"Dean..." Sam's voice shook and his body hunched over further. "I can't breathe."

"Sam, you can breathe, you're breathing now. Just listen to my voice and let go of the rail." Sam shook his head. "Sammy, you get down here, now!" Dean barked. He needed Sam to move.

Sam let go of the rail and gravity did the rest. Top heavy and precariously balanced only on his knees, Sam fell backwards down the stairs. Dean focused on his shields like their lives depended on it and caught Sam on the way down. The impact almost knocked Dean off his feet but he held on and didn't let go until he was sure he had them both secure. His arms strained until Sam got his feet under him at which point they both sat down on the stairs to catch their bearings.

Sam continued to tremble in his arms and Dean focused only one thing, the Impala. They hadn't been this close together without Castiel there to help protect them and now it was all on them to not lose control. Eventually, the trembling stopped and Sam gently pulled himself loose from Dean's arms. The separation hurt and Dean clung tight to Sam's arm.

"Dean, you have to let go, we're going to lose control," Sam said with a slight strain in his voice; no doubt the separation pained him as well.

Dean nodded once and let Sam go. Sam scooted over to the other side of the stairs opposite Dean; luckily whoever designed the mall figured the stairs needed enough width to accommodate people carrying shopping bags and baby strollers. It gave enough space for two grown, man-sized Care Bears to sit side-by-side.

They both sat there in silence listening to the music until they regained control over their minds and bodies.

Sam broke the silence first, "I was so stupid to relax my shields. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I felt this wave of darkness and pure malevolence coming from the direction of the food court. It tried to worm its way inside my body. I'd never felt anything like that before I think if we were human, I would have puked."

Dean felt like puking himself. Sam's description vividly reminded him of his time in Hell.

Sam lowered his eyes and stared at his furry orange feet. He rubbed his heart to sooth himself from the memory. "I couldn't handle it." Sam's voice was a whisper of its former self.

Dean looked up at the skylight and the black clouds and remembered the flickering light in Sports Time, Castiel going missing along with all the other people, and felt like the world's biggest idiot. "No, I'm stupid. Sam we're in a trap! Melanie isn't planning on meeting us today, or something is, but it's certainly not her."

"Demons," Sam said eyes turned grim with the realization that they had no weapons, were likely surrounded, and had barely any control over the powers they now possessed.

Dean would have taken Holy Water and Ruby's demon killing knife any day over Care Bear powers. However, leaving was not an option. For one, he was certain that if they tried to leave the mall they'd be stopped. After all, they'd been expertly herded to this location for a reason. Second, while Dean didn't know who or what expect at the Food Court, he knew in his gut that the monsters responsible for the deaths of the children were waiting for them to arrive. Dean never shied away from putting down monsters, especially monsters that murdered children. They truly had no choice but to go forward.

Lightning fractured across the skylight followed by a sharp crack of thunder. Lights throughout the mall flickered off and didn't return. Emergency lights on all the exit doors and in some of the shops came on a moment later. The rest of the mall plunged into darkness except for the section with the skylight roof. What little sunlight that fought through the rolling thunderclouds was grey and weak like the last five minutes before the sun truly set on a rainy day.

It took Dean a second or two before his eyes adjusted to the reduced light. Sam's ears, stomach, and paws began to glow unnaturally white as if it sucked up all the available light and reflected it back at a 1000x what it took in. Every strand of white fur on Dean's body did the same thing and the effect was eerie and not at all inconspicuous.

"Come on we better get moving," Dean said and stood up.

Sam slowly climbed to his feet, Dean clenched his paws into fists to resist the urge to reach over and help. It seemed to take Sam twice as long as normal to stand up. Maybe it was just his nerves that made it seem that way, but Dean felt like a giant target waiting for Sam. His bright yellow fur and glowing stomach only made it worse.

This time Dean took the lead going up the stairs. With his mental shields up at full strength, Dean was still unprepared for the sense of evil that met him at the top. No one was there waiting for them but evil filled the air and wrapped around him like a boa constrictor. His breath caught and he stumbled back, instinctively flinching away from danger. Sam's paw on his back stopped him from tripping and falling ass over heels down the stairs; it also calmed him and overrode the strong presence nearby.

Sam pushed him forward so he could reach the landing on the second floor. Dean grabbed Sam's paw in his own because he didn't see how else he'd make it without Sam's power filling him up and driving out the other presence. Sam squeezed his paw and pulled forward so they weren't on the edge of the staircase. Not needing to shop at JC Penny’s, Dean turned until he saw the crosswalk and the edge of a Subway sign. They headed in the direction of the Subway, figuring the rest of the food court would be nearby.

The food court opened up into a wide public space full of white plastic chairs and metal tables with half eaten food on brown plastic trays. None of the neon fast food signs were lit but the skylight overhead made reading them easy enough. In the center of the court Dean saw Castiel sitting in a chair, his tie askew, blood dripping down his chin. A man stood next to him with one hand on Castiel's shoulder. As they drew near Dean began to notice more details, like the skin peeling from the man's forehead, the paleness of his skin, the dirty blue jeans and flannel shirt needed a round or two in a washing machine. When the man's smile faltered the pit of Dean's stomach dropped, it was Lucifer. The last time he'd seen Lucifer it was dark, they'd just lost Ellen and Jo, and he'd shot a bullet through the angel's head. Too bad it didn't stick.

Sam gasped and tugged Dean to a stop. That's when Dean noticed all the other people, no not people, demons, in the food court. They stood silent in a circle around Lucifer and Castiel. Lighting flashed across the black clouds overhead and thunder rumbled in retreat.

"Sam, it's so good of you to join us," Lucifer said. "I'll be honest, you do not appear as I expected." There was a thread of anger laced into Lucifer's tone.

Lucifer dug his fingers into Castiel's shoulder until Castiel cried out in pain, at which point Lucifer smiled and stopped. Castiel gasped and slumped over in the chair breathing deeply.

Butterflies swarmed in Dean's stomach. "What do you want?" Dean demanded.

"Of you, nothing. It’s Sam I want." Sam inched away at that statement, even as Lucifer continued speaking as though this were a regular meeting between pals at the mall. "Though not in his present form, it's not natural."

Dean snorted, talk about understatement. "Well buddy, if you can figure out how to change us back…I think we might appreciate it."

Castiel shook his head, his eyes wide with fear, for them or himself, though from twenty feet away, Dean couldn't tell.

Lucifer smiled and said, "Sadly, my brother here won't tell me who transformed you. With this kind of spell, only the caster can return you to your original forms." He brushed his hand against Castiel's neck. "I was very convincing too. I think it's possible he may not know."

"In that case you can let him go." Sam's voice brooked no argument.

"If you come to me, Sam I may let him leave here with your brother." Lucifer knelt down until he was eye level with Castiel, gripped Castiel's chin and kissed him. Castiel raised his arms to push Lucifer away but was easily overpowered. After an eternity, Lucifer pulled back and turned to face them still on his knees, his eyes cruelly amused at their aghast expressions. "However, the longer you make me wait for you, Sam, the harder it'll be to let my little brother fly away." Lucifer paused for dramatic effect, "He's so tempting."

Dean understood the implications quite clearly and felt sick. Sam growled at his side truly sounding like a bear for the first time since this transformation. Dean tried to think of some way to save Castiel as well as themselves but they were clearly outnumbered with no weapons.

"Run!" Castiel shouted while Lucifer was turned away from him. Lucifer stood to his full height and backhanded Castiel, which knocked Castiel off the chair.

"I don't need your consent to take you with me, Sam. Maybe not today you won't say yes, but eventually you will. The question is, do I leave your brother alive?"

Sam's ears flattened down and his stomach glowed even brighter. "You will not hurt Dean." Their palms glowed so brightly Dean thought it would burn but it didn't.

Lucifer flicked his finger and six of the demons, big guys, rushed them. They had to let go of each other to fight, which almost lost them the fight at the moment of separation. Lucifer's true presence crashed into their new fragile shields and sent them reeling.

Instinct saved Dean from having his stomach gutted; he grabbed demon's wrist with the knife, bent his knees, and sent the demon flying over his head and onto a table with a half eaten Big Mac. Soda and fries flew everywhere as the table tipped over. His other body never could have pulled that off. Dean revised his opinion about his Care Bear body, this was cool!

Sam punched out the first demon to reach him and that was the last Dean saw of Sam as they were cut off from each other in the fight.

Dean ended up grappling with the next demon for about three seconds before the demon's arms began to burn and the demon instead of trying to grab and hold him was now struggling to escape Dean's paws. She screamed and scratched at him with her nails, which did nothing to his fur. Smoke hissed out from where his paws gripped her arms and her eyes turned completely black before she convulsed and black smoke poured out of her mouth.

After that the demons got smarter and began to use plastic chairs. Dean's body didn't hurt from the impact of the chair one demon lobed at him, it sort of bounced off and Dean used it to fend off the other demons. Dean was holding his own until Castiel's voice thundered inside Dean's mind, "DEAN! HELP SAM!"

Dean pushed the demon in front of him away and scanned for Sam's furry orange head and didn't see him, which was rather remarkable considering Sam towered over almost everyone on the planet. Panic set low in Dean's stomach, Lucifer couldn't have taken Sam could he? Then he heard Sam scream coming from the left by the Golden Wok.

Dean could barely move the demons now doing everything in the power to get between him and Sam. "Sam!" Dean bellowed in anger and fear.

Use Your Care Bear Powers, Dean!

"But that's just a TV show!" Dean yelled back.

It's Not!

Dean shook his head to clear Castiel's voice. While holding up a plastic white chair to keep the demons away from him he said carefully, "Care Bear Power." Nothing happened.

Shit!

"CAS! It didn't work!" Dean yelled franticly and jabbed at a teenager with nose rings that got too close.

You Have To Mean It Dean!

"I do!"

It Has To Come From The Heart!

A break opened in front of him and Dean saw Sam on his back with Lucifer kneeling next to him, one hand pressed to Sam's heart Sam's arms held down by two demons. Sam's legs thrashed has he tried to escape and couldn't. The demons had this all planned out, Dean realized, to separate them and keep him busy while they cornered and trapped Sam for Lucifer.

The sunshine on his chest ached from the taint of the demons nearby. With every passing moment the demons kept him from reaching Sam's side the more his sunshine hurt. Dean dropped his last remaining shield that kept him from being irresistibly drawn to Sam and yelled at the top of his voice, "CARE BEAR POWER!"

He felt a rush of energy gather and push out from his stomach. Every demon in the path of the sunshine ray was forcibly expelled from their unwilling hosts, including the two demons holding Sam. Lucifer glanced up startled but un-injured by the power. With the demons out of the way, Dean didn't waste a moment running to Sam's side. Lucifer held up a hand to do God knows what because Dean kicked him in the chest and sent him flying into the counter of the Golden Wok and away from Sam.

Sam was crying and breathing deeply and all Dean could think to do was drop down next to his brother and place his hand on Sam's heart, a direct connection to link them together. It was an instant and overpowering connection, the intensity on level with the best orgasm he'd ever experienced; it was almost impossible to bear and impossible to let go. He felt the dark taint of Lucifer's touch within them and he pushed it out and away from them until they felt clean and whole again.

Sam's wide wet eyes filled with stars again, drowning out the hazel color. His red heart on his stomach began to glow just as Dean's sunshine face on his chest glowed. Dean wasn't sure which of them made the first move to stand but they both found themselves on their feet and holding hands.

The rest of the demons kept their distance as Lucifer slowly rose to his feet. Dean had never felt stronger standing side by side with Sam.

"You know this won't save either of you from your fate? Humans were never meant for the powers you're borrowing. If you don't burn out completely, and return to your regular mortal selves, I will have Sam's body and the first thing I will do is destroy you Dean. I had originally thought to keep you as a pet, to mock my father and Michael, but I think it would destroy Sam to hear you scream in agony before you die by his own hands." Lucifer smiled at them.

It was like raising a red flag. Sam's fury and fear took both their powers and lashed against Lucifer, blood welled up on Lucifer's cheek. He touched the welt and brought the drop of blood to his mouth. "Is that the best you can do?"

Dean didn't know why bad guys like to monologue but he wished Lucifer would keep his mouth shut. Sam's mind strained to expel Lucifer from his host until he fell back panting, both of them hurt from that effort. Sam's ears remained upright and his eyes blazed with stars, stubborn even in the face of this one failure.

Lucifer laughed and clapped his hands, "I'm not a demon, Sam."

"You have to use love," Castiel said joining them at last, his tie was askew and his jacket rumpled from where he'd fallen to the floor.

"What?" They asked in unison.

Castiel picked the ketchup stained French fry off his sleeve and flicked it away before answering, "You are trying to destroy him with hate and fear but your Care Bear powers do not feed off those powers. In the cartoons, the Care Bears overcame their enemies with love."

"This isn't a hippie commune, Cas, or a 1980s love song. Love doesn't conquer all." Dean squeezed Sam's paw tighter, not taking his eyes off Lucifer. The demons not blasted away stayed out of their range and off to the side, which bought them a little more time to recover.

"You are wrong," Castiel said with absolute conviction.

Lucifer's hands tightened into fists, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"Yes, you should have," Castiel said.

Dean tried to figure out what Castiel meant by love being their weapon but came up blank, he only really loved Sam and knew by their connection that Sam felt the same for him. But did Castiel mean general love for their fellow humans, or some sort of forgiveness for Lucifer?

"You both better hurry before he's able to regain his power to fly." Castiel added with some urgency.

"I know what we have to do," Sam said while sending soothing waves of happiness and love through their linked hands and non-existent shields. It was amazing how quickly feeling Sam's soul began to feel natural and necessary. In spite of himself, he basked in Sam's love, relieved beyond measure to know that Sam truly did love him and it wasn't just one sided. Sam's relationship with Ruby had done more damage than he'd originally thought in undermining his trust in Sam.

Reading Sam's mind, Dean knew the moment Sam realized the solution. They needed to use the Care Bear powers at the same time if they wanted to defeat Lucifer. Dean remembered the feeling in his stomach when he released the power to save Sam and drew on it. His stomach began to burn with but he held back waiting for Sam to catch up. He focused on how much he loved Sam because for some reason that's what made his powers work.

Their minds as one, they both shouted at the same time, "Care Bear Stare!" Rays of sunlight shot out of Dean's stomach while Sam's heart exploded outwards repeatedly until both forces hit Lucifer square on. Together their powers exponentially increased with every second. It felt like a supernova had exploded from his body. All he could do was hold onto Sam and not pass out. Castiel raised his arm to cover his eyes.

Lucifer jumped out of the way but it was too little and too late. The Sunshine Rays and Floating Heart caught him dead on. He screamed and light shot out from his eyes and mouth and white wings unfurled and blasted out the Golden Wok sign, electric sparks rained down on him as he was forced from his host.

After that Dean lost track of time and his senses.

Chapter Five

"Dean, it's time to wake up," Sam said shaking him. There was a smile in his voice. Dean slowly became aware that he was lying on the floor of the food court, wrapped in Sam's furry Care Bear arms.

Their stomachs and paws had returned to their unnatural white state instead of glowing white hot. He didn't want to move, he could have stayed snuggled up to Sam for the rest of eternity and not miss a thing. However, other outside concerns began to make themselves known. For one his body ached and his brain hurt like he'd done something impossible with it and was about to pay the price.

"I’m awake," Dean grumbled before Sam shook him again.

"We must leave this place at once before the human authorities arrive," Castiel said.

This reminded Dean of their fight with Lucifer and the demons. He bolted upright. Sam made an oomph sound when Dean used his stomach as a prop. The food court was a mess of glass and shattered plastic. All the logo signs for every fast food joint had exploded like lighting had struck. The floor was littered with post-possessed people. The former host of Lucifer lay on the floor in front of the Golden Wok counter, dead, his face still damaged from his brief stint as Lucifer's vessel.

"Did we stop Lucifer?" Dean asked Castiel, who was the only one who remained awake for the final showdown.

"You did. You both did." Castiel sounded odd and it wasn't until Dean looked up at Castiel that he noticed tears running down his face.

"Are you hurt?" Dean asked.

Castiel shook his head. "He was my brother and much loved. I grieve for him. But it was necessary."

Dean tried to imagine how he'd feel if his Sammy had turned evil, tried to destroy the Earth, and had to be killed to stop him. It left him feeling cold inside. Sam hugged Dean to offer comfort, it was impossible to hide his old worry from his father's order to protect Sam or face killing him.

Dean said nothing and let Sam help him to his feet. He felt worn out and exhausted beyond normal.

"Your bodies are dying," Castiel said as if he was reading their thoughts. "I am reading your thoughts, Dean. Neither you or Sam are shielding anymore."

Shit!

"Do not worry about it, you heard my true voice and remained whole, you saw Lucifer's true form and yet your eyes remain untouched. The transformation protected you as intended."

"Okay that's getting creepy, let us ask the question then answer okay?" Dean said stilling leaning heavily on Sam, who gently nuzzled his neck. It tickled.

Castiel didn't waste time in reaching over and zapping them back to their hotel room, leaving the entire mess at the mall in someone else's hands.

Gabriel was sitting on their bed flipping channels when they appeared near the doorway. Sam and Dean dropped wearily onto the bed nearest the door.

"Gabriel, the fight is over," Castiel said stupidly, worn from transporting them after the battle.

"I knew that as soon as I felt our dear brother depart." Gabriel tossed the remote to the side. "I'm here on orders from our Father. It's time to return Sam and Dean to their human forms."

"Wait you knew about this!" Sam yelled. "And you didn't turn us back?"

"Change you back! Why would I do that? I was ordered to change you in the first place!"

"Wait, what?" Dean did a double take between Gabriel's smirk and Castiel's shocked expression.

"God told you to turn us into Care Bears?" Sam said aghast.

"Of course not!" Gabriel opened his arms, "He just told me to modify you to withstand the powers of archangels, and to survive the sound and sight of Lucifer. He didn't say what form to pick. You should be thanking me; I almost turned you both into 'My Little Ponies', but decided that was a bit impractical."

"Impractical!" Sam shouted jumped to his feet and opened his arms to show off the rest of his body more clearly. "This is not practical!"

"But why?" Dean asked not moving from his spot on the bed.

Gabriel shrugged, "I don't ask those types of questions, but I think he got tired of you guys pussyfooting around on letting Michael and Lucifer sort things out and decided to let you two knuckleheads do it yourselves, which never would have worked if you weren't already soul mates."

"Soul mates!" Sam and Dean both shouted at the same time.

"I'll let Castiel take this one. I have an errand to run." Gabriel smirked and disappeared.

"Hey come back! You promised to fix us," Dean yelled at the missing Archangel.

Sam just shook his head. "Castiel, is what Gabriel said true about Dean and me?" It looked like Sam couldn't bring himself to say the words soul mates.

Castiel nodded once. "Yes, you two are soul mates, it's the only reason you were able to blend into one entity with all the powers of an archangel when fighting Lucifer. That light shining out of you was your combined soul imbued with the powers of heaven."

Before Sam could say anything Castiel raised his hand in a sign of patience. "I thought you both already knew. You were both completely lost without the other. It's a cruel trick of fate that made you brothers, otherwise you may have realized sooner what you felt for each other."

Dean looked over at Sam's pensive face, half wilted ears, most likely tiredness, and tried to visualize his Sam as his soul mate, but all he saw was Sam. The person he loved most in the world…okay maybe Castiel had something there.

He didn't know what to do with that and neither did Sam by the look of things. They both sighed. Sam shuffled back over to his side and they reached out to hold hands again, except this time Sam went for the full body hug, which knocked Dean back onto the bed because he wasn't prepared for it. However, once he had Sam in his arms hugging him he couldn't let go; they still felt each other's emotions and Sam needed to feel Dean to know he was alive and okay.

Dean stroked the fur on Sam's arms to sooth his trembling, a delayed reaction to the events with Lucifer, and at the same time sent his own feelings of love and affection and relief that they survived back into Sam until Sam was relaxed and pliant in his arms, radiating contentment.

They both lost track of time as they remained connected and snuggled together, their paws and stomachs touching. Dean nuzzled the underside of Sam's neck; the white parts of his mouth were sensitive to Sam. With each passing moment, they grew weaker as their bodies began to shut down, dying. Connected neither felt pain or much worry over the prospect. Dean barely noticed when Castiel took a chair to sit and protect them until Gabriel had returned.

It could have been hours or minutes later when Gabriel returned. He didn't announce himself flamboyantly, or began making jokes at their expense, which would have been low considering they were both mentally compromised with powers that weren't natural for humans, and dying. He did however clap his hands together and in a fake cheerful voice said, "Okay snuggle time is over." Neither Sam nor Dean paid attention, completely lost in each other, and at this point completely helpless.

It took both Castiel and Gabriel working together to completely separate them long enough for Gabriel to gently lay his hands on Sam and release his power. The change was instantaneous, one minute Sam was a giant Care Bear and the next he was human Sam with floppy brown hair, hazel eyes, and a lot less fur. Sam feebly cried out. "Dean!" while Gabriel carefully lowered him back onto the bed.

Dean, barely hanging onto conscious, jerked at the sudden loss of Sam in his mind. He hung limply in Castiel's arms and didn't struggle when Gabriel placed his hands on his face and muttered the words that changed him back into a human. The physical transformation didn't hurt, only gapping sense of loss where Sam used to be. The constant humming of Castiel and Gabriel minds ceased and his brain struggled to regain the feeling and failed.

Castiel lowered him on the bed next to Sam. He was too worn out and exhausted to move on his own at this point. Sam's side was warm and comforted by that knowledge alone, Dean allowed himself to sleep.

Chapter Six

When Dean next opened his eyes, it was night, and someone had undressed him and put him in his sleepwear, a plain pair of boxers and his favorite blue cotton t-shirt. Gabriel had left and only Castiel remained to watch over them, probably one last time. Sam continued to sleep next to him, similarly attired.

"Dean." Castiel started to say something else but then paused. "Are you all right?"

Dean poked at the wound in his mind or heart, the place where Sam's presence filled completely but was now empty. However, they beat Lucifer and Sam slept on peacefully in bed next to him. "I don't know," Dean had to cough to clear his throat, "But I think we will be." God, he hoped he was right. Dean didn't know how to return from what they were, knowing what they'd lost.

Castiel got up and went to the bathroom and returned with a cup of water. "Here you need this." Castiel handed him the cup and watched avidly as Dean drank all the water.

"What are you going to do?" Dean asked, rather sure he knew the answer but he needed to hear it from Castiel.

"My mission is complete, the Earth and humanity is saved, and my father has called me home. My host Jimmy also has a life to return to; his family misses him. I just wanted to make sure you and Sam were okay before I left."

Dean digested Castiel's words, surprised at how hurt he felt at the idea of never seeing Castiel again. "Will we see you again?"

"I do not know," Castiel answered honestly, "But I will watch out over you. Now that you are back to your human selves, I will not be able to speak with either of you." Castiel smiled and added. "I imagine someday we will meet again."

"So I guess we both get our happy endings?" Dean said.

"This is just the beginning, Dean. You and Sam are together and have your whole lives ahead of you as well as the next. We won. Now we must move on and say our goodbyes." Castiel never sounded more absolute.

Dean nodded. "I'll miss you."

"And I you." Castiel placed his hand on Dean's shoulder, "Say goodbye for Sam for me. I must go. Jimmy's family is waiting for him and I must return home. It has been too long."

Dean understood that. "I will." Castiel wavered a moment and then he vanished to return his host to his family before departing to wherever angels went when they weren't on Earth.

Dean turned off the lamp and lay down next to Sam. He fell asleep within moments, too tired to properly miss his friend just yet.

Chapter Seven

They woke up the next day, hours past check out time. Dean struggled to move his body, which felt like someone took an American Gladiator stick and beat him all over with it. Sam groaned as he sat up, his white t-shirt pulled taut against his chest muscles, and Dean heard the rip as Sam's t-shirt stretched past its limits.

Dean flopped back against his pillow and decided he needed to sleep another year. They had no real reason to get up; they'd won, got their bodies back, and though they didn't get the girl, they still had each other. Sam yawned and padded over to the bathroom. The door shut and Dean closed his eyes. When he next woke up, Sam was brushing his teeth and his hair was dripping on the back of the thin white towel he’d had wrapped around his neck to sop up the water before it wet his button up flannel shirt.

"So when's Castiel coming back," Sam asked as he rinsed off his toothbrush and placed it back in his blue travel toothbrush holder.

At this point, Dean decided he'd better sit up for this conversation. "He's not," Dean said voice rough with thirst. "He said to tell you goodbye. Cas didn't have much time before he had to return Jimmy's body to his family and return home himself."

Sam's faint smile faded before he said, "I'm sure we'll see him someday."

Dean didn't say anything, they both knew that someday would be the day they died most likely. In the meantime they would miss Castiel.

Sam walked over to Dean's side and sat on the edge of the bed on top of the covers, effectively trapping Dean's legs. "Will you be okay?" Sam asked leaning into Dean's space. The soft concern in Sam's voice reminded Dean vividly of Sam's Care Bear form. Their voices didn't change.

Dean smiled at Sam's worried expression and said, "I'll be okay once I have breakfast and win the state lottery."

Sam snorted, "Is that all?" He slid the towel off his neck and flicked it at Dean.

"Don't start something you can't finish," Dean warned grabbing at the towel. Sam snapped it back just in time.

"I always finish what I start," Sam countered teasingly and flicked the towel again.

This time Dean caught it and yanked it toward him, only Sam didn't let go. Sam landed on Dean's lap, his weight carrying them both back down onto the bed. Sam's legs twisted with one still on the floor and the other holding Dean down. Dean could feel his cheeks stretched out in a wide smile as they play fought, he remembered how easy it was to have fun with Sam when he was furry and yellow, and for some reason that allowed him the freedom to play now. The freedom to touch, he hadn't realized how much he missed touching Sam, until it was denied.

Their hands connected as they fought for the towel. Intense sparks of emotions and feelings not his own shot through him, but Dean was so intent on winning he didn't notice their rising emotions until Sam had one wrist pinned down next to his head, and the other was playing tug of war with the towel until it slipped onto the floor and their hands connected and they laced their fingers together palm to palm. The impact shot through Dean like lightning and they both gasped as the connection reformed. Dean stopped struggling, too focused on the feelings building within his bones. He couldn't tell anymore where his thoughts started and Sam's began. Their desires fed on each other and built and their human bodies gave their emotions a direction they lacked as Care Bears.

Sam leaned down the last few inches and covered his mouth with his own and kissed him. His lips were warm and soft; Dean parted his mouth and deepened the kiss. Sam groaned and his fingers clenched down on Dean's hands as Dean pushed up with his hips to gain more friction for his aching erection. Sam groaned and pressed down, rubbing his body against him through the thin motel blanket and sheets.

Neither wanted to let go of each other but the sheets were seriously hampering their efforts. Sam pulled back just as air became more important than kissing. Dean blinked his eyes open and looked up into Sam's flushed face. Dean couldn't take his eyes off Sam's swollen and kiss-wet lips. He wanted to sooth the soft flesh of Sam's lips with his tongue.

"Dean," Sam said, "Are we?" He didn't need to finish the statement. Sam pushing his own erection up against Dean's through the sheets said enough.

It didn't take Dean long to decide. As Care Bears their minds had become one. There was no need for sex in their former state. All he had to do was hold Sam's hand and all his love, affection, and heart were given into Sam's trust. He'd never felt anything as intimate as that one act. Sex was a pale shadow compared to that intense, mind-blowing experience, but it was closest he'd ever come to recapturing that intimacy, love, and trust was here with Sam's weight covering his body, skin flushed and eyes bright with desire.

Dean raised his eyes to meet Sam's own passion-dark gaze and nodded. He couldn’t imagine wanting anything more in his life ever again than what they had right here and now. Sam gulped and nodded, and abruptly let go of Dean's hands and sat back. Clarity returned with the severance of their connection but it did nothing to dampen Dean's desire. If anything, it confirmed what he already knew: they both wanted this badly, regardless of the consequences.

Sam began to unbutton his shirt with hands shaking from nerves or possibly excitement, Dean couldn't tell. Dean sat up and pulled his own blue t-shirt off over his head. He tossed it to the side and wiggled out from under the sheets and blankets, which was not easy since Sam hadn't thought to move off the bed as he continued to undress.

Dean felt a moment of apprehension when it came time to pull off his boxers but Sam seemed to have no doubts because he finished unbuttoning his jeans and yanked everything down and off in one go until he was completely naked. Dean stared for a long moment at all of that soft skin, firm muscle, and Sam's cock which jutted out thick and long.

"You need help?" Sam asked breathless and eager.

It took Dean a moment to realize that while he had his hands on his boxers he'd gotten completely distracted checking out Sam's…equipment and hadn't finished undressing. Dean shook his head and slipped off his boxers and tossed them onto the growing pile of clothing littering the floor next to the bed.

Dean realized only after all his clothes were off that they might need supplies. "Wait a second," Dean said and jumped off the bed and went to his unpacked duffel. He picked it up and opened it onto Sam's bed, dumping everything out until he found his shaving kit which also held his stash of condoms and Astroglide.

He threw them on the night stand next to the bed within easy reach. "For just in case," he said casually not letting a hint of his nervousness through.

Sam's fair skin flushed red and his eyes darkened. "I can work with that."

"I'd rather you work on me," Dean said and straddled Sam's lap, their dicks touched briefly as Dean settled his knees on the bed while Sam's hands cupped his ass, pulling them close together as they kissed again. Dean rubbed against him in undulating motions but never got enough friction to build up to anything or come close to orgasm.

Dean threaded his fingers through Sam's thick brown hair, it was soft and the tips were damp from Sam's shower. With some amount of reluctance, Dean stopped nibbling on Sam's lips and with gentle tugs he pulled Sam's head back. His face was hot, he felt lightheaded, and it felt like all the blood in his body had drained to his dick. The room felt twenty degrees hotter from when they'd started.

"What is it?" Sam asked with a hint of concern in his tone. His face was flushed with desire; sweat beaded on his brow.

Dean looked down into Sam's eyes and said, "I want you to fuck me." Leaving no doubt or room for misinterpretation as to his intentions or desire.

It was like those words unlocked Sam's self control. He didn't answer with words, he answered with force. With a simple flex of muscle, Sam swiftly lifted Dean and twisted them both until Dean was lying flat on his back on the bed. The display of muscle and power would have been more impressive if Dean weren't already so desperate. Sam covered him with his body a moment later and began to kiss his way down Dean's chest with a pit stop at Dean's nipples. Sam switched between the two nipples, biting gently one moment then sucking the next. It drove Dean crazy in less than five seconds. There was nothing he could do but clutch the pillow under his head and let Sam love him.

Sam navigated the rest of the way down Dean's body, and Dean's breath caught when Sam's mouth hovered over his erection before kissing the tip and opening his mouth to lick and suck the head. Dean spread his legs to give Sam more room to settle between his thighs while at the same time pushing up with his hips, only Sam rested his forearms on Dean's belly holding him down and in place as he worked his magic on Dean's dick. Dean had never had a blowjob feel this great, he might have passed out if it lasted a moment longer but with one last lick Sam pulled back and up, and stretched back over Dean to grab the clear bottle of Astroglide and the condoms.

Sam didn't hesitate or fumble the condom as he tore open the package and rolled the condom onto his straining dick. Dean watched as Sam poured the Astroglide onto his palm and stroked his dick making sure the tip and sides were well lubricated. A good idea, considering Sam was proportionate in all areas. Dean closed his eyes at the sight before he lost control completely and came right then and there.

One hand slick with Astroglide and the other slick with sweat gripped Dean's thighs and lifted them and pushed them towards his chest, Dean let go of the pillow and took over holding his legs up in the air. Sam pushed closer using his own thighs to help Dean stay in this position before he let go. Dean opened his eyes but all he could see was Sam's upper body and his face, Sam's lips were pressed together in concentration.

Dean felt Sam's finger a moment later spreading the barely heated lube around his entrance before a finger slipped in. It felt odd but there was no pain so Dean concentrated on relaxing his body and just letting this happen. Sam inserted another finger and scissored his fingers to spread the lube as much as possible. Dean squirmed at the unfamiliar pressure until Sam reached around and stroked his cock in time with his fingers pushing inwards.

Sam removed his fingers a moment later and let go of Dean's dick. He found Dean's hand clutching the blanket at his hip and pulled Dean's hand until he let go. "I don't want to hurt you," Sam said breathlessly, voice strained with barely held control. He threaded his fingers with Dean's and locked their hands together, palm to palm, and then he pushed inside Dean with one smooth thrust.

They both cried out at the dual sensations. They felt the brief pain of penetration and the tightness and warmth gripping Sam's cock. Dean cried out and blacked out for an instant from the intensity. Sam collapsed on top of Dean for a brief moment before regaining his senses and propped his body up again to gain traction before pulling back and thrusting forward again.

Through the connection in their hands, Dean felt himself warm and tight and Sam's reaction to the sparks of pleasure when his cock nudged the bundle of nerves inside Dean. They weren't going to last long. Every sensation was amplified and doubled as Sam rocked into Dean hitting the right spots over and over again and knowing exactly how much pressure to use.

Orgasm when it hit was beyond anything he'd experienced before in his human body. Dean shouted as Sam bit his shoulder to muffle his own cry of ecstasy. Afterwards, Dean slowly felt time return to him. Still connected by hand he was vaguely aware of Sam's languid emotions. Eventually, Sam untangled their hands and pulled out, being careful to keep the condom on until he could pull it off and toss it in the trashcan. Dean felt the bed move as Sam went to the bathroom, the water turned on briefly as Sam cleaned himself with a washcloth.

Sam pulled the sheets off the other bed and laid them out over Dean, a good idea now that the AC had kicked on again. Dean's limbs and muscles felt like water. When Sam rejoined him on the bed, sliding in under the sheets, he didn't protest being the little spoon. He opened his hand and let Sam lace their fingers together again. Connected and cocooned in Sam's protective embrace, Dean fell asleep.

Epilogue

When Dean next woke, it was dark outside, and Sam's erection was nestled against the crack of his ass, leaking pre-come. Dean's dick liked the idea of more sex just fine. Dean felt a low awareness of Sam's sleepy thoughts as Sam slowly woke up aroused and ready. Dean responded by simply opening his legs and tilting his ass until Sam's cock slipped further down and gently pressed against Dean's opening. Dean moaned and pushed back, pre-come slicked the way.

Already relaxed from earlier, it didn't take much for Sam to breach him again and begin rocking in and out. Dean's breath caught and he closed his eyes focusing on the building sensations. It felt quieter this time, under the sheets and in the dark of the room. Without the condom as a barrier it felt warmer, softer, and the idea of it, of being this close to Sam without barriers, shot lightning bolts of pleasure down his spine. Sam picked up his pace and used their joined hands locked in place against Dean's chest to hold Dean still as he thrust inside harder and faster.

Dean's dick bobbed in the air with only the sheet offering any resistance or friction. He wondered if he could come from this alone since his one hand was held against his chest and the other was braced against the headboard. But it felt like it was going to happen, one way or another, because he could feel his balls tighten and draw up ready to release. Sam showed no signs of stopping or finishing; he grunted and thrust harder and faster until Dean convulsed and his cock spurted come all over the bed. Sam bit the back of his neck and his hand tightened as he lost control and came.

Dean blinked his eyes open. Both of them were breathing heavily, both were slippery with sweat. Dean tossed back the sheet, too hot with it covering him.. Sam nuzzled his neck and licked him, which tickled. Dean squirmed until Sam stopped and gently pulled out. Now Dean felt the soreness of too much sex in one day.

"Shower?" Sam asked his lips so close to his neck. Dean shivered from the puff of air blown on the back of his neck.

Dean didn't want to get out of bed but they were beginning to reek from sweat, come, and not enough air circulation in the room. Dean's stomach grumbled with hunger. "And food," he added languidly.

"And food," Sam agreed and gently disentangled himself. He pulled the sheets completely off the bed before heading to the shower, leaving Dean completely exposed and naked to the cooler air in the room. Then the AC rumbled to life again.

Dean didn't make any move to stand up and join Sam, even as his skin became chilled and broke out in goosebumps. He needed a few minutes to let the experience settle. The light over the sink turned on and Dean watched Sam as he found clean clothes, his shaving kit, and put them all on the sink ready to use or put on once Sam finished his shower.

Dean forced himself to sit up because as much as Sam loved him, he doubted his brother would go and bring back a steak dinner for him. Dean ached in a good way as he stood up, careful to avoid the messy pile of discarded clothing on the floor. He found his own duffel leaning against the wall next to the TV dresser. He pulled out his last pair of clean clothes and his own shaving kit and went and joined Sam in the shower.

It wasn't until they were in the car, driving around town, looking for an Outback steakhouse or the Texas Roadhouse that Dean realized he was happy. Dean's entire body was relaxed in the way that only good sex could accomplish.

He glanced over at Sam and tried to reconcile the younger brother he remembered with the man sitting next to him. Sam looked much more comfortable back in his own body and not squished into the passenger seat. His arm rested across the back of front seat, he slouched, and a faint smile tugged at his lips as he watched the scenery pass outside his window. Dean hadn't seen Sam this relaxed and happy in years.

They didn't find an Outback or a Texas Roadhouse so Dean pulled into the first Montana Mike's he saw. It had been three days since either of them had eaten real food. Since it wasn't a Friday or Saturday night, the place wasn't crowded, and the waiter found them a table in the back corner.

Dean ordered the 24 ounce Montana Ribeye, a baked potato (loaded), and a salad with Ranch Dressing, which he poured all over the lettuce as soon as it arrived. Sam picked the 12 ounce Sirloin, a side order of vegetables (broccoli), and a salad with a vinaigrette dressing. They ate their salads in silence while waiting for their steaks.

They were both careful to not touch each other's hands, not sure what would happen, and because they didn't want it to happen in public. Dean found himself watching Sam more closely, relieved to see the tension in Sam's shoulders gone and the wary alertness muted. It was like a load had been lifted from both their shoulders and now all they had to do was figure out what to do next. At one point he knew with absolute certainty what Sam wanted but too many years have passed since then.

They dug in as soon as their steaks arrived. Dean didn't make fun of Sam for cutting off small edge of fat on his sirloin steak and Sam didn't mention heart attacks or roll his eyes when Dean ate the fatty bits on his steak. Probably the three days of no food had something to do with it. They were both too hungry to stop eating for conversation.

Dean found himself looking at the empty seat next to his where Castiel used to sit and missed the guy. At some point he might go and find Jimmy and check in to see how he was doing with his family and finding a new life for themselves after demons and angels had torn it apart.

Sam finished first because he had less to eat and a big mouth. He set his silverware neatly down on the plate, and took a sip from his iced tea. Dean had no clue why Sam was so neat, it sure as hell wasn't how Dad raised them and Dean had no influence in that regard.

Dean continued chewing and ignoring Sam, who sat still and silent just watching him, until Dean couldn't take it anymore. "If you took a picture it would last longer," he said with his mouth full.

"Scientists could learn a lot about cavemen by studying you," Sam said with a hint of humor.

Dean snorted and said, "That was so funny I almost laughed." He took another drink from his Diet Coke, sucking on the straw until he'd finished off the glass, which wasn't hard since they filled it up with ice first.

Sam shifted slightly and his face reddened. "I can't help watching."

Dean shifted through the multiple meanings and came up blank. "You see me eat every day."

He paged the waitress holding up his empty cup of ice. Sam shook his head and leaned back against the padded booth. "You really shouldn't suck on straws like that Dean."

And that's when the waitress came along and whisked Dean's empty cup away for a refill. Dean didn't know how to respond so he sliced off another piece of steak and stuck it in his mouth and chewed slowly. He glanced up at Sam's face and noticed the slight flush.

Dean blushed in realization and blurted, "That turned you on." He finished chewing and swallowed. His pants got a little tighter and this was ridiculous! They'd just had sex less than an hour ago.

Sam nodded and smiled at the waitress returning with Dean's drink.

"But we'd just…" Dean stopped speaking, realizing he didn't want Sam to think he couldn’t keep going, he had a reputation to keep.

Sam smiled even more widely as if reading his mind. "You can't tell me you don't feel it too."

Dean nodded, hating to admit Sam was right, but he hadn't had it this bad since he was a teenager and sported wood at the slightest breeze. "Yeah but we can't keep fucking all the time. We have stuff to do, we need to set limits."

"So no more than four times a day?" Sam asked and used his fork to take a scoop of Dean's baked potato.

"Four times, do I look like the Energizer Bunny to you? I'm not sure my ass can handle that," Dean said, just as the restaurant hit a quiet lull. It went dead silent as everyone turned to stare. Dean blushed and took another bite of his steak. Conversation resumed a moment later.

Sam laughed and clapped his hands. It reminded Dean suddenly of Sam as a Care Bear, laughing. When Sam finally quieted down he said, "I never said you had to be on the bottom all the time. We can take turns."

Dean almost died and went to heaven right then and there because he swallowed the wrong way. He coughed and took a big gulp of his soda, ignoring the straw completely this time. When he could finally breathe again he said, "But I didn't think you'd want that."

"You never asked." Sam shrugged and said, "I like it both ways."

Dean wrapped his head around it and tried to tell his dick to quiet down or he'd never be able to stand up from the table. Sex with Sam four times a day didn't seem like nearly enough.

"So we'll keep hunting things and saving people?" Dean asked switching topics.

Sam shrugged again. "I'm not leaving you, if that's what you're asking."

The ball was in his court. "So you think four times a day is enough?"

"We can maybe negotiate for five times on the weekends?" Sam smiled.

Dean had to voice one last caution. "Are you sure? About us, I mean? We're brothers." Dean didn't voice that he might not make it if Sam bailed on him or couldn't handle them.

Sam didn't answer right away and when he did it was slow and steady, "I've never been surer of anything. When we were changed…what we went through together only reinforced what I already knew. I'm not sure what the angels mean by soul mates but what I feel for you, I can't imagine finding anywhere else. If that's not enough, I don't know what is."

Dean nodded he knew exactly what Sam meant. "But you never said anything before?" Dean lowered his voice even further and added, "Before we got changed into Care Bears."

Sam sighed and said, "You're right." He leaned forward and put his hands on the table, which brought him closer to Dean, close enough so no one else could hear him as he continued to talk. "I didn't realize how deeply I felt until the transformation. It must have been there this whole time. Because I don't think our powers could have used something that wasn't already there. I just couldn't see it."

Dean mulled over Sam's words and realized it didn't matter how Sam came to love him. It took being turned into Care Bears for Dean to come to the same conclusion. Dean set his fork down on the plate and reached over the table, narrowly avoiding knocking down Sam's tea glass, and covered Sam's hand with his own. The connection was a shadow of what they'd felt as Care Bears but it was all that was left from their experience. He wanted there to be no doubt in Sam's mind when he spoke his next words. "I love you. I want to see where this takes us next."

Dean felt the spark of happiness his words ignited in Sam. They were both smiling when the waitress returned and asked if they wanted a to-go-box. It was all they could do to just wait for her to return with the check and their illegal credit card. As soon as Sam scribbled his name on it, after adding an outrageous tip, they bolted out of their seats and walked to the car as if hell hounds were at their heels. They barely made it to their room and onto a bed before they completely lost control and ripped off each other's clothing.

The following morning they packed their bags, loaded the Imapla, and drove off into the rising sun to find their new beginning.

-End-

End Notes:

Wikipedia Article about the Popples - This is for anyone that did not know about the 1980's cartoon The Popples.

And here's a picture or two. Basically, these characters could roll up into a ball and bounce all over the place.

Amalthia's recs and fan works

Whisper of the Heart (Complete Single File) (Reply)

Whisper of the Heart (Complete Single File)

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