The Letter

"Sam, if I don't get out of this alive, I need you to mail this letter for me. Don't read it, just make sure you mail it out. Got it?" Sam Winchester stared at the white envelope his brother placed in his hands. It was addressed to someone in Indiana.

"Dean, who do you know in Indiana?" Sam questioned.

"Doesn't matter, now, does it, Sammy? Just mail the damn letter, ok?" Sam could see the frustration building in his brother's eyes.

"Fine, I'll mail the letter, but it's not going to come to that. I'm going to get you out of this deal." Sam huffed.

"Sammy, we've got less than twenty four hours, I don't think it's going to happen." Dean said, quietly.

"Oh, it will happen." Sam stated, with confidence.

Sam was drawn out of his memory by a horn honking. He looked up at the stop light in front of him that was now green and saw in the rearview mirror a very pissed off old man driving a Cadillac. He glanced down at the letter sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala. He had promised Dean that he would mail it, but he had decided not to. Sam thought that if this letter getting to its intended receiver was that important to his brother, then Sam would deliver it himself.

It had been one week since Dean's deal had come due, the deal he made to save Sam's life. The guilt almost killed Sam. Everyday for the past week he would wake up with the sickest feeling in his stomach. He had promised Dean over and over that he would get him out of the deal. It was a promise that he wasn't going to give up; he was still working on finding a way to get Dean out of Hell.

129 N Wood St., Fortville, IN, 46040. That was the address he was looking for. Fortville was a small town. One of those, blink and you miss it, kind of towns. He didn't think it would be too hard to find. The house he found was a small one. There was an old Chevelle sitting in the drive way. He laughed to himself as he thought about how much Dean would have loved that car. He walked up the broken stone sidewalk and knocked on the door.

"Sam?" The young woman asked as she opened the door. She was rather short, only reaching the middle of Sam's chest. She had green eyes that resembled the color of emeralds. Her long brown hair seemed frame her face perfectly as it cascaded down well below her chest. She was fit, not too skinny, and not big either. She wore a Led Zeppelin shirt and a pair of daisy duke denim shorts. He shot her a look of confusion when she said his name. He could see tears welling up in her emerald eyes.

"Yeah. Do I know you?" He asked.

"Not exactly. Is everything ok? Where's Dean?" She asked frantically. He wondered how she knew his brother and something told him that she cared for him very much.

Sam took the letter from his pocket and handed it to her. "Here, he wanted me to mail this to you, but I guess I thought I wanted to see who he was sending it to." His hands were shaking nervously as the tears in her eyes began to fall. She took the letter from his hands and opened it. He stood there silently as she read it, tears flowing down her face and laughing every now and then. She finished and wiped her face. She looked up at Sam, whose face was wrought with confusion.

"I'm so sorry, Sam. Please come in." She opened the door and ushered him inside. He was surprised. From the outside this place looked small and quaint, but judging from the inside, this girl obviously had money. Everything in the house was top of the line. He stood there in a bit of awe. She laughed. "That's everyone's reaction the first time they see my place. Apparently, you can't have nice things and live in a small house."

Sam gave her a half-smile. "So, who are you?" He asked, getting to the point.

"Danielle Winchester." She stated.

He thought long and hard before he spoke. "Long lost relative?" He asked, hoping that was the case. In the back of his mind, he knew it wasn't.

"You could say that. I guess you could call me your sister-in-law." She looked at Sam, waiting for a reaction. Hopefully one that wasn't anger.

"I think I need to sit down." He said. He was blown away. This girl was Dean's wife. Dean had been married and he hadn't told him, and if it weren't for him deciding to hand deliver the letter, instead of mailing it like Dean had said, he would have never known. Sam put his head between his hands and rested his elbows on his knees as he took deep breaths.

"Can I get you anything, Sam?" She asked. He shook his head, but then looked up at the pretty girl before him.

"So you and my brother were married?" He questioned glaring at her. She nodded. "And you're still married?"

"Technically, no. I mean, we never got a divorce or anything, but after the whole police station fire thing, I guess it made me a widow, according to matters of the law." She stared down at her feet. "They came to my door a couple days after it happened to let me know. This was before your stupid brother had a chance to call me and let me know that he was actually alive. I was a wreck for four days before he ever thought to call me."

"So you guys still talked?" He asked.

"Yeah, Sam. We were married. I mean, it wasn't a normal marriage. I would meet him every chance I could, he would swing by when he could, and besides that, we would just kind of live our own lives. It worked for us. We liked the fact that we were married, but neither of us really wanted to settle down. I know he hooked up with other girls, and I hooked up with other guys, but at the end of the day, it was him I loved, and that was all that mattered."

"Why didn't he tell me?" Sam asked. Danielle looked at her feet once again and took a deep breath before she answered.

"He didn't want anyone to know. He was worried if someone found out about us then things would start coming after me. He knew that he wasn't around to protect me and that as long as I stayed a secret, I could be safe."

"Yeah, but he could have told me." Danielle could see the tears welling up in the younger Winchester's eyes.

She sighed, "Sam, when we got married, we were 22. You were off at Stanford doing the college thing. When your dad went missing that was all Dean could think about. Since then it's just been one big disaster after another. Besides, if he told you, I don't think you would have been okay with the whole open marriage, see ya when I see ya, deal."

He shook his head. "I guess not. I still don't see how he kept it a secret for what, six years?"

"We were very sneaky." She said, mischief in her voice, causing Sam to laugh. Danielle shifted in her seat. "So, the deal. I'm sure you're feeling all sorts of guilty right now, aren't ya?"

"You knew about that?" She nodded.

"Like I said, we were married. There's not a whole lot we don't know. Shoot, I probably know almost as much about you as I do my own sister, even though I've never met ya. So, you wanna talk about it, from one person who loved him to another?"

Sam took a long, hard look at Danielle. He could see why Dean liked her, beautiful, smart, judging by her outfit, they had similar tastes in music, and even though she had never met Sam, she was willing to open up her home and her heart to him. "It's just hard ya know? He wouldn't let me help him until it was too late."

"He always was thick headed. Never letting someone else take care of him." She sighed as if she was remembering something.

"You could say that again. So when did you guys get married?"

"August 11, 2001 in Vegas of all places." Sam laughed.

"You and Dean got married in Vegas?" Sam laughed. "How long had you known him before?"

"About a year. You know, you have actually seen me before."

"Really?" Sam raised an eyebrow, knowing for sure that he would have remembered a girl as pretty as her with his brother.

"Yep. I met you, Dean, and your dad when I was waitressing at a little restaurant in Greenfield, about fifteen minutes south of here. I gave him my number, and we started to meet up different places. You were old enough that you always wanted to get out of the hotel room on your own, so Dean and I usually hung out until you got back. I thought for sure you recognized me once." She laughed.

"Wow. I just can't believe that Mr. Playboy himself was a married man." Sam's eyes were wide as he shook his head. He remembered the thing that brought him hear in the first place. "So, he wrote you a letter? Mind if I ask what it said?"

"You can read it if you want." She said, handing it over.

He opened up the folded white paper and read his brother's words.

Dani,

If you're reading this you know why. With any luck my brother is standing there next to you. He always was too damn nosy for his own good.

Sam couldn't help but laugh. His brother knew him too well.

So you're probably pretty upset right now. I understand, but don't sit around the house moping for me. And you had better take care of that care I built you. You can't find a '71 Chevelle just anywhere. Especially one that's custom built for you. I worked too damn hard on that thing.

Don't worry about me. I know you're going to, but try not to. I know you know where I am, but trust me when I say, things are better off this way. If by chance Sammy isn't there, hunt him down. Tell him about us. He deserves to know, now that I'm gone.

Tell your mom and sister that I really cared about them, even though I know they hate me.

Most of all baby, tell yourself that no matter what, I do love you. Our marriage might not have been perfect, but I wouldn't change a thing. Meeting at Annie's, getting married by Elvis, the wedding night spent in the back of the Impala, because we couldn't wait to get back to our room, and everything that's happened since then.

Be Happy, Dani. I love you.

Dean

PS If this letter is opened when you get it, kick Sam's ass.

Sam reread his brother's words. He laughed at how the letter was so perfectly Dean. He could tell that this girl had Dean wrapped around her finger. She was special, obviously, he married her. He sighed. He missed his brother. Tears filled his eyes as he thought about this poor girl that loved him probably just as much as he did. They both lost him.

"Sam, are you okay?" She asked, sitting next to him on the couch. She placed a hand on his back.

"Just miss him, ya know?" He looked at her. She was crying too.

"Sam, I've been missing Dean Winchester for six years." She said, sadly. "We can get through this, Sam. You know what Dean would say right now?" She asked him.

"No chick flick moment?" Sam said. Danielle laughed.

"Yeah, actually. That's not what I was going to say, but I think that's probably exactly what he would say."

"He wasn't exactly in touch with his feelings." Sam chuckled.

"No, he wasn't. You know, Sam, you're welcome to stay here for a couple days. Relax. I could make you some dinner tonight."

"Dinner would be great, but after that I really should be going. Got a job in Pennsylvania."

"Ok, Sam, just know that if you're ever in Indiana, you should give me a call. Okay."

"Will do."