This story is a sequel to Winchestergirl67's fanfiction, 'I'll Be Here For You', which is an amazing fic that I am so in love with! It doesn't matter if you haven't read that before reading this, it's set years before this but gives a bit of a background as to what happened around the time of Sara's pregnancy with Dean's nephew, check it out, it's a great read. She also has some other great fanfictions up, if you're looking to read a good one, I recommend 'Natalie Winchester', which she is updating regularly. Hope you enjoy this fic and thank you for reading, the support means the world! :)


It had been three days since Dean had been to the hospital, that was a record. It had been just over a year, three hundred and ninety four days to be exact, since his only nephew had been admitted there. He hadn't taken a hunt since. He hadn't slept a whole night since. He hadn't done much of anything since. Really, there weren't a lot of things that made sense to him anymore, not when there was a six-year-old boy in the condition that he was in.

He had spent almost every day since then watching his sister try not to fall apart, trying to be strong for her, like he knew she was for him, and her son. There was something in her that was holding onto hope, because that was all she had left. But it had faded away almost completely just a few days earlier, around the time that the doctors had so bluntly told them that there was nothing they could do to save his life.

Dean had found it almost impossible to believe that they could have the heart to tell a mother that she might never see her son's eyes open again, that she might never hear his voice or his laughter again, that she would never see him grow up. And this time he had refused to accept it. There was only so much he could take. There was a little boy fading away from them and he could do something about it, he could stop it. And he had.

That night, the night after Dean had made the decision that he valued that little boy's life more than his own, he opened his eyes for the first time that year. It was a sight that had put doctors at a complete loss and restored all hope to his little sister's life. He hadn't seen her smile properly since he had first been put into hospital, there hadn't been anything like happiness in her voice like the night she had called to tell him what had happened, when Dean had acted surprised.

But, he figured, due to the urgent voicemails he had received from her over the past couple of days, that she had worked out what had really happened. Her mind had been initially swarmed with complete shock, happiness at being with her son once again, but once she had taken the time to think about it, she had realised. And he knew that she was going to want answers, he just didn't know how he was supposed to give them to her. It wasn't going to be an easy conversation to have, he knew that, but it had to be done. He had just wanted to give her a couple of days, at least, to be with her son before she gave herself something else to worry about.

Dean knocked on the door to his nephew's hospital room, something else that he never did, and stepped inside silently. It wasn't an unusual thing to see; his nephew sleeping peacefully while his sister sat there and held his hand in hers, watching him as though she expected him to disappear should she blink. But something was different this time, they knew that he was going to wake up again.

Sara looked up at him as the door opened, her face changing dramatically as she did. There was a mixture of relief and confusion, like she had been worried about him while he had been gone, but at the same time she had been anxious of him to come back, purely because she didn't want to accept what she knew deep down he had done for them.

Before Dean could even think up something to say, she cleared her throat. "Outside." she said harshly, pushing the words out through gritted teeth. She pushed herself up from the chair beside the bed without another word, bypassing him through the doorway.

Dean pulled the door closed quietly and followed her as she made her way through the busy corridors and down flights of stairs, never slowing down or glancing back at him. He knew when she got like this she really meant business. He didn't say a word as he followed her out of the hospital and onto the parking lot, only coming to a stop as she suddenly whirled around to face him.

There were tears shining in her eyes, like she was waiting for him to give some kind of an explanation to something. He noticed, she didn't look angry, not like he had initially thought, she looked devastated. She looked like she was using every ounce of strength in her not to cry. She didn't know what to think. Her left hand was wrapped up in her hair tightly as she tried to think, tugging at it to the point it hurt.

"Sara." Dean's voice was soft, understanding. "Please."

Her green eyes snapped up to look at him, tears clinging on to her eyelashes as though they were fighting not to fall. She tried to be mad at him, her heart physically breaking in her chest as her mind screamed at her what Dean had done, he was the only one who could be responsible. But no, even he couldn't be that stupid, not again.

"What did you do?" she whispered, her voice cracked at the words. Dean just shook his head at her slowly, refusing to answer. He didn't want to say it. Sara took a step closer to him and shoved him hard in the chest, she wasn't taking that, not a chance. "What the hell did you do?!" she shouted, the upset fast turning to anger, frustration in needing to know.

"I -" he stopped and sighed, his green eyes meeting hers straight on. "I made a deal."

Her whole chest sank at his words, she didn't know how to feel. She took a step back, her mouth hanging open, every single bit of anger that had been in her was immediately replaced by complete dread. There was dread in knowing what was to come, what would happen to him, where he was going.

"How long?" she asked him shakily, tears forming up in her eyes again. "How long did they give you?"

"I got a year." he whispered, there was no emotion in his voice, he didn't sound sorry, he didn't sound for a second as though he regretted it, he spoke about it as though it was just a casual point to make.

At that, Sara lost it. The battle she was fighting with herself was lost and the tears fell freely from her eyes. Her breathing became heavier as she tried, and failed, to calm herself down, tried to be strong. But she couldn't. It was too much this time, way too overwhelming. There were too many feelings all at once, she couldn't hold them back.

"Jesus, Dean." she cried. She turned away from him, a hand pressed to her mouth as she tried to hold back the sobs that just kept coming.

"Sara," Dean took a hold of her arm and pulled her back around to face him. There were tears in his eyes, sadness in his face, but she could see there was absolutely no regret there at all. "He's just a kid, he's family, I couldn't, Sara -" He sighed heavily, clenching his jaw tightly for a moment. "I couldn't watch it anymore. It's been a year; a year that I've spent watching him slip away, a year of watching you in nothing but pain. He was losing his life, you were losing your son. It wasn't getting better. Someone had to stop it, before it got too late."

"What am I supposed to tell him? Dean, how is he gonna get past it when you're gone? How am I supposed to deal with that?" she asked, barely holding it together anymore. "You know what one of the first things he asked me when he woke up was? Where's uncle Dean? You are the world to that boy, and you know that."

Dean looked down, remorse in his eyes. "Sara -"

"You're all he has, you're all I have." she went on. "Sam's gone, Dad's gone, his Dad's gone, you are the only family we have left. I can't watch you die again. Please." Her voice cracked at her plea. "Dean, please."

He didn't know what she wanted him to say, he wasn't sure that she did either. Maybe she wanted him to tell her that he wasn't going to leave them, that he wasn't going to die, that the three of them would see the other side of this and move on with their lives. But he couldn't. Truth was, he would do what he could to get out of his deal this time, he'd try, but he wasn't going to make promises that he couldn't keep. He wouldn't stand there and lie to her face, not again.

"Sara." Dean pressed gently, tentatively reaching out to rest a hand on her cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb. "Please, don't hate me for this." She slowly brought her eyes back up to look at him, appearing horrified at the thought, and shook her head.

"Hate you? How the hell could you think that I'd hate you?" She reached forwards and grabbed a handful of his shirt, making some lame attempt at pushing him, trying to be mad, but she couldn't. "You jerk, Dean." she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks again. "You selfless, fucking jerk."

Dean closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his chest, her hands never leaving where they were gripped to the front of his t-shirt. He stroked the back of her hair softly, shushing her until she had calmed down enough to breath properly again. He wasn't even sure what it was that had her crying anymore. There were mixed up emotions. A few days ago she had been watching her son die, but she had been with her brother. Now, she had her son back but she was being told that, in exactly a year, she would be comforting her son and making funeral arrangements. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel anymore.

"I've got you, sis." Dean said softly. "I'm gonna take care of you, alright? Both of you."

Sara pulled back at his words, her eyes once again meeting his. He pushed up a smile to her, a genuine smile, as though he wasn't staring down yet another tunnel to hell's gates.

"You saved my baby's life, Dean." she whispered. "I can't even -" she stopped as her breath hitched in her throat. "I'm gonna get you out of this, okay? I promise." Dean didn't say anything, just pulled her into another hug. "I love you, so much." she murmured into his chest, soft enough that he could pretend that he hadn't heard it if he wanted to. But he didn't.

"Me too, Sara." he told her, holding her tighter to him. And at that point, his mind was as far away from hell as it could possibly be.