"DEAN!!"

Someone was screaming his name. It sounded like….

"Dean, please, wake up! Don't leave me….please…."

SAM!

Sam was calling him, Sam needed him.

Dean burst up, already searching for the knife he kept his pillow, the motel room coming into focus as he forced himself awake. There was….nothing there. Dean threw back his covers, crossing over to his thrashing brother in the other bed. "Sam! Sam, wake up!" he grabbed his brother and shook him firmly, but gently.

Sam's eyes flew open, his chest heaving. He thrashed for a moment more, before his eyes finally met his brother's.

"I'm right here, Sammy. You're safe." Dean reassured, softly. The look in his brother's eyes worried him.

Panic. Full-blown panic.

Dean wondered if he was actually awake. "Sam?" Dean sat beside him on the edge of the bed, looking him in the eyes. "Come on, buddy, I'm right here. There's nothing wrong." Dean felt his brother trembling under his touch and wondered what in the world could have gotten in his brother so worked up (besides him, anyway).

Sam began to shake his head, his pale face coated in a sheen of sweat, his eyes wide, tears glistening in his eyes. "No, no, no,no,no,no,no,no…"

The word, spoken softly, still made Dean's blood run cold. His brother was terrified. Dean finally pulled his brother into his arms, holding him tightly, comfortingly. His mind wandered to the various times throughout his youth that he had held Sam like this. After discovering the truth about what his dad did on those trips. After a particular nasty hunt where Sammy had managed to get himself separated from his brother and father and had been injured and alone for over a day. After vicious nightmares of the countless horrors his brother had been forced to witness as a hunter. Sam still trembled under his strong grip, but his brother's breathing was slowing gradually as he calmed down. "Sammy? Are you okay?" Dean asked cautiously a moment later.

Hesitation then, finally, a slight nod.

"Do you want to tell me what happened? What did you dream about?" he asked. Normally, he hated these chick-flick moments, but….well, his little brother needed it and that was enough.

"S-sorry, Dean. I-I dreamt about our last hunt."

Dean stiffened slightly at that. Oh. Oh. Their last hunt had gone horribly wrong and now the words Sam had said earlier seemed familiar. "Dean, please, wake up! Don't leave me….please…." After being tossed around by a ghost, he had been impaled on a sharp piece of wood from the cabin. He had laid in his brother's arms, bleeding out, for over an hour while the medevac fought to get to their remote location. Near the end of that hour, Dean had started to fade and his little brother had started to panic. It had been traumatic for both of them and Dean wasn't surprised that Sam was having such strong nightmares about it.

"Don't be sorry, Sam. It's normal to have nightmares about that kind of thing. Just remember, I didn't die, I'm still here. Everything's fine." Dean released his brother and pushed him back far enough that he could look in Sammy's eyes. His baby brother's eyes were always very expressive and Dean was the master of reading them. Sam was definitely calmer now, though still uneasy.

"Dean, I don't know if I can do this. I….I could never…." Sam had no idea how to say what he was thinking. "You're all I've got left. If something happened to you too….if someday you didn't come back from a hunt…. I don't know what I'd do. I think I'd fall apart. There isn't a me without a you." Sam sighed, frustrated that he was having so much trouble getting his point across. "Does that make any sense?"

It did. Dean understood exactly what Sam meant, because he felt the same way. Dean nodded slowly, thinking about the best way to respond. "Sammy, I will never leave you alone. I will always be there for you. I'm your big brother. That's what I do." Dean kept his tone light, but he knew Sam would understand how serious he was.

Sam gave a small, sad smile. "How do you know that? You can't really promise that, Dean."

Dean gave an indignant huff. "I'm Dean, Sammy, I'm your big brother! That's how I can promise that. I'm Batman, remember? Batman never dies, no matter how bad the situation. He wouldn't leave his poor helpless little sidekick to fend for himself." Dean grinned at his brother (I've got you now, little brother), who was now responding with his own indignant snort.

"I'm not your sidekick, Dean."

"That's a matter of opinion. I think you make a pretty good sidekick. Besides, some chicks dig the sidekicks."

"That has nothing to do with it! I'm still not your sidekick."

Dean laughed. "Whatever floats your boat, little brother."

Sam rolled his eyes, a smile lighting his face. "I think you're the sidekick. You're short. Sidekicks are always shorter than the hero."

Dean made a sound of outrage. "Not always!"

"Yeah? Name one team that has a shorter hero!"

"Um…..we do!"

"Dean. We're not superheroes."

"Yes we are! We beat up bad guys and fight evil! You've even got powers!" Dean gave his brother a smug grin.

Sam laughed out loud at that. "I don't have powers, Dean."

"What about the psychic thing? And your gigantic feet have got to be a power unto themselves."

"What?! My feet are not gigantic. And the psychic thing doesn't count."

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't."

"That's not a good argument."

"I don't care."

Dean sighed, faking exasperation, though he knew his brother would see right through him. "Fine then. Your psychic-ness is not a power. But you do have gigantic feet!"

"I may have big feet, but at least that makes me the tall hero and you the short sidekick."

Dean threw his hands up in defeat. "I give up! You're impossible." Dean hid his smile as he saw the darkness, the sorrow, gone from his brother's face. His ruse had worked. Sam was distracted, his mind away from his horrible nightmares. Dean stood and walked towards the door, glancing back at his brother.

"Come on, Robin. Let's go get some food." Dean grinned as he heard his brother's fake-ly frustrated response.

"I'm not your sidekick!"

"No, even better, you're my little brother. Who needs a sidekick when they have a little brother?"

"I don't know." Sam was beside him now, smiling at him knowingly. "Probably the same losers who need Batman when they have a big brother."

I know that's cheesy, but cheesy can be fun! Did the last sentence make sense? I was a little worried about Sam's last sentence…. I know I made up several words in here, but I just couldn't figure out any other way to say it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! Please review and tell me what you thought! Oh, and I might have read another story that had the hero/sidekick running joke in it…. I don't remember for sure…. If so, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to copy anything, I've had this in the works for a little while, so...yeah, sorry…