AN: What started as a school project in US History became the start of an epic fanfiction set in Pompeii, based around Supernatural characters... so, yeah. The teacher just loves me.

WARNING: Major character death. You have been warned.

The small, blond haired child chased his older brother through the crowded marketplace. "Dean!" the younger brother shouted. His legs were not long enough to keep up with his elder brother's strides and his toga continually got wrapped around his knees. He pushed and shoved at people in his way, ignoring the disgruntled looks and shouts he received from both merchants and customers.

"Dean!" He yelled again. His brother was much too fast and he was worried about losing him in the crowd. Dean looked back over his shoulder, green eyes shining with amusement as he laughed at his baby brother. Dean's inattentiveness had him tripping on a rock and falling flat on his face. Dean groaned from the impact and he groaned once more when he felt the weight of his brother land on his back.

"Ha! You moron, I got you." The young boy laughed as his older brother tried to squirm out from under his grip. There was no point, his little brother was old enough that he knew how to keep Dean pinned to the ground.

"Get off me, Sam! You weigh as much as a horse!" Sam guffawed at the notion.

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

Sam's reply was cut off when he saw a white speck land directly on his nose. He stopped trying to hold his brother down while he looked up into the sky. There were millions of little white dots floating through the air.

Dean had escaped Sam's clutches while he was distracted and he was able to stand up to take in the scene before him. All the people in the market had stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the strange, new white things. One landed on Dean's cheek. It wasn't cold, even though he was expecting snow. Whatever it was, more of it was coming down fast. Nobody knew how to respond to this sudden change. Dean stood staring dumbly at the motionless people, and Sam sat back and looked at the sky in awe.

Dean didn't know what happened, but one minute the world seemed frozen in place and the next minute the market was in complete chaos. People were running around and yelling and screaming. Babies cried and children searched for their parents. Even the animals were going crazy.

It only took a moment for Sam and Dean to react to the crazy situation. Sam leapt to his feet and grabbed Dean's hand for safety. Dean thought he should try to go home so they could get their dad, but the crowd around him and Sam was pushing in the opposite direction. So they followed the flow of people, their hands linked securely together. They would be able to worry about their dad later.

Dean could feel his brother's anxiety and fear, so he let go of his hand to pull Sam into a side hug. "Don't worry, Sammy. Everything's going to be okay. We just gotta stay together."

At that moment, the crowd's speed increased and someone knocked both Dean and Sam into a nearby wall. Sam bounced off Dean and went right back into the mass of people, but Dean didn't have it so easy. He tried to follow right after Sam but there was something pulling on his toga, holding him back.

"Sam! Wait! Sammy!" Dean yelled. Everyone was so loud, Dean couldn't be heard. Still he tried again. "Sammy! Please! Don't leave! Sam! Come back!" It was no use. Sam either couldn't hear him, or he just didn't care that much about Dean. Dean continued to struggle, even when Sam had left his line of vision. No matter how hard he tried, his toga would not come free.

He deflated and leaned against the wall that held him captive. There was no way he would be able to find Sam in this mess. He could probably just find him after everyone had calmed down. Dean stayed in his spot, not even attempting to untangle his toga, and watched the people he had known his whole life run right past him.

It was at that point that Dean began to wonder what the outcome of this day would be. He hoped that the sky would stop dropping mysterious white stuff, and everyone would calm down. Then he could go back home to his dad and little Sammy and everything would be back to normal. These thoughts kept Dean from panicking for a few minutes, until the ground started to shake.

The people were more anxious as they stumbled and swayed, not once stopping their high-paced speed. Dean was falling forward and he could hear the sound of his toga ripping as he fell on his face for the second time that day. Though this time his brother was not the weight being placed on him. Instead, he felt dozens of feet stepping on various parts of his body. He cried out in pain and yet not one person noticed the young boy they were stepping on.

He thought he might be trampled to death. Until there was someone helping him stand up and pushing him through the crowd. The stranger had a tight grip on his upper arm, and Dean was a little too shocked to understand what was going on.

He glanced at his savior to find a boy about his age with dark brown hair, and determined, blue eyes. Dean wanted to ask this boy what his name was, so he could properly thank him, but the noise level had increased with the obnoxious rumbling that had started when the earth was shaking. Dean thought that must have been a bad sign. He still wanted to hope for the best.

The blue-eyed boy looked at Dean quickly before focusing his attention on weaving between the closely packed people. Dean was grateful to the strange boy who took pity on him.

The air was looking thicker by the minute. Dean tried very valiantly not to start up a coughing fit from the amount of ash and dust swirling around. Others were not as strong and some even fell to the ground, unable to stand back up or continue running. Behind him, Dean could hear the shrill cries of women looking for their children and the horrid coughing and hacking of those who could not withstand the smoke and ash.

"Almost…There." Dean heard the boy next to him say between breaths. Where were they going? That seemed to be one question Dean hadn't thought much about. His sense of direction was sorely lacking due to him being surrounded by much taller adults, but Dean thought they could be heading for the seaport. And, Dean thought, maybe Sam had already made it to one of the ships. Dean almost smiled at the notion.

So they continued running and dodging and hoping. Really, it was all they could do. And after running for what felt like eternity, Dean and his companion broke free of the crowd just in time to see the last ship leave the dock. The people at the edge of the dock were outraged or hysterical, some even going as far as jumping into the unforgiving water.

Dean just stared at the ship. Well, not the ship itself. Dean stared at the small boy nearly hanging off the rails looking right at him. Sam might have fallen off the ship, if not for the older boy with golden hair who restrained the hysterical young boy. Sam's face had tears streaming down it and his mouth opened again and again, saying something that would never reach Dean's ears. And Dean was relieved and happy, because Sam made it. His little Sammy was safe.

Dean wasn't sure what state of mind he was in. He thought it might be some kind of calm acceptance of his inevitable death. He knew he should be upset and crying like Sam was, but he just didn't feel a need to. Dean just wanted to sit and wait for the end to come.

The boy who saved him was obviously not as calm as Dean was about the situation. His eyes were tear-filled and he was breathing too hard to be considered normal. His hard breathing lead to him inhaling too much smoke and he fell to his knees choking. Dean bent down right next to him, trying to find any way to help the boy who saved him.

"Hey are you okay? Come on don't die on me yet! I don't even know your name!" Dean said as the boy continued his violent coughing fit.

The boy stopped coughing long enough to say, "My name is… Cas… Cast-" And he was broken off by more of his own coughing.

"It's okay, Cas. Everything's going to be okay. We just gotta stay together." As Dean repeated the same words he had spoken to his brother just before they were separated, he leaned forward and embraced Cas in a hug that he knew would be his last.

A large wave of gas, ash, and smoke came down on the people at the docks, and Dean and Cas stayed like that, hugging each other for dear life as they took their final breaths.