"Dean!"
Sam saw it before it happened. The demon's claws descending upon Dean's back, the menacing snarl that ripped from its throat as it ripped into Dean's flesh. He was sprinting forward, already blowing a shell of rock salt into the demon, watching it explode and dissipate and scatter with the rapidly falling rain.
"No!" Sam shouted. Dean stood stock still, a flash of confusion passing briefly over his face before he collapsed, sagging to the cold concrete of the alley. Sam rushed forward, his feet slipping on the damp pavement. He dropped to his knees beside his brother. He shook Dean's shoulder furiously, holding his head in his hand. The water poured down Sam's face, clumping his hair and blocking his vision, but he didn't care, all he cared about was Dean. At that moment, Dean was everything.
Sam shook Dean's shoulder again, pulling his brother's limp body into his lap. "Dean! Wake up, dammit! Open your eyes!" he commanded. Dean's eyes fluttered then opened, the normally bright green irises now going dull and dark. A slow, lazy smile curved Dean's lips as he looked up at his younger brother, a small trickle of blood running past his lips and down his chin.
"Sammy, stop yelling. My head hurts," said Dean, groaning. Dean let out a frightening series off coughs, each jerking his body hard, causing him to spasm in Sam's arms. Dean let out a sob and clutched at his chest, his eyes bulging from their sockets.
Sam smoothed Dean's wet hair back from his forehead. "Shh, shh," Sam soothed. "It's all right." Sam's tears mixed in the rain as they ran down his cheeks. The water beneath them was tinted red, Dean's eyes closing more and more as each second passed.
Dean's eyes were cast heavenward. Dean coughed again and pressed his face into Sam's chest, clutching at his jacket. Dean looked up at Sam with wide eyes that closely resembled a child's. "Sammy? Do you think I'll make it to Heaven? Do-Do you think I'll s-see Cas-s?" Dean's speech was beginning to slur as more and more of his life slipped away and melted into the pouring rain.
Sam bit the inside of his cheek and nodded, smiling down at his dying brother. "Yeah," he whispered. "I think you will. Tell him I said hi."
"Guess what, Sammy?" Dean turned and couched thick red blood onto Sam's shirt, the warmth seeping through the material.
Sam rubbed his older brother's chest, hoping to ease the pain. "What, Dean?"
"I love you. And y-yeah, I did eat your sl-lice of piz-za," Dean stuttered, smiling up at Sam, his eyes completely closed now.
Sam sobbed, "I know you did, Dean. I love you, too, you big jerk."
"Sammy, it hurts," Dean groaned, his eyes shut tightly against the pain.
"I'm so sorry, Dean. Go. Go home, now," Sam said, gathering his brother into his arms and wrapping his coat around the two of them, hoping to provide warmth during his brother's last moments of life.
"Bye…" and then he was gone. Sam paused and looked down at his brother, his heart skipping a beat.
"Dean?" No response, not even a twitch. "Dean! Oh, God, Dean! No, no, no! it wasn't supposed to be you."
Sam looked to the sky, hoping to find the answers written in the clouds. He was pelted with raindrops, the water running in his eyes, clogging his nose, blurring his vision. He didn't care.
"Please!" he sobbed to whoever was listening. "Not him! Me! Take me, not him!" When there was no reply, only the sound of rain slapping the pavement, Sam let his head drop down onto Dean's chest, hugging his brother's lifeless body close. On his knees he sobbed, begging silently for some higher power to come and take him instead.
All he received was silence as his tears interspersed with the blood of his dead brother and the cold November rain.
