Author's note: I do not own anything having to do with Supernatural, only Taylor belongs to me.

Had this idea for a one shot after listening to the song 'Lullaby' by Nickelback. If you haven't heard the song I suggest you go listen to it but it's not necessary.

Loveintheimpala this one is for you my dear, I hope you enjoy, and have a very Happy Birthday!

Invisibly Shaken

There was a satisfying thump when the vampire's head hit the floor as it was separated from its body by my machete.

"Another one bites the dust," I muttered as I walked back to where I had parked my car using an old rag to clean the blood from the blade. I should have gotten rid of the body but I had just rid the world one more evil thing, the least it could do was handle the dirty details for me, just a small price to pay for the security I was bringing.

The knife was carelessly tossed into my backseat and I had just put the key in the ignition when my cell phone rang. Leaning to one side I pulled it out of my back pocket a small smile forming on my lips when I saw it was my youngest brother.

"Heya, Sammy," I answered holding the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I closed my door and started the car so I could put the heat on.

"Taylor…"

That's all it took, there was something about the way he said my name that sent goose bumps up my arms, "Sam, what's going on? What happened? Are you guys alright?"

"I…" he took a deep breath on the other end like he was trying to hold himself together and that only set me on edge. "Dean took off."

"What do you mean he 'took off'?" I asked trying to keep the fear out of my voice. Sam didn't need to hear me freak out, that wouldn't help anyone. "Like he's out with some chick from a bar?"

The question was stupid of course Sam wouldn't be calling me for something so mundane but Dean would never leave our little brother all alone. I had grown up with very simple instructions drilled into my head, 'you watch out for Dean and Sammy', and I had for the past thirty plus years. We've had our moments like every family when we haven't seen eye to eye and we've gone a couple months without talking to each other for one reason or another. That was family though, they were the ones that knew how to get under your skin and push buttons even you didn't know existed but they were also the ones that loved the deepest. You take the good with the bad and no matter what the world throws at you, you know you can handle it because come hell or high water they will be there holding you up when you don't know how to stand anymore.

"He's…he just left. I couldn't stop him. I tried, Taylor, I would have pinned him to the ground if I had too. I didn't know he was going to just leave," he paused to collect himself and I gave him a moment. "Taylor…he's going to throw it all away…he's going to say yes."

Shit, I swore to myself and ran a frustrated hand over my face. "It'll be alright, Sam. I'm going to find him and fix this."

"What if…what if we're too late?"

"No, if I know Dean he won't go straight to the angel. He's going to want to make sure he hasn't left any loose ends behind. We probably have at least a couple hours to figure this out." It was incredibly quiet on the other end of the phone and I realized he was waiting for me to give him some kind of instruction. "Alright, I've got a couple rocks I can look under and a few trees to shake. I want you to head to Lisa's place. He'll want to say goodbye. If he hasn't been there yet I want you to stay there and call me I'll head to you."

"And if he's already left? Taylor, how are we going to get him to change his mind?"

"I'm going to put my boot in his ass."

After hanging up with my youngest brother I dialed Dean's number sighing when it went straight to voice mail.

Leave your name, number and nightmare at the beep

"Hey, it's me. I know you probably won't even check this but on the rare chance you do…can you just call me…please? I'm trying not to freak out here but Sam called and told me you took off and now I can't get a hold of you. If you get this, Dean, please you're not alone. Call me, okay? I…I love you, De."

X-X-X

I had gotten the call from Sam four hours ago and had yet to set my eyes on my little brother. That was all about to change though as I sat in the dark motel room and I heard the familiar click on the key being turned in the lock. I watched silently from the corner as he carried in a cardboard box and set it on the bed. There was a look on his face that I had never seen before; Dean Winchester had given up hope.

"You weren't that hard to find, you know," I spoke up flicking on the light switch and illuminating the small room, making my presence known. As quickly as his defenses went up they went back down when he saw it was only me. Instead of saying anything though he shrugged out of the leather jacket that used to be our fathers and folded it the best he could before placing it in the bottom of the box. His shoulders were slumped forward like he was carrying the weight of the world on them and in his eyes he was. I took a tentative step forward trying to catch his line of sight, "Dean?"

I watched as he swallowed hard and set his .45 on top of the jacket in the box, "I can't do this anymore."

After the way I had been brought up there were very few things that truly scared me anymore but the defeated, desperate look on my little brother's face terrified me. The emotions were rolling off of him in suffocating waves but I would do everything in my power to make sure he wouldn't drown in them.

"Dean-" I was cut off as he threw his arms around me, his finger nails digging painfully into my back as he buried his head in the crook of my neck, clinging to me for dear life. His body was trembling in my arms and I placed one hand on his back while I used the other to rake my fingers down his short hair at the back of his head. It had been years, probably almost a decade or more, since he needed any sort of comfort from me at all and just as if not a second had passed I easily stepped back into my role as the eldest sibling. "Shh, it's going to be alright. We'll get through this together. You and me, just like always."

He gave me a tight squeeze and let go as he sat down at the edge of the bed, using the heel of his hand to wipe away the few tears that had managed to escape the dam he had built. "I'm done, Tay, I don't have anymore left in me. I'm going to tell that feathery asshole yes. It's going to be the best for everyone."

"Stop thinking about the easy way out," I practically pleaded with him as I sat next to him, angling my body so I was facing him with one leg up on the bed. "You are stronger than this, you hear me? There's no need to go and blow your candle out. You have a fire in you that I have never seen before and to snuff out something so special would be foolish."

"What about Jo's fire, huh? Or Ellen's…Ash…Dad…Aaron," he listed off and I absentmindedly rolled my wedding ring around my finger with my thumb at the mention of my husband's name. "I'm sick of losing people. Good people who deserve to be here and not dead because of us."

"What about you?" I questioned but when he wouldn't meet my eyes I placed my hand on his arm. "You deserve to be here too, Dean. You've more than earned it and I'm sorry but I can't just sit here and watch you throw your life in the hands of some feathery…douchey…dickwad…of an angel."

He gave me the smallest of smirks with a shake of his head, "You never have been good with insults."

"Everybody has hit the bottom, Dean, everybody had been forgotten at one point in time or another. Everybody has been abandoned and left a little empty handed and some of them don't know how to pull themselves out of that dark place but you can. You want to know how I know?" I waited for him to answer but I took his silence as my cue to continue. "Because after Aaron…," he rested his hand on my ankle as my voice cracked, even when he was falling apart he still gave me strength. "You didn't let me give up and when I tried to crawl under that rock you crawled in after me and pulled me out. I've been down this road before I'm living proof it gets better."

"But Sam and the demon blood, all of…" he waved his hand around in front of him, "This…this crap about our destiny and the big fight that supposed to take place. I mean, all of it, everything we've ever done just to lead up to this? My destiny is to let some angel wear me to the prom?"

I smoothed out a piece of his hair that was sticking up, "Want to borrow my sling backs?" I hadn't noticed it until I sat here and really looked at him but somewhere over the years my brother had grown into a man. He wasn't the same little snot nosed kid that would get in trouble in school and that spark in his eye had long since burned out. His confidence had diminished and it was my job to build it back up. "Dean, our destinies are whatever we want them to be. I don't care what the angels say. I don't care if God has it all planned out or if the devil himself knocks on my door. We are Winchesters, we don't follow the rules, we make our own. They can knock us down but they can't knock us out and we're going to kick this apocalypse in the ass."

"We'll shoot first and ask questions later," Dean gave me a weak smile. I nodded and we finished together, "Just like dad taught us."

I leaned forward and placed a kiss on his temple, "Now go shower, you stink."

He playfully pushed me so that I fell back on the bed but grabbed his duffle and headed toward the bathroom. "Tay?" I looked over to him as he stood in the door way waiting to hear what he had to say, "Thanks."

While he was in the shower I called Sam and told him where we were so that he could stop worrying. He asked for details but that was something that would stay between Dean and I all he needed to know was that the crisis had been adverted at least for the time being. We had dinner and more than a few drinks forgetting the impending apocalypse for the night and just enjoying each other's company.

Long after both brothers were passed out on their beds I sat by the window and stared up at the star filled sky. To hell with whatever plans had been made without our approval.

"So just close your eyes and go to a place where all your dreams come true because while you sleep I'll be watching over you," I sang quietly settling myself in the chair next to the door.

These were my boys and I'd walk through fire before I let anyone, including themselves, take that away.