*Night 1 Without Sam*

The door to a motel room somewhere in Detroit slams open and hits the back of the wall with a thud. It's dark in the room, but the porch light barely reveals a man about 6'1 in a leather jacket. His green eyes are red as he wobbles into the room, his right hand grips a small paper bag tightly. He closes the door behind him and uses the bag to flip on the light switch. Instantly, the room is lit up, too quickly for the man's liking so he covers his eyes. When he opens them the first thing he sees are the two beds. He ignores his own, which is neatly made and looks over to the other one. A satchel that used to belong to him when he was younger lies on the unmade bed untouched. As if he has been stabbed and his legs can no longer hold him anymore, he falls to the ground. The man, once strong and proud, doesn't bother getting up, instead he lays on the ground weaker than ever. He opens his mouth, but he chokes before he can say anything. Instead he mouths that one syllable word, the first word he yelled at the top of his lungs in hell. He remains there all night, crying until he falls asleep. He knows he should get up and leave with the devil on the loose, but he doesn't. The man no longer has anything to lose.

A light comes from his jacket pocket. It belongs to the cell phone that will vibrate all night, but he is too tired to answer. He's too tired to even acknowledge it's existence.

Dean. Dean, please. I'm sorry for what happened to your brother, but you can't do this to yourself again. Sam wouldn't approve of it. Please, just tell me where you are so I can go to your location. It isn't safe.

Dean, it's me, Cas. Bobby is gone, he's dead, but I'm alive. I don't know how or why, all I know is I'm alone-

Dean, this will be my last message to you this evening. I can only assume the worst has happened to you in the time we last spoke or you prefer to be alone at this moment. I'll respect that, but at least let me know you are okay. Let me know.

*Day 1 Without Sam*

The man now identified as Dean wakes up the next morning with his face stuck to the ground from his tears and an enormous headache. He gets off the ground ready to joke with his brother, but the moment he recognizes the silence in the house the memories flood back in. Again, his knees give way, but he grabs unto a chair for support. Dean again fights back tears. This went wrong. This went horribly wrong.

"Sammy, you idiot," Dean lets out nearly regretting his words. His brother never should have said yes. He should have never let him do it, and now he's all alone. His worst fear has finally finished the journey and come to claim him. Satan jumped Sam's bones in Detroit just like he said he would. Cas and Bobby are dead all because he dragged them along to try and save his brother. He keeps his eyes closed tightly as he recalls those moments he lost his family. An image of that stupid dorky angel who fell for this idiotic cause exploding into a million pieces is almost too much for him. The crunching sound of Bobby's neck being snapped makes him cringe. He drags his hands along his face. Why?

Dean gets up from the chair and goes over to Sam's bed, still untouched. He tries put a strong face, but for whom. He doesn't care if he's weak and it shows, but Sam would. Sam. He reaches the bed in a few strides and leans over toward his brother's pillow. It isn't hard for him to believe his brother was in this same room yesterday, it's just hard for him to accept that he's gone, that he is really gone. Dean picks up the pillow like it's a piece of glass, and he pats it down before hugging it tightly.

Don't worry Deany. I'll be fine. I can fly.

Sammy please be careful. That's a roof and you're five.

Five and a half Dean. And I'm Superman. I can do it. You did it and you're Batman.

Just be careful-SAM! Sammy it's gonna be alright okay.

Ahhhhhhhh...Dean, my arm.

Sammy look at me it's gonna be all right. You know I'll always protect you. I've got my bike, I can ride it to the hospital while you ride the handle bars.

*sniff* Thanks Dean

A tear makes it's way out of Dean's eye and falls on the pillow he is clutching. All he can smell is Sam, who for a hunter guy smelled like mint and lemons. It takes him a moment before he realizes that he's ruining the smell, he's losing the only pieces of Sam he has left. He places it back on the bed and moves over to the Sam's satchel. Inside lies a picture of both John Winchester and Mary Winchester. Dean takes notice that Mary's side is more faded than John's side. He never really got a chance to know her. Dean places the photo in his pocket before rummaging through the bag again. This time he takes out Sam's laptop.

The moment it reboots he moves the mouse across the desktop and toward the browser, but something else catches his eye. It's a folder marked with the words For Dean. With interest in his mind he opens the folder. Immediately thousands of images flood the screen, all of them trying desperately to load. The slowness almost makes him laugh as he recalls bugging his brother to get a better computer, or at least one with a processor higher than 1.6 ghz. Dean then glances to the first file, a video one with a still of Sam waving at the camera. Dean inspects it to notice it was made two nights before they went to go ice the devil. He opens it.

The rest of the room falls silent, with the only noise coming from the computer. It still dark in here, and outside, but Dean doesn't really question what time it is. He's sure this is the earliest he has been up in ages. The screen for the first few seconds is black making him wonder if this even is a video or has he been tricked.

"Cas, Cas can you get your face away from the camera. It's on now," Dean lets out another tear. That's his brother talking, his real brother and not possessed by Lucifer.

"Oh, it is. My apologies Sam," a deep gravely voice says as the man moves his face away from the camera. Dean laughs as another tear strolls down his face. Dammit Cas, he thinks.

Next, Sam pushes Castiel away revealing a scenery the boys grew up in. Dean can almost smell the stench of Bobby's home, the same home that was always open to these two. He can almost hear Bobby's complaining in the background and his wheels squeaking. Sam adjusts the camera, gives a nervous smile and waves before turning to Castiel who is still in the background.

"No offense Cas, but can you leave please? I need some privacy," He then turns toward an unseen figure," you too Bobby,"

"Fine ya' idgit, but pretty boy here is gonna have to roll me out of here with all the fancy wiring you've done all over my living room," Another familiar voice says. Sam looks over to Cas who immediately walks out of the shot. Papers rustle in the background until Dean catches the image of Castiel pushing Bobby in his wheel chair into another room.

"Thanks guys," Sam says before staring directly into the lens of the camera. He rubs his hands on his pants before speaking.

"Hey Dean, it's uh me Sam, but you can see that. If you are watching this that means I've finally trusted you with my computer again or the worst has happened. I'm guessing the latter meaning I wasn't strong enough to uh face Lucifer, and that I've failed you. I'm sorry Dean. If it didn't work out, if our plans failed I'm sorry I failed you, but I need you to know I tried. I tried to fight him, and I didn't stop fighting him. I won't stop fighting him." Sam pauses and uses his hand to wipe his eyes.

"I did this for you. I need you to know I did this so you wouldn't have to. All my life you've looked after me. All of my life. And now I need you to know that I'm the one thinking after you. You're my brother Dean, and I love you. Sure we may not get along all the time, but we are still family. We will always be family, and finally it's my time to thank you. It's my time to protect you because I can and I will. I'm sorry for the lies, I'm sorry for siding with Ruby, for everything, but this is my mess and I'm cleaning it up. And Dean... I forgive you. I forgive you and Dad and everyone. Yeah it hurt at times when you would call me freak, but I don't care. I love you bro."

"So you gotta do me one more favor okay. You gotta live not just survive. You have to promise you'll take care of yourself. Live a good life. Take care of Bobby and Cas for me okay. Make sure they are safe. And one more thing, if things don't work out with Ben and Lisa you always got Cas. I've seen the way you look at each other, heck I've been caught in the middle of it several times. It's uh...the same way I would look at Jess when she was alive, and the same way she would look at me. Don't be afraid to love him, cause he loves you," Sam pauses for a moment as he hears footsteps rush to the doorway. He looks over to see Cas stick his head out of the door and he laughs wiping away another tear.

"What?" Cas says.

"He just admitted your crush on his brother ya idgit. It's obvious you have a little school girl crush on him. Now get back in the kitchen and let Sam finish." Castiel leaves the frame. Dean pauses, staring at the screen. Sam knew, hell they all knew, but now wasn't the time to focus on love. His brother was gone, Cas was gone, Bobby was gone, nothing else was important.

"You gotta protect them at all costs. Now, I've uploaded several photos of us and videos and audio clips I've taken over the years. If I'm alive, I'll delete it. If I'm not it's all yours. Take care of yourself Dean. It's not your fault. Love you big brother." Sam gets up to shut off the camera and the screen cuts to black. The room turned an unsettling dark and Dean was all alone. He could no longer see Sam's face. He could no longer see Cas blush, and he could no longer hear Bobby. Another tear.

Dean spends the next hour going through each photo in the album. Blushing, laughing, crying his way through. Some of the photos in there are stupid, and some he didn't even know existed. He then rewatches the video 3 more times before finally turning off the laptop. Somehow, he manages to drag himself off of the bed and back toward the table where Bobby sat yesterday. He could barely manage sitting anymore after being in that wheel chair for nearly a year. Dean spots his phone on the ground and picks it up. He doesn't notice the three messages left to him.

The first number he dials is Sams. It's a number so familiar to him. He waits while it rings, until he realizes that Sam had left his phone here. It is in his dufflebag ringing away. Finally it goes to voicemail.

Hey it's Sam. Leave a message and I'll get back to you shortly.

He repeats the process, but this time with Bobby's phone number. He remembers burning it with Bobby's body. Immediately, it goes to voicemail.

This is Bobby Singer. Leave your name, number, and problem at the tone.

Finally he calls Castiel. Surprisingly it rings, but no one answers.

I..I don't understand. Why do you want me to say my name? Dean laughs and closes the phone before he throws it against a wall. It lays on the ground for a few seconds before it begins to vibrate. Dean raises a look of confusion, but immediately rushes toward the device. He picks it up and answers the call, hoping he didn't damage the microphone.

"Hello?" he says cautiously.

"Hello Dean," the voice on the other end replies.