Sorrowful at Heartbroken Central

Please be advised that this short story contains major spoilers for the episode All Hell Breaks Loose - Part One.

Sorrowful: "An event that causes much pain or distress; full of sorrow or grief."

Heartbroken: "Overwhelmingly grieved."

Dean was directed to a chair in the waiting room and told to stay there until he heard his name called.

The place was packed, everyone in the room was there for the same reason he was. They'd lost someone and wanted to know the details, the truth, the what really happened story.

There was no eye contact, no conversation, just various shells of individuals, who had their hearts recently ripped out with the death of a loved one.

Dean waited, head down, eyes fixed on the cracks in the flooring tile, while keeping his left hand in vision range, still stained with Sammy's blood. His emotions were listing from red hot anger to stone cold guilt to mind numbing loneliness.

"Winchester, Dean" the voice called out. "Winchester, Dean" the voice called out again with a more distinct edge to it. Dean made his way up to the counter.

"The full truth or the sugar coated version" the intake officer asked Dean. "Full truth" Dean answered directly. "First door on your right, when you're ready, place the wire instrument over your head, sit down in the chair, close your eyes and wait for the story to start. Remember, you only get to ask three questions" the intake officer told Dean.

Upon entering the room, Dean walked over to the table and placed the wire instrument over his head, sitting down heavily in the chair and closing his eyes. "It's almost like a fuzzy picture on an old tv" Dean was thinking to himself, as he waited for the images to clear.

First up, him and Sam at the Café. Seeing Sam alive and well and goading him about the extra onions, almost got Dean to re-visit his decision of coming here in the first place. He thought his heart was shattered enough that he'd never feel again, he was wrong.

The two part question: "If I had gone into the Café to get my own burger with extra onions, would Sam have still been taken? If I hadn't asked about the pie, would the time-line have changed anything?"

Dean waited, not sure what to expect.

The response: "It would have made no difference, Sam would have been taken that night no matter what. An altered time-line would not have changed the outcome.

The second question: "When I was holding Sammy, did he know how much I loved him?"

The image was of Sam kneeling in front of him. Dean really didn't need to see this, it was already branded into his brain for eternity, but the image continued on. Sam was trying hard to focus his eyes on Dean and only Dean as he was dying.

The response: "He loved you just as much."

"Oh God" Dean thought as he was remembering holding Sammy against him, brushing his hair back from his forehead, willing him to live.

Dean was breathing hard, anticipating the next question he wanted an answer to.

The third question: "Did I distract Sam from protecting himself by calling out his name the first time, before Bobby and I turned the corner?"

Images flickered into focus. It was of Sam, choosing the higher road and not killing Jake, but instead pitching the metal rod away. He was glancing down at Jake when he heard his name being called and turned to follow the voice of his big brother Dean.

The response: "Yes."

Dean slumped over in his chair, sobbing uncontrollably. He'd tried to protect Sammy his whole life, had always tried to do right by him, then he fucked it up big time, by just calling his name? He'd indirectly gotten his brother stabbed by calling his name? He had effectively, yet unknowingly distracted Sam enough to get him killed.

As Dean sat in the chair, dry heaving and trembling, he had one more question and by God he was going to ask it.

The extra question: "Can I have a second chance to save Sammy now?"

Dean had pretty much suspended his breathing waiting for the reply.

The response: "Get ready to deal."