Ok, time for another new fic. I'm really not too sure about this one, so reviews are greatly appreciated :)

Title: Secret Wishes and Deadly Deals

Summary: After spending 2 months alone while Sam tries to save him, Dean wishes for just a little time with someone who'll always care- his mother. Problem is, wishes don't come true without a price... or a certain level of awkwardness.

Warnings: Spoilers for All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 2... if anyone lives under a rock and hasn't seen it yet...

Rating: T

Disclaimer: So not mine. Maybe it's not even Kripke's anymore. Maybe it belongs to Dawn Ostroff and the CW, who will turn it into a sex-fest if they get the chance. Run, Kripke, Run! Go to NBC... or CBS... or ABC... or Sci-Fi!!!!!

Secret Wishes and Deadly Deals

One year. One year was all he had left, and he was going to spend it alone. Sam was making sure of that.

Sighing, Dean rolled off his bed and headed to the door of the latest run-down motel room. He glanced over his shoulder at his brother's sleeping form. Sam had spent the entire day at the local library, trying to find some way to save his brother from the fires of Hell. As always, he had come stumbling back in at closing time with nothing useful.

Two months had passed since the incident with the Devil's Gate in Wyoming, and Sam had spent all of his time researching ways to get Dean out of the deal he'd made. He didn't care that Dean was constantly begging him to stop, didn't care that finding a loophole would mean certain death, didn't even listen when his brother begged for some family time before the year was up.

What that amounted to was Sam getting up early to follow a lead and coming home late at night. He didn't talk to his brother, didn't eat (as far as Dean knew), and hadn't showered (as far as Dean had seen) in the past two months.

The older brother had spent his days watching crappy TV shows, wondering what to eat that night for dinner, ignoring the ringing phone as Bobby tried to call and check on him. He was always alone, Sam too busy trying to save him to actually spend time with him. It was kind of getting to him.

Dean opened the door and stepped out into the cool night, taking a deep breath. He sat down on the stoop in front of the door and stared up at the sparkling stars that dotted the sky.

He was starting to wonder if he'd made the right choice by telling Sam the truth. If he'd just lied, it would have been so much easier. They would have spent their final year together hunting down the demons that had escaped. They would actually be doing something together, side-by-side, like brothers.

But Dean hadn't withheld information. He'd told the truth and the truth had hurt. He spent his days alone in grimy motel rooms, waiting for Sam to come running in with some miracle solution that couldn't possibly go wrong.

Sam never found any answers, though, just more possibilities and leads that had to be followed. It was an endless cycle.

He sighed, leaning back until he was propped uncomfortably up against the door, still watching the sky. A small spark caught his eye and he watched a shooting star fly across his field of vision.

"All right," Dean whispered, "I know it didn't quite work out the last time I made a wish, but I don't see any tattooed bald guys hanging around, so it should be safe, right? Ok, well, I'm gonna do the same thing I did then. I wish mom was here. Maybe then I'd have a little human companionship while the clock runs out, huh?"

He sat on the stoop and stared up at the sky, smiling at the stupidity of wishing on a falling star. Wishes don't come true, not without a price. Dean had learned that the hard way.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Dean opened his eyes, looking around the room and moaning deep in his throat. He'd stumbled back into the room earlier that morning after sitting outside and watching the stars for what seemed to be an eternity.

Sniffling, he rolled onto his side, looking towards Sam's bed. It wasn't empty.

Dean bolted up, staring at his brother, who was perched on the edge of his bed, watching the older man sleep. "What are you doing?" Dean asked, "shouldn't you be at the library?"

Sam smiled and shook his head. "I'm not gonna leave you alone again."

"I thought-"

"Nope. I think I'm gonna stay today. Maybe tomorrow, too, if they'll let me."

"They?"

Sammy nodded. "Do you think that wishes can come true, Dean?"

"That's a stupid question to ask, especially if you're asking me. No, Sam, I don't think wishes can come true. Not for free, anyway."

"I think you should rethink that opinion, honey. I'm not Sam."

Dean blinked. "Excuse me?"

Sam smiled. "Your wish. You wanted me to come spend some time with you. It came true. Here I am."

"That's impossible."

"Nothing's impossible. You should know that by now."

"You can't be…"

Sam stood up, took a step, and sat down beside his brother. "I know it's weird," he said, placing a hand on Dean's shoulder, "it's weird for me, too. But you're not exactly the social butterfly you could be. My options here were kind of limited."

Dean pulled away, eyes wide. "No way. If this is some kind of sick joke-"

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close your eyes, son."

"Why?"

Sam smiled. "Sometimes you can see more clearly if you can't see at all. You'll know what I'm talking about if you just do it."

"You're not gonna rape me, are you?"

"Dean Jonathan Winchester!"

"All right, fine," Dean sighed, rolling his eyes, "but I swear, dude, if you try to shave my head or something…" He let his eyes close.

It wasn't long before Dean felt a hand on the side of his face, a warm hand, a large hand. It felt right somehow, familiar. It fit. The bed shifted, the person sitting beside him rising to feet that might not really be his, and another hand came up to cup the other side of his face.

It wasn't so weird any more, the possibility of possession not so outlandish. Dean let himself relax, drinking in the warmth that rolled off the other body toward him. For the first time since leaving the world the djinn had created for him, he felt like he was home.

He felt something graze the top of his head, a soft touch, too tender to come from a man who'd spent his life hunting down evil. It took a moment to realize what had happened, to figure out what it had been. She'd kissed him.

Dean opened his eyes and looked up at his brother. "Mom?"

Sam nodded, sitting back down and wrapping an arm around Dean's shoulders. "See? Sometimes it takes more than sight to truly recognize a person." She ran Sam's hand up and down her oldest son's back, smiling as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Y-you… came back for me?"

"Well I wasn't gonna leave you."

Dean gulped, took a shaky breath, closed his eyes, and leaned into the body beside him. Strong arms closed around him and held him close while a large hand stroked his hair and a deep voice whispered nonsense words to calm his trembling body.

So, yeah. I've got a funny story about how this one came to be. Ask me to tell it in your review (hint, hint) and I will :)