Disclaimer: If I owned Supernatural I would have sent the lovely brothers round to thank the people who reviewed. No visits today? I must still not own it sigh (And yeah, I love reviews that much. I'd share the 'love')

A/N: So I still can't spoil you, although some nasty person didn't put a warning up and I just missed a tragic event. I escaped with my life though – and a little bit of a clue. As always I have to thank InSecret, she's magic!

CHAPTER TWO

Dean struggled under the large silver pipe, sneezing as he came face to face with another dust bunny at home amongst the wiring and insulation in the roof. He'd been up there an hour but so far couldn't find anything wrong with the cabling other than a few frayed cords – dangerous, but hardly going to affect the power downstairs.

Dean sighed, reminding himself to enjoy the time he did have here. It wouldn't be long before he was once again staring some nasty creature in the face, wishing he had nothing more pressing than faulty wiring to spoil his day. Last night he'd had to go into the details of the last hunt for Sam, enough detail to make him remember the weariness he'd felt when he finally killed the damn thing. Enough to make him want to close his eyes and sleep for a month. Sam's life always reinforced that feeling and it was for that reason that he tried so hard to never show up like their dad had when he and Sam were kids, reeking of blood with a cold honest fear in his eyes and a gun barely concealed in his waistband. Dean didn't want John and Keira to know, to really know, the cruelty and evil in this world. He wanted them to think the boogeyman really was just in their imagination and not realize that, while their mother soothed them, their father was fearfully ringing Dean – just in case.

Dean shook his head free of the melancholy thoughts as he returned to work, sneezing at the cloud of dust he had created.

Below the layers of plasterboard, Sam wrapped his arms around his wife's waist, gently stopping her from leaving the bedroom.

'Whatever it is, it can wait,' he whispered into her ear.

She laughed. 'Sure, but you'd have it waiting forever. And someone has to do the washing and the vacuuming and even cook dinner.'

'Stay a little longer and I'll help; I'll do it all if you want.'

Susan smiled at the tactic and turned around. 'Really?' She wrapped her arms lovingly around her husband's neck and teased sweetly, 'But I've tasted your cooking.'

'Well, I won't cook then. See, it's like I'm doing you a favour.' Sam bent down to kiss her, lifting her up a little to meet his mouth.

Susan melted into her husband's kiss, not bothering to pull her lips away as she murmured, 'How can I argue with that?'

Sam lifted her onto the bed.

'You can't.'

On the first floor of the house, Keira twisted around in her favorite spot on the lounge and demanded, 'Where are you going?'

Her brother stopped in the doorway and looked her up and down a little guiltily before responding. 'I'm going to go see what Uncle Dean's doing.'

'But Daddy told us to leave him alone while he's up there!'

John sniffed in derision. 'He just said that to you. I'm big enough to go help.' The small boy pulled himself up to his full height before marching out the door.

Keira just pressed her lips together and turned back to the TV. She'd learned a while ago that there was no point arguing with her big brother. He never listened anyway.

Dean thought he heard footsteps on the ladder and paused in his work for a moment, debating whether or not to investigate it. He decided against it, pinned under the pipe as he was, and at ease knowing it had to be either Sam or Susan; the kids were too small to climb up. Dean could already see his brother's floppy hair preceding him; hear his voice asking what he was doing. That was why he whacked his head on the pipe above him in surprise when he heard a much younger voice asking, 'Can I help you Uncle Dean?'

Dean panicked for a second in his struggle to free himself from under the pipe, but eventually he managed to push himself back out. Still there was a mess of wires, beams and insulation between him and John. John – who was reaching for a section of wires that Dean knew were mostly stripped. That amount of power… Dean didn't know if he would be able to survive it, let alone a little boy.

'John – NO!'

Dean didn't even realize it was his voice as he threw himself forward. He couldn't make it in time. He had to make it in time.

In that moment when the attic lit up Dean couldn't breathe, and he was sure he could see the ghostly bones of a vibrating angel in front of him. But it wasn't an angel.

It was real.

It was John.

Sam's mouth was drifting along Susan's stomach, his hands sliding over her back when they heard the shout above them. They both shot up from the pillows in surprise, shock turning quickly to fear when the power suddenly cut out.

Sam felt a chill. It was like the daylight had cut out too. He was cold, very cold, and he was trapped in the darkness. He found it hard to breathe, and he was illogically afraid he'd be stuck there forever, that he wanted to be stuck there forever. Keira's scream tore through the black. The generator hummed as light was restored. Sam turned urgently to his wife. 'You get Keira. I'll go… up.'

Susan just nodded. They had heard the screamed words all too well: John. She didn't want to believe that anything had happened to him. But tears fell as Sam ran past her. He ran so fast he almost knocked the ladder out of place and he was halfway up it before he even realised.

Sam hauled himself into the roof, the silhouette before him taking a second to become clear. It was Dean, hunched over, something in his arms.

'Is he okay?'

Dean could barely meet his brother's eye. How was he supposed to answer?

Sam's hoarse sob ripped through Dean as he clutched John.

He was still breathing.

He had to be.

The grey plastic chairs seemed like rows of tombstones, a forbidding omen to Susan as she paced between them, her voice echoing off the dirty white walls of the hospital. The smell of disinfectant made her want to retch. It wasn't helped either by the lump of fear burning in her belly. The cell phone seemed warm against her ear as she spoke to her sister.

'No we don't know how he's doing yet. Yeah, Sam's with him. No, I don't know what happened. I'm sorry –'

She paused, fighting for air through her sobs.

'Can… can you just look after Keira for a few days? I'll bring over some clothes and things for her soon. Thanks Carrie.'

Susan hung up on the call and immediately slumped against the wall, crying. At least her sister had Keira. Now she could just worry about her little boy.

'I… uh, brought you a coffee.'

Dean's voice was hesitant and he held the Styrofoam cup out like it was some sort of peace offering. Susan reached for it – and then smashed it out of Dean's hand. She was angry, so unbelievably angry, and she couldn't stop herself from screaming at him.

'HOW DARE YOU!' Sobs filled the spaces between the words. 'You were supposed to goddamn protect him! What the hell made you think it'd be okay for him up there? I mean Jesus, Dean! He's just a child. You should have known better. You should have stopped him in time!'

'I… I –'

Dean didn't know what to say, so he shut down in the face of Susan's grief, his expression emotionless as he stepped backwards away from her accusing voice – unnaturally harsh – in the near deserted hospital. It filled the halls with its metallic sound. Nurses watching the scene unfold through a half open door.

'You what? You WHAT Dean? Don't apologize. Don't. Just don't! John always trusted you to keep him safe – hell, you could do no wrong in his eyes. But it's worse that that Dean. We, your brother and me, we trusted you. He's my baby, my little boy, and I'm supposed to keep him safe.' Susan turned her face away momentarily, but when she looked back her eyes flashed with renewed anger. 'But I didn't. I let him hero-worship you, knowing what you're like, knowing how quick you are to jump into danger. But even I thought you'd be better than to let him do it too.' Susan took a heaving breath before throwing one final barb. 'I thought you'd protect him. I really did Dean.'

She glared at him, trembling, the anger overwhelming her. She had always been the forgiving type, but her fear and her guilt had twisted until she found herself doing all she could to break that mask of Dean's. She wanted him to say something – anything. She couldn't stop herself. Not until she saw the young intern standing hesitantly by the door.

'What?' she snapped.

'Mrs. Winchester?' The man was looking at her expectantly and she nodded. 'I'm Dr. Radovich. I've been sent out to tell you that the little boy, John, he's going to be okay. He's sleeping now, but he'll be fine.'

It took a second. At first she just stood there. But when Susan finally realized what the doctor was saying, that her little boy would be all right, she crumbled. Dean stepped forward to support her, submitting to her stranglehold on his jacket and the wet patch seeping through his shirt.

'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' she wept. He just nodded, holding her even as he turned to the doctor.

'Can we see him? I mean, I know he's sleeping, but can we go in?'

'Certainly. It'll be good for him to have his family around him when he wakes up. I'll show you the way.'

Dean looked back at Susan who was clinging to him, pale-faced.

'Don't you want to go see your son?' he asked her gently. 'He'll be waiting for you. Let me help you.'

Dean practically carried Susan down the hall until Sam appeared from a doorway further down. Then she ran, throwing herself into his arms, her relieved words coming too quickly for either brother to properly understand.

'I'll leave you here.'

The trio barely noticed as the doctor left. They were too focused on John. As they entered the room he shifted a little and moaned in his sleep.

Dean went over and stood by the bed, trying hard to not be noticed by either Susan or Sam as they enveloped each other in a tight embrace. His eyes were burning, his mind filled with the sound of Susan's voice. You should have stopped him. She was right of course. Dean could see every moment of the accident, especially the way his beloved nephew had radiated that blue light. There was no one else to blame but himself. He should have looked to see who was coming up the ladder. He should have been faster in getting to the little boy.

Dean's chest tightened almost unbearably. John had opened up a whole new part of him. Sure he'd hero-worshiped his dad and would easily give his life up for his brother, but until John had been born Dean didn't know what it was like to love someone so much it actually hurt, to feel something so sweetly it ached against his ribcage every time he remembered it. For John, Dean would have done so much more than die. He would suffer for eternity to keep that child safe. Except he'd failed to do that, and worse, in some stupid normal accident that any family could have. If it was an evil creature Dean could have dealt with it, he could have fought it. But a live wire. A stupid live wire and he couldn't even stop that!

Dean was only able to let out a strangled grunt when he noticed his nephew's eyes opening, but his lack of response was made up for by John's parents who both raced over to hug him.

'Hey little man, you're okay, you're just fine now.' Sam's weary smile lit up his face.

Susan still had tears running down her cheeks. 'Oh my little baby, my angel. Mommy's got you now!'

Both of them were too busy talking and laughing to notice the way John looked straight up at Dean, too loud in their relief to hear his first words.

Dean heard them though.

'How come you didn't save me Uncle Dean?'

TBC
A/N: So you see that little blue button there, that's it, to the left a little. Press it. Now you just have to put some words in the box and (that simple!) you made my day. Review!