A/N: Someday I hope to be brilliant enough to create characters as great as Sam and Dean but until then...I only own my own creation of Tessa, the rest still belong to Kripke.

The ride to the cemetery had been informative. Dean quietly filled her in on the details of Sam's disappearance. Throughout the drive, and the recap, she noticed his eyes dart up to the rear view mirror to check on his sleeping younger brother. Dean was so attuned to protecting Sam that she wasn't even sure he knew he was doing it.

When he came to the part of the story where he and Bobby had finally found Sam he hesitated. She reached over and took his free right hand in hers. "You don't have to tell me any more," she told him. "I can guess the rest."

His eyes again flicked to the mirror and he took a shaky breath before responding, "No, I want to tell you…I need to. If we had just gotten there a few minutes sooner…but I was too late. Sam saw us coming; we were the distraction that Jake was looking for. While he was busy trying to get our attention Jake came up behind him…knife to the back…so much blood…I tried to get to him in time Tess…I tried but I failed. I held him and I saw his eyes when…" Dean's voice trailed off as his left hand tightened on the steering wheel.

"Dean, you can't keep blaming yourself. You did the best you could, the best anyone could have asked of you… even John." She saw him flinch at the mention of his father. As long as she had known the Winchesters Dean had been trying desperately to gain his father's approval. He couldn't see that the standard he was holding himself to was a thousand times higher than his father would have ever wanted.

She grew up being a confidant to both boys and she often thought it interesting how each thought the other was loved more by John. Dean spent his life emulating everything that his father did, hoping that he could earn his approval through the completion of the only goal the family had known in over a decade…the destruction of Mary's killer. He had no time for anything but the hunt. Nothing else mattered but making sure that the yellow eyed bastard paid for what he did to Mary… to all of them.

Nothing else mattered to Dean, except of course, for Sam. Sam always mattered. Sam was his responsibility from the moment their mother died. Dean could tell how much John worried over Sam growing up. He wasn't jealous of the attention…not really. How could he be jealous of the one person that mattered most in his life? Sam was the only person in his life that he had ever allowed himself to love wholly and unconditionally. He only wished that John had room in his heart for both of his boys.

Sam…well Sam was different. Sam was sweet and sensitive where Dean was rough and withdrawn. He always felt as if he was a disappointment to John. He remembered being left behind on hunts when he was younger. He always thought it was because John considered him a liability; he wasn't good enough or fast enough and would put them all in danger. He envied the ease with which Dean and John had worked together. It seemed to him that no matter what he did it was never the right thing; that everything led to a fight between him and his father. When he left for Stanford part of him was running from the disappointment he always thought he saw in John's eyes.

In fact, John's biggest sacrifice for his boys was held by both of them as proof of their beliefs. John made a deal. He traded his life, his soul, for Dean. To Sam this was the ultimate proof of John's love of Dean. What more could a father do to prove himself to his son? Dean didn't see it that way. Dean only knew that the reason he was still breathing was so that there would be someone to take care of Sammy. Even in his death John was looking after Sam. She often wondered if these feelings were typical with siblings or if it was just one more aspect of how messed up the Winchester boys had become growing up the way they had.

"You pretty much know what happened from there," Dean sighed, deftly deflecting the conversation away from his father. "Tess, I have a feeling that this is going to get real bad, real quick." He took a second to flick those intense green eyes in her direction. "Promise me something?"

"Anything Dean, you know that." She didn't have to hear the request to know what was coming and she knew that she would keep this promise no matter what.

"Sammy thinks that yellow eyes will be here. He believes that Jake is his key into the cemetery. Tess, if that bastard is here then one of us isn't leaving this graveyard. I'm gonna take his ass out or die trying." He laughed bitterly, "What do I have to lose?"

"Dean," she hated to hear the self-loathing in his voice.

"No Tess. I mean it. It's my responsibility to end this and I'm asking you to make sure that Sam doesn't do anything stupid if I screw it up. He just came back from the de- being injured," Dean quickly checked the mirror to see if Sam was awake. He relaxed slightly as he saw the steady rise and fall of his brother's chest.

"He's not ready. He's not strong enough. I know you can't keep him from trying to do something if I fail but you can at least make sure he takes the time to heal up first. He'll listen to you Tess. If he tries anything right now he's as good as dead. I wish I could make you promise to keep him away, get him out of this life but I know better. Promise me Tess. Promise me that you will make sure he at least has a chance before you let him do anything. Please…"

She wasn't sure she had ever heard Dean say so much at one time. She knew how hard it was for him to ask for anything. Sam's safety was more important to Dean than anything, including his own pride. There was so much she wanted to say to him. So many things he needed to hear. What she wouldn't give to just make him see that Sam wasn't the only Winchester worth saving.

She opened her mouth to reply just as the Impala hit a bump in the road. Sam's muffled groan of pain from the backseat was enough to alert them both that he was now awake. Dean's eyes went to the rear view mirror. "Dude, you ok back there?"

"Yeah…stiff…when did the backseat get so cramped?" Sam was shifting uncomfortably, finally settling on sitting up in the middle of the bench seat so that he could participate in the conversation.

"About the same time you grew four feet Gigantor!" Dean's reply was lighthearted but Tess could see that the smirk that accompanied it didn't reach all the way to his eyes. "Don't worry, you can get out and stretch in a second. We're here."

Tessa was surprised to look out the window and see that they had indeed arrived at the cemetery. Once the Impala had come to a full stop she hopped out quickly. She could hear Sam's exhalation of pleasure as he stretched his tight muscles.

Seeing the truck pull in behind them she went to meet Bobby and Ellen. Before she could get to the truck she felt Dean grab her by the wrist.

"Not so fast Short Stuff. I'm waiting." He tried to keep his voice steady and controlled but she could hear the edge of tension in it. "Promise me."

She looked up into his eyes, darkened now by his concern. There was really no choice in the matter. She knew that before he had even asked.

"I promise."

A/N: Reviews/Comments keep the creative juices flowing so please feel free to leave some (or send me a PM!). Much love to all who have enjoyed this story enough to favorite/alert it. It's for you that I keep writing!