The moment the vase closed around them, Ilyana writhed viciously, trying to bring her sharp claws to bear.

Sam managed to kick free, rolling a few inches away from her on the table to get his bearings. She caught herself before she rolled in turn, sharp claws sinking effortlessly into the soft wood below. Fangs flashed into view as her head snapped up, wings flaring as she went on the attack.

There was just as much pandemonium outside the vase as well as inside. Past Dean's huge hands holding them prisoner, Sam could make out Bobby as he barreled into the room, gun in one hand, knife in the other.

The fire sprites concentrated their rage on the two humans now, ignoring the house around them in favor of freeing their trapped sister. Ilyana, still in control of the others, knew she couldn't risk being separated from them this way.

Bobby was a whirlwind, his knife flashing in and out of the the action while the gun took care of the rest. One after the other, he sliced or shot through the sprites, making them puff out in small explosions that were soon enough reformed. The sprites were forced to fall back. They didn't have enough sprites to attack and heal at the same time.

Dean was forced to be a spectator to both battles, shouting out directions to Bobby in the room when he saw a sprite that had been missed, and unable to help Sam out in the battle happening right between his own two hands. Even his voice was no more than a rumble overhead for Sam, the words blocked by Nixie's barrier.

Sam dodged under Ilyana's latest lunge, stumbling when he was clipped by the edge of a wing. She was vicious and deadly, angered by her imprisonment. Her eyes almost glowed red with her rage, brought forth by the sheer amount of flame she channeled at him.

Sam kept her distracted, knowing she couldn't be given a chance to focus and think. If she did, she might remember that they were standing on a wooden table. She could burn through it and end this fight in seconds if she did. Sam would plummet to his death, with or without Nixie's protective barrier around him, and even if he didn't die in the fall, Ilyana would have him in her clutches at last. He would find out for himself who her summoner was and what it was they wanted of him.

Catching his balance, Sam yanked out his silver blade. "Ilyana, end this!" he shouted. Inside the glass barrier, his voice echoed flatly, the air deadened around them. It gave a sense of aloneness, abandonment, even though he could see Dean's green eyes peering down at them from above and feel the suddenly reassuring prickle on the back of his neck the entire time. They were alone, yet not. A strange feeling that didn't make sense to him.

"All you have to do is promise to stop and you can leave here in peace!"

Hissing angrily, Ilyana straightened, her wings twitching outwards. "Never," she barked. "You will be mine! I will have my reward!"

With that, she tossed herself in the air, heedless of the tiny space they were in. There wasn't enough room for her wings to extend halfway, nevermind a full flap. She slammed into Sam, almost knocking the knife out of his hands before he could bring it to bear against her. Her clawed hand closed around his wrist, locking it in place as she slammed him against the wall of the vase. She pinned him to the glass with an arm, snarling in his face.

Ilyana, though a small sprite to Dean and Bobby, was four inches tall, leaving her Sam's equal in height. Long-limbed and muscled, Ilyana was built for combat more than Nixie had ever been. It may have been her bond with the fire-drakes that did it, but it made fighting her dangerous. Even her wings were sturdy and strong compared to the delicate dragonfly wings of the water sprites. Sam was just lucky she was too young to have a tail, because that might have done him in there and then.

Rumbles echoed overhead. Dean was shouting instructions at Sam from above, his voice lost in the echos. Sam was well and truly on his own.

His eyes hardened as they narrowed at Ilyana. "You'll never have me," he snarled. "Not now, not ever."

Instead of struggling in hand to hand combat where he was sure to lose, he rammed his head forward, connecting solidly with her nose. Ilyana stumbled back, bumping against the wall behind her. Tears of pain rose to her eyes as a drop of blood fell from her face. He'd broken her nose.

Sam braced himself against the ground, knife in hand, and leaped at her.

In that moment, time seemed to slow down around them. Ilyana's eyes widened at the sight, but she couldn't move fast enough to stop him. Sam could have sworn he saw regret in her eyes...

He'd remember that expression of regret the rest of his life. It would dig into him, making him think in those short seconds that there was another way, that she could be saved. She was so young...

And then his knife sank to the hilt in her chest.

Sam pulled away as she sank back against the wall of the vase. "It... should never have ended this way..." Ilyana managed, holding her hands against her chest.

Fire sparked under her fingers, but she couldn't heal the injury, just as Nixie hadn't been able to heal her broken wing on her own. Their greatest weakness.

She stared up at Sam, tears in her eyes. "I only wanted to help my sisters live forever..." she whispered.

Cracks started to form from the knife wound, glowing like magma beneath her skin. Sam went to take a hesitant step towards her, but stopped. Her hair whipped around her in a sudden whirlwind, the flower in her hair shimmering.

Then she burst into flame with a scream, a small explosion of power consuming her form.

Sam was thrown backwards by the explosion. He slammed into the side of the vase, crumpling into unconsciousness as a searing pain sparked up his back.

Dean stared down into the vase, trying to yell instructions through the glass to Sam, who gave no reaction to anything he said.

That fact swiftly became academic as Sam slammed his head at her, knocking the small sprite back. Dean grinned proudly at Sam's quick thinking. Recovering fast, Sam leapt forward, sinking his small blade into her chest. A swell of triumph and pride hit Dean.

"Bobby! He did it! Sam stopped Ily-"

That was when it happened.

While Bobby and Dean had been fighting, they hadn't given any thought to the way the fire sprites died. The small explosions offered no additional danger to either human, after all, and the sprites were healed fast enough to make the feat inconsequential.

Sam, on the other hand, was not only the same size as the explosion, he was also trapped in a confined area with it.

With the triumph dying on Dean's lips, Sam was tossed back like a limp rag doll. The protective barrier from Nixie guarded him against damage from the flames but did nothing against the shockwave. Sam's body hit the thick glass with a hollow, sickening thud, crumpling bonelessly to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been snapped. His small knife clattered to the ground nearby, thrown by the same explosion.

"SAM! "

Dean went to toss the vase to the ground. Sam was hurt.

Sam needed him.

Before the vase budged so much as a millimeter, two hands clamped down over Dean's, freezing him in place. Furious green eyes met soul-piercing blue.

Bobby scowled back at him. "Don't you dare make that boy's sacrifice mean nothing!" he barked at Dean. "He deserves better than that from his brother."

Dean's eyes widened in outrage. "Don't you dare tell me what Sam deserves!" he yelled back. "I need to help him, Bobby! He could be dyin' in there!"

Bobby's hands didn't let up and neither did his words. "You do that, we're back to square one," he shouted, his stubbornness equal to Dean's. "Until every last fire sprite is gone, we can't risk opening this! Sam understood that going in better than you or me!"

During their shouting match, the fire sprites were slowly flickering out of existence, returning to their home. One or two sent sad, sorrowful glances towards the pile of ash settling at the bottom of the vase, but with Ilyana's remains cut off from them, there was nothing more they could do, and no other reason to remain with her control over them released.

Dean's expression was as hard as it had ever been as he glared at Bobby, all trace of warmth gone from the planes of his face. "Let. Go."

"Dean..."

"I said, let go! " Dean roared. "If anyone's going to do this to Sam, it's me."

Bobby slowly nodded with understanding, pulling his hands off. The vase didn't budge as Dean continued to hold it in place, his hands and arms trembling. He stared into the vase at the tiny, prostrate form, all anger replaced by a crushing despair.

"Sammy..."

What have I done?

Sam clawed his way through a dark abyss. It was surrounding him, trying to pull him away from the bright glint of consciousness.

Somewhere deep inside, he understood that if he allowed himself to slip down there, to allow himself to fall into the darkness, it would be over. He wouldn't have to worry about anything, there would be nothing left to fear. No reason to hide.

He would be at peace.

Something was holding him back, though, anchoring him to the living world. It might have been the color of the light above him. For some reason, he felt drawn to that reassuring green light. It called his name, pulling him from the edge. Away from death, and the peace of the grave.

Pain started to return as the world lightened. He fought against the tide of darkness, yanking himself out with that unique stubborn determination no one could match except for Dean himself.

The world brightened, and his eyes blinked open. Small fires flickered at the edge of sight, but were quickly being put out by a rush of white foam and a loud roaring noise. He groaned, trying to shift in place, but couldn't move. The surface he was on was soft, and conformed to his body. Once he got a good look around, Sam gave a small jump of fear when he realized he was being held in human hands, surrounded by human hands. The moment the human above realized he was awake, the hands rose smoothly through the air.

Familiar green eyes blinked at him from bare inches away, forcing Sam to try and focus through the haze of pain his mind had become. That same green that had drawn him away from the edge of death.

"Sam?"

The familiar, safe voice rumbled around him. That voice meant safety. That voice meant home. No matter what else happened, Sam could rely on that. He could feel the stress and panic that had begun building in the back of his mind start to seep away as he at last realized where he was - gently held between Dean's careful hands, states away from the humans who'd broken his arm and tried to crush his spirit.

Sometimes he couldn't tell if they'd succeeded in the end.

With a hand pressed against his head, Sam struggled to sit up again on the cushioned, uneven ground. His back burned with pain, arguing against this course of action.

Dean seemed to be in agreement with Sam's back. One of the huge fingers spaced around him curled inwards, gently pinning Sam flat on his back. A tiny bit of the panic he had left reared its head at how helpless he was. How easily Dean could trap him. Like a bug. He forced that impression down. This was Dean. He'd never be helpless with Dean.

"Hey, hey, hey… take it easy there, Tom Thumb. You took quite a beating with Ilyana. You need to rest, save your strength."

The urgency in Dean's voice shocked Sam. Something's wrong.

He could feel it.

He struggled to remember what had happened before finding himself here. The fires in the room helped spark his memory. Ilyana. The fire sprites. Being trapped in a vase.

Nixie. The sprite that was bound to him and a prisoner in her own mind.

"N-Nixie?" Sam managed to gasp out, turning the word into a question with effort. He settled down, knowing it was useless to fight against his brother on a normal day with the differences between them. Now, with his energy gone and his body in pain, it would just make Sam waste energy he didn't have. Energy he couldn't afford to waste.

The skin between Dean's eyes crinkled. Sam was momentarily fascinated by the sight. As close as Dean was holding him to his face (bare inches away with how soft Sam's voice was in his pain), he could make out the movement of individual muscles under the skin as they tightened, something he'd never noticed before. The skin flattened out again as Dean's eyes flashed to the side, glancing at something out of his line of sight.

The hand lowered down, letting Sam see more of the room. Before he could try and struggle to see the rest of the room, it tilted, showing Bobby spraying the fire extinguisher on the last of the fires. Not far from the older hunter, Nixie was sitting on the coffee table, upright and motionless.

"I need to... I need to free her," Sam said, struggling again, more out of desperation this time. Why couldn't he move? Why did Dean have to hold him like this?

The truth slammed him in the face when he remembered how Ilyana died. What had happened to him in those short moments before he'd blacked out.

Fear surged in him. His legs wouldn't respond. His legs wouldn't respond because of the way he'd been thrown against the wall of the vase. Sam remembered hearing a crack! when he hit the vase. It could have been his body snapping back, but it also could have been... his spine.

He tried desperately to make his legs move. Anything, even the smallest millimeter. Nothing happened. Desperation switched to panic. If he lost his legs - that would be it. He'd become a constant burden on Dean, need help for the smallest, littlest thing. He couldn't even try to escape if anyone else found him.

He'd either have to stay with Dean constantly, either in a hand or a pocket - the shoulder would become too dangerous - or he'd have to go back and live with his adopted family again. He'd be a constant drain on resources. He wouldn't be able to do anything to help them. And if he stayed with Dean, it wouldn't be any better. He'd lose the freedom to do what he wanted. After everything they'd gone through to save him from those people, he'd be reduced to nothing better than a pet anyway. No matter how much he trusted or cared for his brother, Sam could never let himself to become a mere pet to be taken care of.

"Hey, calm down, pint-size," Dean said softly, noticing Sam's desperation down on his hand. "Don't worry, we'll figure this out." His eyes softened. "You did good, kid. You took her out and no one else got hurt, not even the other sprites. They all got to return home."

A finger gently propped Sam up in the palm as he was brought over to the prostrate sprite. "She still needs you, Sam."

Sam blinked away the sudden tears that were in his eyes. Yeah. He was still needed. He clung to that thought.

He could at least help one last person.

"Nixie..." Sam said softly. His voice was almost a whisper too low for Dean or Bobby to hear. "I release you... you're free."

There was a long pause before Nixie reacted to Sam's voice. Her eyes closed in a long, slow blink, as the white slowly leaked out of both eyes. A vibrant blue was visible the next time they opened, a smile on her lips as she spotted her two friends.

"Sam! Dean!" Her voice was bright, giving the dismal mood of the room a strange dissonance. Her empathic abilities began to catch on to the emotional storm around her even as she stood on the coffee table, her brow furrowing at Sam. "You hurt. You are injured."

There was no fear in her as she took to the air, briefly circling around Bobby to get a good look at him. Once the strange man and his flame-quencher were deemed to not be a threat, she flitted over to Sam.

Dean folded his hand so it was almost like Sam was sitting up to see her. She paid Dean no mind, as unafraid of the hunter as Sam was, and completely intent on the injured man.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Sam?" she asked with a soft, sad smile. One hand came to hover over his stomach, and another over his burned arm. Where his injuries lay.

He gave a pained laugh. "I guess I should have read the warning label about fighting a fire sprite. Even if you win, you still lose."

She cocked her head at him. "You speak of Ilyana, yes?"

Sam managed a nod, barely able to concentrate from the numbing pain.

Her hand brushed over his cheek, soft and light. "Hold on for a few minutes for me, okay?" she whispered to him.

With that, she flew up to Dean's eye-level, hovering a few inches out. "Where is my sister?" she asked gently. "Where is Ilyana?"

Dean turned, taking Sam with him on a confusing whirlwind of colors as the room shifted around him, everything beyond his control. Get used to it, Sam thought disparagingly, this is going to be what it's like for the rest of your life. No control, completely dependent... stuck with whatever Dean's doing. Wherever he's going.

Even though Sam knew Dean would never force him to do anything, it wasn't a good feeling to know he'd be helpless. Beyond helpless. Sam sighed, his shoulders slumping down.

Dean nodded in the direction of the ashes Ilyana had left behind for Nixie before glancing back down at Sam. "Hey," he said softly. "Don't worry about it. I've got your back, no matter what." A finger lightly brushed over Sam's hair, too nervous to risk putting any pressure on the injured hunter. "We'll figure it out like we always do. Something like this isn't going to change that."

"It's never been like this before, though," Sam mumbled. "It's never been me. Not like this."

Not like this.

To distract himself, he watched Nixie fly to the table. She knelt down next to the pile of ash, reaching out to it. Though her hands became black with soot, she dug through it, searching with a strange intensity on her face. She didn't stop until she pulled free a delicate, orange flower and cupped it in her hands. It was the adornment that Ilyana had worn and been so proud of.

"Flos vitae," Nixie murmured softly, just barely loud enough for Sam to make out from where he was. Then she kicked off the table, tucking it into her own hair. It stood out, a bright fiery orange against her soft black and blue hair.

She flitted up, hovering again so she was level with Sam, stretched out in Dean's hand. "Now, the healing may begin," she said simply.

"Healing? What do you mean, 'healing?' " Sam asked, brief hope fluttering in his chest.

She didn't answer at first. Her hand reached up, brushing the lily in her hair. When she spoke up, her voice was soft enough that Dean had to lean in to hear her, as desperate as Sam for the answer.

"All the sprites of Aeternum can heal themselves or their sisters with their element," was the reply, spoken with no more emphasis than a babbling brook. "But only water sprites can heal others." Her hair flicked from side to side as she took in the house around them. "There is a freshwater stream outside." Her eyes met Dean's solemnly. "Bring him there, and I can heal his ills. All physical injury."

Dean's eyes widened, meeting Sam's in shock. Hope surged in Sam at that. He could be healed... This nightmare in which he couldn't move would come to an end.

Bobby saw their reactions. "I'll finish takin' care of everythin' in here. You boys better get out there," he said, practically pushing the shellshocked hunters out the door. "Can't be wastin' time you don't have."

Dean almost stumbled as he followed Nixie, focusing on keeping his hand steady to the exclusion of everything else. Sam let himself relax as much as possible on the short trip, taking it all in. The seeds drifting on shallow air currents that ruffled Sam's hair steadily as they blew. Dean's body shielded him from the more powerful gusts. Birds were singing, crickets were chirping... it was such a deceptively peaceful afternoon Sam almost couldn't believe what they'd just been through such a short time ago.

The sound of water cascading over rocks began to grow in intensity. Dean tilted his hand when Sam tried to push himself up to see, letting his little brother catch sight of the small stream. Nixie hovered almost a foot over a flat pool that the water emptied into. Not even a ripple disturbed the still waters. It was an idyllic, peaceful scene.

She remained hovering, silent as Dean knelt down next to the small pool. He carefully stretched out the hand Sam was collapsed in out to Nixie, holding it over the glassy reflections.

Nixie drifted over until she was only a few inches from the hand. She smiled gently at them both, in tune with the tumult of emotions inside them. "You must place him in the water," she informed Dean. "With an injury like this, there is no other way. He must be immersed."

Dean gulped. "But... Sam can't swim like this. What if..."

He trailed off and her eyes softened. "I will not let him drown. You must trust me if this is to work."

Dean hesitated, but did as she asked. The cool water crept over Sam's body as he was lowered down, soothing his day-old burns even before the healing started. Nixie hovered over him, her body stretched out parallel to Sam's as Dean's hand vanished from under him with a sudden, frightening suction that Sam thought would take him down with it.

He struggled fruitlessly for a moment before Nixie's hands touched his face. "Sam. Calm yourself. I will not let you fall and Dean will watch over us both. You are safe here. This I promise." Her hand stroked his cheek. "This you know."

Sam tried. He really did. The water was surprisingly solid around him as he floated, holding him suspended in place. Dean loomed directly overhead from Sam's perspective, a living mountain of fabric and muscle and weapons. There was nothing more dangerous in the world to Sam and Nixie if Dean ever chose to hunt them, but here, in this life, there was no one safer for them to be with. Dean would guard against monsters and humans both.

Nixie continued to hover over him in that strange parallel of Sam's body even as he allowed himself to relax, drawn to her vibrant blue eyes. Her arms wrapped around him as she drew him into a kiss. This simple motion caught Sam completely off guard and he almost missed the moment they both slipped under the water.

She pulled him into the depths.

A/N

Ilyana~~ ;^; My little firecracker baby. Sweet little fire sprite (that tried to blow everyone up)

She just wanted to help her family. Her way was simply misguided.

Meanwhile, what's Nixie doing to Sam?! Not what he had planned for a first kiss!

Story concludes October 23rd. Check the tumblr for Ilyana art.