Everything stopped moving. Everything just froze. For this one immeasurable moment, Sam Winchester's world teetered in the space between disaster and salvation. And the key to it all was standing on the cold grass of this graveyard in Nebraska, not moving. Frozen.

And then, just like that, the world started up again.

"Leave," Dean growled, spinning suddenly towards the King of Hell. Crowley took an immediate step back, eyeing the First Blade. Sam remembered how to breathe.

"Come on now..." Crowley said, raising his hands slightly in a show of surrender.

"Go. Go now before I rip your goddamn throat out," Dean threatened, carving out a pattern in the air with the Blade.

Crowley hesitated a second longer, his calm demeanor now replaced with something close to fury as he looked back and forth between the Winchesters.

"Suit yourself," was all he said before he disappeared.

Dean only hesitated for half a second before he all but dove towards Sam, the First Blade slipping from his grasp as he knelt down beside his brother, his still-shaking hands immediately scanning Sam over for injury and stopping at the broken leg. Sam hissed at the contact, but Dean's touch was gentle as he helped prop Sam up into a better position against the gravestone at his back and immediately went to work assessing the damage.

Neither brother spoke for a long time. Dean scurried back and forth, running to find the materials he needed to make a splint, then kneeling back down next to his brother and fitting it against his leg. He wouldn't look at Sam, his eyes determinedly fixed on the task at hand. Sam watched him work, noticing the way Dean's hands still shook, the way his eyes couldn't help but skitter off every few minutes towards where the First Blade lay on the ground. He never made a move for it, but Sam could see his desire to.

"Dean.." Sam started to say the moment Dean had finished with the splint and run out of things to do. But Dean spoke over him.

"We gotta get that looked at," he said, gesturing to the makeshift splint and still not looking Sam in the eye. He spoke quickly, his tongue tripping over the words. "Hospital shouldn't be far, we just gotta get you to the car and then we'll get you a proper cast or whatever you need and then we gotta call Cas and tell him about...all this and we have to..."

He paused, dropping his head.

"I..I'm so sorry," he said, finally raising his eyes to meet Sam's. He sat back against his heels, fingers pulling at the tall grass that surrounded them, scattering the blades in the soft breeze as he rocked back and forth. "I'm sorry," he said again.

"Dean it's okay," Sam replied, resting a hand on Dean's shoulder and squeezing hard. He kept it there, his fingers digging deep into the folds of his brother's jacket, determined not to let Dean slip from his grasp. Not ever again. Dean sucked in a breath at the contact and stopped rocking, instead reaching to run a hand through his hair. He reached for Sam next, but didn't dare lean in for an embrace just yet, his own fingers instead snagging onto the sleeve of his little brother's jacket like it was a lifeline. He was still trembling, Sam noticed, his breaths coming fast and shallow, head bent low.

They sat like that for a moment, both reveling in the solidity of what they held onto. And then Dean was moving again, helping Sam get slowly to his feet. Even after they were both standing (Sam on one leg), Dean didn't let go.

"Can you..."

"I can walk," Sam said. "Just help me."

Dean nodded, but then his eyes drifted back to the First Blade, barely visible in the tall grass just a few feet away.

"We can't leave it," Sam said matter-of-factly. Dean nodded again, releasing his grip on Sam momentarily and bending to pick it up. He shoved it into Sam's hands without a word, his grip immediately finding Sam's arm again and taking most of his weight.

The walk back to the Impala was slow, with Sam leaning heavily against his brother. Dean's right hand never loosened, and his steps never faltered. Despite all this, Sam's leg was throbbing painfully by the time they got there, and he slid gratefully into the passenger seat, trying not to let his gasp of pain be heard. Dean heard it anyway, and he glanced sympathetically down at his brother before shutting the door and making his way around to the other side of the car. He climbed in, the door creaking behind him as he closed it. He let out a breath, keys digging into the palm of his hand, not making a move towards the ignition yet.

And then he looked at Sam.

"What the hell are we gonna do now?" he asked, his gaze landing deliberately on the First Blade clutched in Sam's hands before looking up to meet his brother's eyes.

Sam sighed, leaning his head back against the familiar leather seat. He was a mess, he realized. They both were.

Dean could still feel a thin layer of Abaddon's blood slowly drying on his face, and he reached a hand up to try to wipe a little more of it away, his hands coming away slathered in red. Luckily the shaking had subsided enough to allow Dean to drive, and he leaned forward to slide the key into the ignition, somewhat calmed by the familiar rumble of the Impala. But he could still feel the strong urge to grab the Blade from his brother's grip, to find something else, anything else, and just start slashing. The desire was somewhat muted now, seemingly controlled by an even stronger impulse to take care of the enormous man sitting next to him. An impulse that had been ingrained in him since he was four years old, had become second nature. That man let out a sharp laugh, loud and sudden, and Dean jerked up to read his little brother's expression, confused. Sam just shook his head, rolling his head to face Dean full-on.

"We do what we always do," he said simply, his eyes shining.

"We keep going."

This was originally intended to be the last chapter, but I do realize that there are several loose ends that still need to be tied up. If you are interested, I can post more (I've been working on some epilogue-type stuff) but I'm not sure how soon it will be ready. Thank you so much for all of your kind reviews and for reading this far along- and definitely let me know if you'd like to see a little more from this story and I can try to end it a little more fully. Otherwise, until next time!