"I've been looking up to you since I was four, Dean. Studying you, trying to be just like my big brother. So yeah, I know you. Better than anyone else in the entire world."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sam reckoned he was truly becoming emo in his old age, for when Dean shuffled into the kitchen that morning in his bathrobe and slippers, the words he'd once thrown years ago at his sibling came to mind.

Growing up, he'd regarded his big brother as a hero and wanted to be exactly like him.

As an adult, he comprehended that Dean wasn't the superhero he'd worshipped as a kid, he was more than that, he was human, with all the faults, frustrations, hopes and dreams of all humans, just as Sam himself was.

Yet those weaknesses only made Dean seem even more heroic to him and Sam understood that he'd forever be that hero-worshiping little brother and that Dean would always be the protective big brother that he was.

:

'You moping again, Sammy?'

'No, just remembering old times.'

'Huh,' Dean said, taking a seat opposite his sibling. 'Those were the days. When all we had to worry about were demons and monsters, not freaking god himself.'

'Yeah. You know Chuck's going to torture and humiliate us until the end, don't you?'

A nod. 'I know. He has all the shots to call and we have none. He can do anything he wants. Erase us from history, if it suits him. All he has to do is write a chapter where we were only a dream of some geeky fan of horror movies. Easy as that!'

'Do you really think he'd do it, Dean?' Sam asked, his voice low and worried.

'He's an asshole, Sam. I think he's up for anything where we're concerned. Anyhow, I'd rather take that than give in to this obsession he has about one of us killing the other.'

Sam intercepted his brother's gaze. ' I'm not going to kill you, Dean, not ever and… his tone grew hard….for no fucking reason!'

'Amen to that Sammy,' Dean replied in all seriousness. ' We don't kill each other, ever.'

'Not even to save the Earth?'

'Not even to save the Earth, cos we've no guarantee Chuck would keep his word anyway. He wants to take all the credit for making us what we are, reducing us to incompetent idiots who are less than zero without his benevolence.'

:

'Dean,' Sam added hesitantly. ' Do you think he made us like this too?'

'You mean handsome and cute? Nah, that was mom and dad's contribution.'

'No, Dean,' Sam huffed. 'I meant…that we...are kinda…co-dependent? You know!'

Dean's smile was wide and cocky. 'No, Sammy. How we feel comes from the heart and soul, from growing up together in crappy motel rooms, huddled close for warmth and companionship, forged by fear and hope in something better.'

Sam's eyes misted over. 'Whatever happens, Dean. There's no-one else I'd have wanted as my brother. Chuck can't take that away from me.'

'Well, technically, he can,' Dean replied. 'He can do anything.'

:

At his brother's words, Sam pushed back his chair and got up. 'Don't...! Never say that!'

'Hey!' Dean circled the table and grabbed his sibling, pulling him into a hug. 'All that matters is this moment, dude. Right now. You and me, holding on to each other. I don't know what the future will bring. Chuck can do his worst but we'll still have this; we'll still have loved each other.'

Dean held on tight as the younger man burrowed his face in his big brother's neck, letting Sam get it all out.

He had no certainties for the future, it all rested in the hands of a capricious deity, but Chuck would never have what Dean had now. A little brother called Sam, safe and warm in his arms.