Warnings: Character death, language, violence. It's gonna be very emotional
Cas looked over at Bobby as he drove the Impala towards Free America. Lisa was right behind them in the Pinto. She had offered to let Bobby drive it, but there was no way he could, not after everything with Rufus. Cas studied the features on his friend. Crowley, Jimmy, and Jo were in the backseat, all silent. Cas sighed after a moment.
"Stop the car." Cas said. Bobby slowed the car. They were still hidden from the main road, driving backroads. Soon, both cars stopped. Benny and Dean had gotten handheld radios from Cain and were using them to talk back and forth to each other.
"What's going on?" Benny's voice echoed throughout the Impala. Cas picked up the handheld device.
"I can't just leave them back there." He said. Crowley leaned forward in the backseat. Jimmy and Jo looked at each other. "You guys can go ahead. I'm going back for Sam and Dean."
"That's suicide!" Bobby said. "We've already lost enough people…"
"They're my friends." Cas explained. He grabbed his gun from the space between him and Bobby and made a move to get out of the car.
"Balls." Bobby groaned under his breath. "Cas wait." Cas stopped and looked at Bobby. He turned around in his seat to look at Crowley, Jimmy, and Jo. "You three can go squeeze into the Pinto if you want. I'm going to with Cas to get the Winchester's."
"No way." Jimmy said.
"In for a penny, in for a pound." Crowley said with a shrug.
"I owe Sam my life. He saved me. So going to save him is the least I can do." Jo said. Cas settled back into his seat. Bobby grabbed the mic.
"Benny, Lisa, we're going to get Sam and Dean." Bobby said into the walkie talkie.
"Are you guys insane?" Benny asked. Bobby smirked some. He looked in the rearview mirror at Jimmy, Jo, and Crowley. He looked over at Cas. They all shared smiles with him.
"Just a little bit yeah." Bobby said. He didn't even have to hear it to know that Benny was sighing.
"The girls all said we're going too." Benny told them. "Let's go get our boys." Bobby smiled and turned the car, flying back towards Calumet.
"There's refugees." Jo said as they headed towards the town. She knew a lot of these people. Some of those kids she babysat from time to time. "Let me out."
"Jo…" Bobby said.
"Do it." She said. Bobby sighed and stopped the car. Jo jumped out and ran over to a discarded truck. He could hear some of the people telling her it was broken, but soon enough, it fired up.
"Come with us if you want to live!" She called out to the people. They all looked at each other before loading the truck. Jimmy got out to stand in the back and defend the people there.
"Joanna Beth!" A woman called out. Jo turned to see her mother standing amongst the group of refugees. She had left Cain's place to find Jo and ended up in a POW camp. The last one liberated by the Hunters.
"Mama!" Jo called out, running to Ellen and hugging her.
"Baby, what are you doing here?" She asked, holding her daughter. "You need to get out of here!"
"I can't." Jo said. Ellen looked down at her. "My friends are in trouble. We have to go save them." Ellen looked around and saw neither Sam nor Dean among the group.
"Those Winchester boys are going to drive me crazy." Ellen said. Jo smiled.
"Yeah, but they sure do save a whole hell of a lot of people along the way." Jo told her. Ellen nodded and climbed into the cab of the truck with Jo.
"We ready?" Bobby called out. Jo gave him a thumb's up. The convoy made their way to Calumet then. Ready to save the Winchester's.
Dean thought he heard a gunshot off to the left of him, but there were all kinds of gunshots around these parts. But what followed he didn't hear normally.
"Ah!" Sam called out. Dean turned to see his brother fall off the side of the train. Every single fear Dean could think of was going through his mind as he jumped off the train and rolled. He crawled over to where Sam was, but he didn't even have a chance to check his brother over. Their cover was coming to an end. Dean grabbed Sam under the armpits and pulled him behind large crates of ammo. He noticed red in the snow as he pulled him.
"Sammy…" Dean said softly, patting his brother's cheek. Sam's eye fluttered open and he looked up at Dean.
"H-hurts." Sam whispered. Dean didn't even have to ask where. It was obvious by the red spot on Sam's chest. Dean's hands were shaking as he gently got Sam to sit up.
"Let me look at ya." He said, feeling around to Sam's back. The bullet had gone through, causing who knew how much damage along the way. It obviously hadn't pierced the heart, or Sam wouldn't be there to talk to him.
"Dean…" Sam whispered. Dean heard the footsteps behind him. He spun around, pistol pointed at the intruder. He kept himself between Sam and Sang-jun.
"I've waited a long time to meet you." Sang-jun said, aiming his gun at Dean. "I'm glad I'll be the one to kill the leader of the infamous Hunters."
"Fuck you." Dean growled. He saw Sang-jun's trigger finger itching to pull it, and just as he was about to, a shot rang out from behind him. He fell to the ground, the back of his head blown open. "That was anti-climatic." Dean said. He looked up to see Cas standing there, lowering his gun. "Cas?"
"I couldn't leave you two behind." He said. He raced over to Sam. "Oh shit."
"C-Cas…" Sam said. He was shivering from the cold.
"The others are waiting for us. We have some people we're getting out of here. Jo has them in a truck. But we need to go now." Cas said. Dean nodded and went to Sam to pick him up, but Sam weakly pushed him away.
"Not gonna make it…" His soft voice said. "Leave me."
"Don't say that." Dean growled. He carefully hefted his brother into his arms. "We're getting out of here together, okay?"
Cas led the way, keeping his gun up and ready for anyone who jumped them. But the town was eerily quiet. The couple people they saw took one look at Sam in Dean's arms and completely looked the other way.
"Dean…" Sam whispered, his eyes started to drift closed. Dean shook him a little, making him open his eyes.
"Hey, just keep 'em open for me." Dean said. "We're almost there. We'll get you bundled up in baby and get you to safety, okay?"
"Remember the Grand Canyon?" Sam asked, sounding more like a sleepy toddler than anything. "You were on a gassy donkey."
"How the hell do you remember that?" Dean asked, shaking his head some. Cas had a smile on his face as he heard the interaction between the brothers. This was what they were fighting for.
"D-De…" Sam looked up at Dean with glazed eyes. "I love you jerk."
"I love you too bitch." Dean said, keeping an eye out for an ambush. Sam rested his head against Dean's chest and closed his eyes. Just a couple minutes of sleep… "Hey, think about this. Once we get to the cars and get to Free America, I'll get you all fixed and I'll find someone that makes those smoothies you like. How's that sound?" But Sam didn't answer. "Sammy?" Dean asked, looking down at his brother, asleep in his arms. "Sammy, wake up!" Dean said. He stopped at a park bench and laid Sam down on it.
"Dean?" Cas asked. Dean was shaking his brother, but Sam was limp.
"Sammy, hey! Wake up! No time for sleeping!" Dean said, trying to get his brother to wake up but he knew it wasn't happening. Tears were streaming down his face as Dean realized he had lost the last of his family. "Sammy…come back…"
"Dean…we have to go." Cas said. Dean glared at Cas then.
"I can't leave him here!" Dean snapped. Cas took a step back from him. He had seen Dean mad, shit faced, pissed off, and a whole other spectrum of emotions. But this Dean was almost demonic. "I promised him I would protect him."
"Dean, we have to go. You…bring him with you. They're on our tail. We have to go now." Dean sighed and nodded. He carefully picked Sam up and cradled him against his chest. He followed along behind Cas to where the vehicles set. Jimmy and Crowley jumped out of the car as Dean approached.
"Sam?" Lisa asked, staring at Dean. "Oh god no…" Ruby's eyes were wide as she watched Sam's arm dangle from where Dean was carrying him. He climbed into the backseat and pulled Sam in with him. Crowley moved to the front seat with Bobby and Cas, while Jimmy went to the Pinto.
It was silent, except for Dean softly singing to Sam's body as they made their way towards Free America.