Piper was dozing in the backseat of Baby when they came to a halt in front of a diner. She blinked and looked around, listening to Dean and Sam.

"Hey, don't forget the extra onions this time, huh?" Dean said as he handed Sam some money.

Sam scoffed and glanced back at Piper. "Dude, we're the ones who are gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions." Piper laughed and Dean grinned.

Sam got out of the car, and before he could shut the door, Dean leaned toward him. "Hey, see if they've got any pie." Sam shut the door. Frowning, Dean shouted, "Bring me some pie!"

They watched Sam walk into the diner, comfortably silent. Things had gotten easier between them since Dean had taken Piper to bed after the movie. She was glad, he was one of her closest friends, she couldn't stand the distance between them.

The radio, which had been wailing Boston, became staticky. Dean reached down and fiddled with it. "What the hell?" The radio turned completely off.

Piper looked up at the diner, which was empty. She couldn't see Sam. "Hey."

He looked up as Piper was getting out of the Impala. She pulled her gun out of her jacket pocket and ran toward the diner, hearing Dean following her quickly behind.

Inside the diner, a customer was at a booth, face-down in a puddle of blood. The base of Piper's spine felt like a brick of ice. "Sam?"

Dean joined her in shouting as he walked around the bar to find the waiter, also dead, with his throat slit. "Sam?!"

Piper noticed a smear on the doorway. She sniffed it. "Hey, sulfur."

Dean started to panic. "Sam! Sammy!"

xxxxx

Piper was tense, fraying at the edges. She was trying to keep it together for Dean, whose panic was showing through.

They were standing on the side of the highway where Bobby had met them. They were poring over a map. Bobby was moving his hand across the map. "This is it. All demonic signs and omens over the past month."

Dean glared at him. "Are you joking? There's nothing here."

Bobby shrugged. "Exactly."

Dean ran his hands through his hair, breathing hard. "Well, come on, there's gotta be something. What about the, the, the normal, low-level stuff? You know, exorcisms, that kind of thing."

Piper put her hand on the small of Dean's back. "Come on, Dean, he's trying to help."

Bobby nodded. "That's what I'm telling you. There's nothing. It's completely quiet,"

Dean glared again, but didn't move away from Piper. "Well, how are we supposed to look for Sam? What, do we just close our eyes and point?"

Piper jumped as Dean's phone rang. The caller ID said it was Ash. He flipped it open. "Ash, what do you got? Hang on, let me put you on speaker." He did so, then held the phone between the three of them.

"Okay, listen, it's a big negatory on Sam-"

"Oh, come on, man!" Dean's panic was clear. Piper started rubbing small circles into his back. "You've gotta give us something. We're looking at a three thousand-mile haystack here."

Ash was more serious than Piper had ever heard him be. "Listen, Dean. I did find something."

"Well, what?"

"I can't talk over this line, Dean."

Dean threw his hands up in frustration, almost hitting Piper in the face. "Come on, I don't have time for this!"

"Make time, okay?" Ash snapped. "Because this-"

"What's up? What's going on?" Piper asked. Dean was starting to get to her.

"Not only does this almost definitely help you find your brother, this is… Ah, it's huge. So get here. Now." Ash hung up the phone.

Dean groaned in frustration as he flipped his phone shut. "I guess we're going to the Roadhouse." He looked at Piper and Bobby. "Come on," he snapped as he moved to the Impala.

Piper followed silently. Normally it upset her when Dean barked orders, but she understood that he needed that control. She would give it to him, if she could.

xxxxx

They pulled up to the smoking remains of the roadhouse. Piper launched herself out of the backseat before the car stopped, coming to a halt right before she would have been stepping in ashes. Dean followed her, watching her sink to her knees in grief, a low moan emitting from her throat.

They came to stand next to her. Dean placed a hand on the back of her head, and she leaned against his leg. "Oh, no…" she whispered through the hands that were covering her mouth.

"What the hell?" Dean muttered.

"Oh, my God." Bobby was surveying the damage.

Dean didn't have time to grieve. He was upset, he was devastated, but he needed to find Sam. "You see Ellen?"

Bobby shook his head, also switching to business mode. "No, no Ash, either."

"Oh, God, Dean…" Piper stood up and moved toward a pile of rubble. She pointed to what was clearly Ash's watch. Piper ran a few steps away from the burnt building and vomited.

Dean watched, upset and upset for her. "Oh, Ash, damn it!"

Piper joined them again, leaning against Bobby. "This is…"

Dean was starting to get mad, and he gave into the feeling. Anger was easier Anger he knew.

"What the hell did Ash know? We've got no way of knowing where Ellen is. Or if she's even alive. We've got no clue what Ash was gonna tell us. Now, how the hell are we gonna find Sam?"

Piper stood up and went to slip her hand into his, giving it a comforting squeeze. "We'll find him."

Pain shot through Dean's head. "Oh, God, Dean?" he heard Piper call as he doubled over in pain. His vision faded and came back on an old fashioned iron bell, then that faded too and he was looking at Piper's panicked face. "Dean?"

Bobby was standing next to them. "What was that?"

"I don't know. A headache?"

Bobby cocked an eyebrow. "You get headaches like that a lot?"

Dean shook his head, taking Piper's hand again. "No. Must be the stress. I could have sworn I saw something."

Piper's brow creased. "What do you mean? Like a vision? Like what Sam gets?"

Dean glared at her. What was she thinking? "What? No!" Her eyes stayed on him. He started to get mad at her again. "Come on, I'm not some psychic."

He heard himself cry out as the pain shot through his head again. He also heard Piper and Bobby calling out to him as he fell to his knees. His vision faded again, and he saw Sam in a dark, muddy town, then his vision came back.

Piper was touching his face. "Dean? Dean! Are you with me?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I saw Sam." He looked at them. "I saw him."

Bobby was kneeling next to them. "It was a vision."

He nodded. He was getting scared, which made him angrier. "Yeah. I don't know how, but yeah. Whew. That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels."

Piper was silent, watching his face and wringing her hands as Bobby questioned him. "What else did you see?"

"Uh… There was a bell."

"What kind of bell?"

Dean tried to concentrate. "Like a big bell with some kind of engraving on it, I don't know."

"Engraving?"

Dean nodded as he started to get up. "Yeah."

"Was it a tree? Like an oak tree?"

Dean nodded and leaned on Piper a little, his arm around her shoulders, her arm snaked around his waist. "Yeah, exactly."

Bobby paled. "I know where Sam is."

xxxxx

They were pulling up to the woods that Bobby had directed them to. "Look like the rest of the way is on foot," Bobby said nervously.

Dean got out and opened the trunk, pulling out guns to hand to Bobby and Piper. "Let's go."

Piper was starting to all-out panic. Her whole back felt like ice. "Guys, we need to hurry. Run," she said as she started running in the direction of the town.

xxxxx

Dean was shouting, time was moving in a blur as Piper ran. "Sam!"

They turned the corner to see Sam, and relief flooded through Piper. He was clutching his arm and stumbling, but he was alive and walking toward them. "Dean!"

Piper saw movement behind Sam and screamed. "Sam! Look out!"

The man behind Sam ran the knife through him. Sam started gasping, falling to his knees.

"No!" Dean's scream tore through Piper's heart as she ran, changing course to follow the man who had stabbed her best friend.

Dean slid to the ground in front of Sam, grabbing him as he started to fall forward. "Sam, come on, hey," Piper heard as she sprinted past them, shooting toward the fleeing man. She knew she wasn't going to get a good shot, she was moving too much, but she couldn't seem to stop pulling the trigger.

When he disappeared into the woods, she turned and almost ran into Bobby, who had followed. They both hurried back to the brothers sitting in the rain. Piper's heart stopped when she saw Dean's hand covered in blood. "Hey, look at me. It's not even that bad. It's not even that bad, all right? Sammy? Sam!"

Sam's gaze was losing focus, and he was slumping. "Hey, listen to me," Dean said desperately. Piper felt her tears start to fall silently. "We're gonna patch you up, okay? You'll be good as new. Huh? I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna take you care of you. I've got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain-in-the-ass little brother?" Dean's voice was cracking, and Piper let out a sob. "Sam? Sam! Sam! Sammy!"

Sam's eyes shut, and he fell forward limply. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no," Dean was chanting over and over, shaking Sam.

"Oh, God. Oh, God," Piper whispered as Dean shouted again into his brother's face.

"Sam!"

xxxxx

Dean was sitting in a chair next to the bed where Sam's body was. Piper sat against his shins, her arms wrapped around her knees. Dean's big hand was running along the back of her head, in what she assumed was an attempt to give comfort. It wasn't working.

It had been two days. Dean had hardly moved, and Piper refused to leave him alone here with Sam. They hadn't eaten very much, only what Piper had forced him to eat. He had been steadily drinking, offering it to Piper every so often. She accepted each time. It wasn't a time to be sober.

The door opened, but neither of them moved. Bobby came in. "Dean? Piper? Brought you guys some food."

"No, thanks. We're fine." Dean spoke for both of them. Piper hadn't found it in her to speak yet.

Her eyes hadn't left Sam since Dean had laid his body there. She was willing to let Dean take the lead as they grieved.

He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't. Piper was struggling to grasp that Sam would never smile again, never call her, "Pipe," never wrap his arm around her shoulders. How could that be true?

How could this be happening? She couldn't even imagine what Dean was going through. She sighed and settled more firmly against his shins.

"You should eat something." Bobby said gruffly.

"I said we're fine." Piper felt Dean's hand tighten at the back of her head. She heard the whiskey splash in the bottle, then he leaned down and offered it to her. She accepted and took a swig of her own.

There was a silence. Bobby was nervous. "Dean… Piper... I hate to bring this up, I really do. But don't you think maybe it's time... We bury Sam?"

Piper tensed, tears pricking her eyes. "No." Dean said with finality.

Bobby sighed. "We could… Maybe…"

Dean was deadly calm. "What? Torch his corpse? Not yet."

"I want you guys to come with me."

"We're not going anywhere."

Bobby seemed to realize that Piper wasn't going to speak. "Dean, please."

She felt Dean tense. She sat forward until she wasn't touching his shins anymore. She felt cold at the loss.

"Would you cut me some slack?" Dean snapped.

"I just… I don't think you guys should be alone, that's all. I gotta admit, I could use your help."

Dean snorted.

"Something big is going on. End of the world big."

Dean stood. "Well then let it end!" he bellowed. Piper flinched, but didn't make a sound.

She understood. If Sam wasn't in the world, what was the point? He was the best thing about the world. His laughter, his willingness to smile with her, his ability to make her feel important. There was nothing good in the world without Sam. So go ahead and let it end.

Bobby, however, was shocked. "You don't mean that."

Dean walked away. Piper turned and stood as she watched Dean get into Bobby's face. "You don't think so? Huh? You don't think I've given enough? You don't think I've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it. And if you know what's good for you, you'd turn around, and get the hell out of here."

Bobby stood there, shaking his head. Sensing the dangerous air about Dean, Piper came and stood next to him, putting her hand on his chest. "Dean, stop it," she said quietly. It was the first thing she had said in two days, and her voice rasped.

Dean looked down at her, breathing hard. Then, to Bobby, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, just go."

Bobby turned around and sighed. "You know where I'll be, kids."

Dean returned to his seat. Piper moved to sit in front of him, but stopped as he placed his hand on her hip. He slowly pulled her into his lap, her legs resting across his. She settled without saying a word, putting her arm around his shoulders and resting her head against his. She leaned forward and grabbed the bottle of whiskey.

It seemed incredible to her, but Piper was dozing. She had moved back down to her original seat so she could rest her head back on his knees. His hands were still running through her hair as he started to speak.

"You know, when we were little, and you couldn't been more than five," Piper realized he was speaking to Sam. "You just started asking questions. How come we didn't have a mom? Why do we always have to move around? Where'd Dad go when he'd take off for days at a time? I remember I begged you, 'Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't want to know.'" He paused, trying to control his emotions. Piper shifted and turned around, resting a hand on his knee.

He didn't look at her. "I just wanted you to be a kid... Just for a little while longer. I always tried to protect you... Keep you safe... Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I had one job... I had one job… And I screwed it up." He paused. "I blew it. And for that, I'm sorry." Piper watched as he slowly wiped a tear from his face.

"I guess that's what I do. I let down the people I love. I let Dad down. And now I guess I'm just supposed to let you down, too. How can I... How am I supposed to live with that?" He started to cry again. If Piper's heart hadn't already been broken, it would have done so then.

"What am I supposed to do? Sammy. God. What am I supposed to do?" He inhaled sharply and stood, the chair sliding across the room. "What am I supposed to do?!" he shouted at the silent room. Piper flinched.

He stood and walked to the other room. Piper stood and followed him slowly. "Dean?" she rasped.

He was putting his coat on. She stood in front of him, not touching him, searching his eyes. He didn't look at her. "Get out of my way, Piper."

"Where are you going?"

He met her eyes. "Get out of my way, Piper, I don't want to make you move."

His threat didn't scare her a bit. Dean would never lay a hand on her in violence. "Dean," she tilted her head, searching his face. He was giving nothing away. "Are you about to go do something stupid?"

He didn't respond, but kept her gaze.

"Is it something Sam would have wanted you to do?"

He glared at her. "Sam wants me to bring him back."

He tried to move around her, and she stepped into his path again. "Are you going to do something stupid to bring Sam back?"

"Piper, get the hell out of my way."

"Dean, please." She started to cry. "Are you going to tell me where you're going?" She inhaled and put her hand on his arm. "Are you going to make me lose both of you?"

He sighed. He put a hand behind her head and pulled her forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "Stay here with Sam, kitten. Don't let Bobby or anyone bury or burn him. I'll be back." He met her eyes, steely determination shining in their green depths. "I'm going to fix this, Piper."

He walked around her. Piper held it together until the Impala's engine roared. She buried her face in her hands and sank to her knees, sobbing for the first time in two days.

xxxxx

A/N: Hi, everyone! Here's my notes:

I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural, or the characters (heartbroken).

Reviews and comments give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.

If there are any mistakes in continuity, canon, or geography, blame me.