A/N: Okay, so I decided to add on. I didn't think I would, honest. This chapter may seem a little disconnected from the first one, but they will all fit together in the end. Trust me. This chapter is emotional and angsty. It consists of Dean's thoughts and observations. It might seem a little emotional for Dean, but honestly, Heart was a really emotional episode. This takes place after the episode Heart. I do not own any of the plots or characters of the television show Supernatural. Please give it a chance and review. It's not enough just to read it. I need your feedback! Honestly, the more reviews I get, the more motivated I am to write more. Reviews are so very important to me. A multitude of thanks to all my reviewers from last chapter! I hope you are as satisfied with this chapter as you were with the first.

Several weeks after his last meeting with Jo, Dean was in the driver's seat of his Impala. Sam was sleeping in the seat next to him as he often did. In all honesty, Dean didn't mind the lack of conversation. He had good music to listen to, and his mind was so preoccupied thinking over current events anyway. He was sick with worry for Sammy. Of course, he'd never let on.

Sam was feeling the results of their last hunt. It seemed like it would be a straight forward hunt. Find the werewolf and hunt it down. Piece of cake. The enthusiasm that Dean felt at the beginning of the hunt did not follow through to the end. Things were made more complicated when they realized that the werewolf was a woman who did not know that she left her home at night to hunt down innocent victims. Sam had tried to save her. He did all he could really. At that point there was already something between Sam and the woman. He had spent the night with her, thinking her to be cured. Sam was left with no choice but to kill the woman to whom he was close- very close, even. After all his joking and pushing Sammy finally found a woman.

Dean regretted all that now. He wished it had been him who spent the night guarding Madison. At the time, Dean thought it was right, that it would be a good experience for Sammy. This was besides the fact that he had a habit of always losing rock-paper-scissors to his younger brother. It was good for Sam to get over Jessica. You can't dwell in the past, Dean knew. Still, for Sam to have seen someone else die so soon after Dad, did a number on him. As if it weren't bad enough, she had the nerve to ask Sam to be the one who pulled the trigger. Madison, resigned to the idea that she had to be killed for the sake of the common good, handed the gun to Sam, asking him to end it.

Madison was sitting in the chair looking at Sam and Dean in turn. They had just told her that she was still a werewolf, that after they told her that she was in the clear, she had proved them wrong.

"I don't remember anything. I probably killed someone last night...didn't I?" she asked.

Dean decided to give her a vague answer even though he knew that her cause was hopeless. Sam tried to answer her but couldn't. He had enough trouble trying not to let the tears fall down his face. "There's no way to know yet."

"Is there something else we can try- to make it go away?" She asked Dean directly. Dean had to decide whether he would tell her the truth or give her false hope.

"We'll find something. I mean, there's got to be some answer...somewhere." Sam said it desperately, hoping against what he knew to be true. If there was any way, he'd find it for her...

Sam would have continued, but Dean cut him off, feeling obliged to tell her the entire truth. "That's not entirely true. Madison, you deserve to know. We've scoured every source... There's just no cure."

Shock filling her face, she looked to Sam and asked him earnestly, "Is...is he right?" Dean too looked to Sam to see what he would say. Instead of answering her, he looked down and then stood up, walking away so that she wouldn't see his face. Dean answered for him once he saw that Sam couldn't bring himself to say what he knew was true.

"We could lock you up at night, but you could bust out and some night you will...and someone else dies. I'm sorry, I am." Madison's eyes no longer looked for confirmation from Sam. She knew that Dean had told her what Sam couldn't. Her eyes glistened as she thought of what would have to happen. Sam looked to Dean, hoping to find some strength in his older brother, looking for some comfort.

Madison sighed. "So I guess that's all there is too it then," she said with confidence. Sam looked at her, shocked. He knew it was the only way, but to hear her say it made it seem so real. Suddenly with every ounce of his being he resisted it.

"Stop it! Don't talk like that!"

"Sam, I don't want to hurt anyone else," she paused. "I don't want to hurt you," she ended as tears ran down her cheeks. She looked up at him, the emotion shining in her eyes. Then looking down in front of her, she picked up the gun. Walking over to Sam, she offered it to him in a gesture of defeat.

"Put that down," he commanded gently, his jaw muscles clenching in an effort to remain in control of his emotions.

Madison took a deep breath. "I can't do it myself. I need you to help me," she said finally as she looked up at him woefully.

Still Sam refused to accept that this was how things had to be. "Madison...no..."

"Sam, I'm a monster."

"You don't have to be," Sam stated in a last attempt to change her mind. He desperately grabbed for any hope he could muster. "We can find a way, alright? I can. I'm gunna save you."

Madison closed her eyes as if to forget the look on Sam's face. Then she looked back up at him. "You tried. I know you tried. This is all there is left." Looking up at the face of the broken man in front of her, she pleaded with him, for her sake and for his. "Help me, Sam. I want you to do it. I want it to be you..."

Sam started breathing rapidly. He reacted stubbornly, his eyes hard as he looked directly at her. His voice was harsh and unrelenting. "I can't."

At this point tears were streaming down Madison's face as she thought about the life she'd had thus far and then the life that she would be forced to live. "I don't want to die. I don't. But I can't live like this." Sam began to breathe heavily. He could barely keep the tears back. He clenched his jaw, still inwardly fighting her words. This is the way you can save me. Please? I'm asking you to save me."

Just thinking back to that night was too painful. Dean didn't think that Sam would be able to do it, but he did. He took the gun from Dean, and went to do what he had to do- what he was asked to do- what he was raised to do. What made matters complicated was that this wasn't just a werewolf. This was a woman whom Sam cared about. She was a monster, but she was also a human being.

Sam, unable to deal with hiding his emotions from Madison any longer left the room. He had escaped from the situation for the moment. He stared at the wall ahead of him, no longer holding back all his pent up sadness and frustration. He heard someone behind him. Dean had followed him, and watched, incapable of doing anything to ease the situation. Madison would have to die, but maybe he could spare Sam the guilt...

"Sam..." he started. When Sam looked over at him, he continued. "I'm sorry," he offered as he motioned to the gun he was holding in his hand.

"No, you're right. She's right," he said tearfully, nodding as he accepted what he had to do.

"Sammy, I've got this one," Dean nodded. "I'll do it."

Sam looked at his brother desperately. "She asked me to..."

"You don't have to," Dean told him firmly, looking at his brother, willing to take his place.

Sam shook his head. "Yes, I do." He paused and bit his lip. Gathering all the courage that was left in him, he reached out for the gun. "Please." Tears still coursing down his scratched cheek, he waited for Dean to relent. "Just wait here," he finally commanded as he received the gun. Making his way to the door, he paused and looked back at his big brother. Giving him one last look, his body shaking with kept-in sobs, he finally left the room. Dean was left to watch the place from which Sam had left, several tears escaping from his eyes as well. When he heard the gunshot, he winced.

After cleaning up after everything that had taken place the previous days, they left Madison's house, ready to leave the past behind. Although Dean felt sorry for the way it all had to turn out, he felt sorry most for Sam, who blamed himself for not being able to save Madison. After they left, they looked for a hotel room. For the next day, Dean let Sam have his space, knowing that he was dealing with his grief. He never expected to see Sam eager and ready to go hunt again. Sam wanted to make Dean think that everything was okay, and maybe Sam wanted to believe it himself too.

Now the youngest Winchester was in a mood where he didn't laugh or cry when he was in Dean's company. When he woke up in the morning, Dean could see the redness around his eyes. He could hear the sadness in Sam's voice when his mind was left to wander and was suddenly brought back to reality by one of Dean's questions. Even though Sam didn't talk about Madison, Dean knew he thought about her plenty. The older brother tried to make small talk and failed miserably. Rather than talk about his feelings, Sam avoided discussion of the past few days altogether. If he were his usual weepy Sammy self, Dean could handle it. He would give him his earnest look and tell him that everything would be fine. But Sam wouldn't talk about what was bothering him. He was acting like- well, like Dean.

This was Sam's fault really. Dean shook his head. Sam let people get too close. He cared about things too much. Dean learned the lesson young not to get too attached to people who would leave, to things that would be lost. At the same time, Dean felt responsible. He could have kept Sammy from all this pain. He should be able to fix this. His Dad had always put Sam in his care. As older brother, it was his job to make his younger brother think that everything would be alright, even if he had to lie. He would always be there to pick up the pieces. There were a lot of pieces to be picked up recently. A lot of missing pieces, Dean thought to himself.

For some reason, he and Sam had been faced with so much. They had lost everyone close to them. Why? Because of the demon. It was as if destiny had placed her hand on them. They couldn't get away from hunting, and if they tried, everything they had built up away from hunting would be torn down and destroyed. If they got too close to people they would get hurt. If they tried to get away from the family business, they would get brought back in again. This was the Winchester way. Sam had tried to get out of it, and now, Dean wished for Sam's sake that he had. Dean himself knew that he would always be a hunter as long as there were things to hunt. It was in his blood, and he actually liked it. He didn't get attached to victims as Sam did. He found what was evil and put an end to it. It was for the greater good. What broke Dean was seeing Sam hurt.

As Dean drove down the back road, leaving a trail of dust behind him, he stared straight ahead. There was nothing but miles and miles ahead of him. It gave him time to think...too much time. Dad, why can't you be here now and fix this- fix Sammy? He asked himself this question often now. He looked over to his right. Sam was still sleeping there quietly, hair askew and mouth slightly open. His lanky frame was stretched out, showing that he was really too tall to sleep comfortably. A sleeping Sam didn't bother Dean, as long as he didn't drool on the upholstery. If sleep helped him, Dean would let him sleep.

As his eyes traveled back to the road ahead of him, he noticed that his cell phone was flashing. He grabbed at it quickly, fumbling to get it open. He was too late- missed call. Damn it. He looked through the menus to find out who was calling him as his cell phone informed him that he had a message in his voice mail. He held the phone up to his ear as he waited to hear the message. When he had heard the end of it, he hung up quickly. His jaw set in determination, his eyes showing anger. Pulling over to the side of the road suddenly, he came to a halt. Change of plans.

A/N: Now go and review!