Summary: One trial symptom over and already they have to deal with another one?

Warnings: Mild language. Massive brotherly fluff. Probably a stomach clenching scene. You might cry, you've been warned.

Author's Note: Plot lines are thickening. Introduction of another character that will be a main. I also changed when Kevin makes his "Kevin freakin' Solo" comment. It actually takes place in 9.02 but I have it happening earlier. Just sometime during Season 8 instead, nothing more specific than that. I just really wanted to use that name. Review please :)

Breathe

Sam woke up to an ache in his back and a chill seeping through his clothes. He blinked and frowned as he realized he wasn't in his bedroom or even in Dean's. He rolled his head slightly and found he was lying in the hallway between their bedrooms. Why was he in the hallway? He shifted and felt a blanket move over his body, felt what was definitely not a pillow move under his head. It wasn't a pillow but he had used it as one more often than he could remember. So why was he in the hallway using his big brother as a pillow?

"Sam?" he heard Dean say quietly above him before a hand touched the back of his head. "You awake?"

"Mhm," Sam murmured. "Why we in the hallway?"

"You decided it was a good bed," Dean said, still brushing his hand through Sam's hair.

"Why?"

"You had a fever, started hallucinating," Dean said.

Sam frowned, trying to remember. He had flashes of fire and Dean and Lucifer, and he shivered. Dean rubbed his arm through the blanket at the movement.

"Okay?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, just remembered what happened."

"What did happen?"

Sam turned his head and buried his face in Dean's thigh. "Lucifer," he mumbled. "Thought he was back or that I was still in the Cage."

Dean continued rubbing his arm. "You're okay, Sammy. You're out and I'm here."

Sam couldn't help but smile against Dean's leg. "I know," he whispered.

They were quiet for a while with Sam still lying on Dean and Dean rubbing his arm and hair. It reminded Sam of when they were kids, when sleeping in the same bed had been common and comfortable. Well, not that it had ever stopped being comfortable. Just because he had grown up, it didn't mean he didn't still get his best sleep when cuddled up to his big brother. There was just no way in hell he would ever be found admitting it.

"Think you're good to get up?" Dean eventually asked. "I gotta make supper and then Kevin's got a movie waiting for us."

Sam made himself roll so he was on his back, looking up at Dean. Dean's hand on his arm simply moved over Sam's body to rest casually on his little brother's chest.

"What?"

"Kevin said he wanted to have a movie night," Dean said, drumming his fingers absently on his brother's chest. "Said we should have a night to just forget about everything and relax."

"Really?" Sam said and Dean nodded. "Good idea. What movie?"

"Don't know. Told him to pick."

Sam smiled at a memory. "I think I might know what movie he'll pick."

Dean gave him a questioning look while absently pushing hair out of Sam's eyes.

"Dude, remember?" Sam said. "He's 'Kevin freakin' Solo'."

Dean barked out a laugh as he, too, remembered. "Oh, that kid. I think we should make him a T-shirt that says that."

Sam chuckled. "Christmas."

Dean looked at him in surprise. "You want to do Christmas?"

Sam shrugged the best he could in his position. "Maybe. I mean, it's still a while away but maybe."

Dean smiled at him and then the smile turned kind of sad as his hand left Sam's hair to touch his own chest. Sam felt his own expression fall as he realized what Dean was thinking about. He clenched his jaw against the ridiculous tears that wanted to come forth and started to slowly sit up. Dean immediately reacted to his movement and helped. Eventually Sam was sitting up and facing Dean, now sitting in between Dean's legs.

"Sam," Dean said and Sam looked at him through his bangs. "I'm really sorry about the amulet. I never should've gotten rid of it. Hell, I shouldn't have even given it to Cas."

Sam looked down again, picking at strings on the blanket still covering his legs. "It's fine. It was a while ago and it was just a necklace."

"It wasn't just a necklace," Dean said. "It was...it was...us, you know? It was our...bond, our brotherhood...and I threw it away."

"Dean..."

Dean stopped him. "In Heaven, it wasn't me you were getting away from in those memories, was it? It was Dad. And even though I'm sure the Angels screwed with them and us, I remember the ending of those memories. Each one ended with me and you together for a while before Dad came, even Stanford because I drove you to the bus station."

"Those weren't my favourite memories, not by a long shot," Sam said. "I did see my favourite memories but not then, not in Heaven."

"When?"

Sam looked him straight in the eye. "In Stull Cemetery."

Dean blinked in surprise. "What?"

"We've never talked about that day," Sam said.

"For good reason."

"Maybe we should. Have you never wondered how I managed to take control?"

"No," Dean said immediately. "You did it because you're Sammy and you're strong, and, even though I despised the plan, I knew you had a shot. No one else thought so but I knew. I knew you could do it."

Sam's eyes brightened with tears. "It was because of you. Well, that army man in the ashtray."

Dean frowned in confusion.

"I saw that toy and every single moment of my life with you flashed by. I saw you and took control."

"Me, but I—"

"I saw all my happiest and favourite memories, and they all involved you," Sam said. "I saw my favourites, just not with you."

"What's your number one?" Dean asked. "Mine was that Fourth of July where we lit all those fireworks in that field."

Sam chuckled. "We almost burned the entire field to the ground."

Dean laughed. "It was great."

"There was this one time. It was after you came back from Hell. We somehow found time to drive to a field so we could watch the stars like we used to. We actually lay back on the Impala and just stared at the sky. We don't usually lie on the Impala, just sit. We laid down more when we were kids and I'd had a nightmare or something. There was something about it this time. With everything that was happening and we could still do that. That's my favourite," Sam said and then looked away almost shyly.

"Sammy," Dean whispered and reached out to pull Sam into a hug. He silently cursed the Angels for screwing with them so badly. Sure they had done their own things to screw with their relationship but it was all amplified by the angelic manipulations they faced. And this was yet another reason why he didn't care what happened to the Angels—except Cas—because they had never done anything good for him. He refused to help them just to give them more power and incentive to drive him and Sam apart.

"I'm sorry about the necklace," Dean mumbled.

"Me too," Sam said.

"Hey, uh, Dean?"

The brothers pulled back when they heard Kevin and looked up to see him poking his head in the hallway. He didn't even react to the fact that they were sitting on the hallway floor and hugging as though they were teenage girls.

"What's up, Kev?" Dean said.

"I'm hungry."

Sam laughed at the blunt statement and Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Then go eat," Dean said pointedly even though he knew what the kid was getting at.

Kevin shifted, revealing that little part of him that was still the awkward advanced placement high school student.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got it. Get in the kitchen, right?"

"You are the cook in this place," Sam said. "You've already banned me from the kitchen."

"Dude, you made a pan catch on fire trying to cook bacon."

"It splattered and then there was fire. That was not my fault."

"Sure, Sammy."

Sam scowled at him, making Dean laugh.

"Cooking takes practice, kiddo," Dean said, pushing himself to his feet and reaching down to help Sam. "I've been cooking basically my whole life."

"I don't think what you did when we were kids counted as cooking," Sam said, slowly getting his feet under him again. "It mostly consisted of Lucky Charms, canned soup, and Spaghetti O's."

Dean shrugged. "You figure things out as you try. Good?" He lightly held Sam's elbow while his brother got his balance then let go when Sam nodded. "Besides, once I started to get money I was able to buy real food sometimes."

Sam conceded that point. "I remember once, I was around fourteen. We were on our own for three weeks. You bought steaks and snuck into the neighbour's yard to use their barbeque."

"Hey, I got you a steak," Dean said. "Made you salad, too, if I remember."

Sam smiled. "You did."

"Okay, either stop talking about steaks or get in the kitchen and make some," Kevin interrupted impatiently with a small whine in his voice.

Dean rolled his eyes again and shoved Kevin's shoulder to get him moving with them towards the kitchen. Kevin protested and punched Dean's shoulder only to have the hunter wrap an arm around his neck and drag him to the kitchen that way, ignoring the Prophet's struggles. Sam followed behind, laughing as someone else became Dean's target the way he usually was.

"Dean!" Kevin whined.

Kevin frowned as something in the computer control room caught his eye when he walked by, heading for the library. He walked into the huge room, automatically looking up at the door to ensure it was closed and approached the large map. His face morphed into confusion as he spotted the large feather resting innocently on the map. It was large, about the size of a swan feather, and pure white with shiny gold along the edges and in the center along the shaft.

It was honestly beautiful...but where had it come from?

He looked at where the feather had apparently landed on the map. The end of the shaft was sitting directly on Colorado.

He gazed around the room as though there would be something to tell him where the feather had come from. Biting his lip in thought, he slowly reached out and let his fingertips just barely touch the feather. When nothing happened, he grabbed the shaft and pulled it off the map. The gold seemed to glow as he stared at it.

Still confused and staring at the feather, he left the room to find one of the Winchesters. He found Sam first in the hunter's bedroom. He was just lying in his bed, curled under the blankets. He hadn't left his bed or room all day, feeling too exhausted to even move. He had managed to stay awake the night before as they watched the first two Star Wars movies, even participating in shouting 'Kevin freakin' Solo' every time Han Solo appeared on the screen. Kevin had blushed in embarrassment at first but then proceeded to burst into laughter every time after that. It appeared that the exhaustion was just another sudden symptom of his 'trial trauma', as Dean had come to call it.

"Hey, Sam," he said and Sam moved just enough to be able to see his company.

"Hey," Sam mumbled.

"Where's Dean?"

"Food...or bathroom...don't remember," Sam said and Kevin nodded. The guy really did sound tired as though he hadn't slept for a week. "What's going on?"

"Oh, I found this," Kevin said, walking closer so he could show Sam the feather. "It was sitting on the map."

He saw Sam look at it in confusion and then slowly make himself sit up. Once leaning back against pillows and the headboard, his eyes closed for a few moments as though he could fall asleep right there but they eventually opened again. He reached out for the feather and Kevin released it to him. He turned it over and looked closely at it, running fingers over the gold edges.

"Feels familiar," Sam muttered and Kevin's eyebrows furrowed at the comment that made no sense. "Think it's an Angel feather."

Kevin's eyes widened. "You think it might be Cas?"

"It could be," Sam said, still examining the feather, "but I don't think it is. It's someone else. Can't think of who."

"How did it get in here?" Kevin said. "Isn't this place warded against...everything?"

Sam looked up at Kevin, thoughtful. "It should be. We should...check...the sigils...and warding."

Kevin gave him a concerned look when it seemed Sam was having a hard time breathing. It was as though the older man couldn't draw a full breath despite trying.

"Um, Sam? Are...are you okay?" Kevin said, watching the hunter.

Sam had dropped the feather and had a hand on his chest. His eyebrows had come together in his own confusion as he tried to figure out why he suddenly couldn't breathe. He tried to take a deep breath but his chest hitched painfully and refused to oblige. He began to feel true fear as it settled in that he could not breathe properly. His eyes flew to Kevin.

"Get...get...De...Dean," he gasped out.

Kevin hesitated for just a moment, not wanting to leave Sam when he couldn't breathe but also knowing he had to get help. He cast Sam a worried glance before racing from the bedroom to find Dean.

"Dean! Dean!" he yelled, sliding down the hallways and around corners in his rush to find the older brother. He was just flying around the corner to the kitchen and dining room when he smacked into a solid body. He would've flown back and fallen to the floor had Dean's hand not shot out and grabbed his shoulder to stop him. He clutched at Dean's arm to help keep himself standing.

"What's wrong?" Dean demanded.

"It's Sam," Kevin said and Dean was already running back to the bedroom. The Prophet followed quickly, arriving in the bedroom in time to see Dean sit close to Sam on the bed.

"Sam, look at me," Dean said, framing Sam's face with his hands.

Kevin moved closer and around the bed so he could see both brothers. Sam was still gasping for breath and it seemed to have gotten worse in the few seconds he had been alone. His breaths were a little shorter and his chest was hitching with each one. Sam's face had paled and Kevin wondered if he was imagining the minute tinge of blue touching Sam's lips.

"Sammy," Dean said, forcing his brother to meet his eyes. "You gotta slow it down, man. You're fine, just calm down."

Sam tried to obey. He kept his fearful gaze on Dean and was grasping his brother's arms tightly to ground him. His eyes watered as he quickly realized nothing was helping and as his lungs began to burn for more oxygen.

"De...can't..."

He saw Dean's eyes flash with emotion before he moved. Dean carefully leaned Sam forward and situated himself behind his little brother. He stretched his legs on either side of Sam's body and pulled Sam back to lie against his chest. He wrapped his arms around Sam, placing his palms on Sam's chest.

"You're fine, Sammy, just take it easy," Dean said. "Try to match my breathing. We've done this before. You know what to do. Just focus and take it easy."

Kevin moved and carefully sat at the foot of the bed. He watched as Sam closed his eyes and held onto one of Dean's forearms, trying to make his troubled breathing match Dean's rising and falling chest. He felt like he should leave the brothers alone, that he might witness a moment that should be kept between the two of them, but he didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave Sam unless he knew the man was going to be okay and, right now, he looked anything but okay.

"Come on, Sam," Dean urged and even Kevin was now able to hear the panic that was leaking into the older man's voice. "You can breathe, Sam, you can, just calm down. You're gonna be fine."

"De...De..." Sam rasped and Kevin cringed. His breathing was even worse now and he knew he wasn't imagining the blue in Sam's lips.

"Shouldn't we get him to the hospital or something?" Kevin said, feeling hysterical panic rising up in him. Was Sam dying? Were they about to lose Sam?

"N...no...no ho...no hos..." Sam struggled to say.

"It's okay, Sam, no hospital," Dean said, his arms tightening around his brother. "No hospital. Just...try to breathe, yeah?"

Even in his position of being unable to breathe, Sam still managed to turn his head enough to give his big brother a classic bitch face which made Dean choke a laugh.

"De...De...I...I..."

"No, you're fine, Sam," Dean said, shaking his head and tightening his arms again. "You're fine so shut up."

Kevin stared at the brothers, tears in his own eyes. He was sure he knew what that exchange had been about. Sam was dying...Dean was denying it. So this was it? Sure Sam had been having problems and symptoms on and off since the end of the third trial, but he had seemed to be getting better...just slowly. Now this? Out of the blue Sam was going to die by asphyxiation? He looked away from them, staring blankly at a wall as he tried to stop his tears from falling.

"K...Kev...Kev..."

Kevin looked back at Sam when he heard the hunter struggling to call for him. His tears fell instantly when he saw how pale the guy was, how blue his lips were, how glazed his eyes were becoming. He was going to watch Sam die.

He trembled when Sam smiled at him.

"Ke...good...glad...hap..."

Kevin glanced at Dean, unable to decipher what Sam was saying. He was startled at the amount of pain in Dean's expression. The eldest Winchester wasn't even trying to hide anything, not like he usually did...and that made the situation so much worse. It meant that Dean knew what was happening and knew the only thing he could do was hold his brother, make Sam know he wasn't alone.

"He's saying you're a good person, he's glad he met you, and he wants you to be happy," Dean said, his voice dulling as he spoke. He turned his head so he could push his face into his brother's hair. "Sammy," he whispered brokenly.

Kevin turned away again but, this time, he got off the bed and moved to the floor. He sat on the floor, leaning against the foot of the bed. He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his face in his knees. He felt himself shake as he listened to the brothers.

"Sammy, you're gonna be okay. You have to be," Dean said. "You shouldn't move," he added when Sam started to sluggishly move. Dean loosened his arms and let Sam do what he wanted. Once finished, Sam was more curled up, leaning sideways against Dean's chest and his head under Dean's chin. He had his arms wrapped loosely around Dean's torso, his fingers tangled in his brother's shirt.

"De...I..."

"No, don't talk, Sammy," Dean said, holding Sam close again. He buried his face in Sam's hair, rubbing his hands up and down Sam's back.

"De..."

Dean felt his tears finally start to fall. "Don't leave me. Please. I can't lose you, Sammy, not again, not now."

Sam tried to hold onto Dean tighter but he had absolutely no strength left. He was becoming lightheaded as the lack of oxygen set in. His lungs were burning and tears were leaking from his own eyes. He knew their lives had never been fair, he had accepted that, but why now? Why couldn't they get one chance, one thing for themselves? He didn't want to die. Life was actually getting better for once and he was becoming brothers with Dean again, and now he was going to die? It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair!

"D...D..."

Dean choked on a sob, squeezing Sam so tight he was sure he was hurting his little brother. "Sammy, I know it's hard to talk but I want one thing, okay? One thing."

Sam found enough strength to nod against Dean's chest.

Dean dragged one hand up to tangle in Sam's hair. He swallowed thickly. "Say 'I love you', Sammy."

Sam squeezed his eyes shut at the excruciating pain emanating from his heart. "I...I lo...love...you, De...De..."

Dean moved them slightly so he could see Sam's face. He already looked dead. He was so pale, it was as though there was no blood in his body, and there was no life in his blue lips. He gently brushed back Sam's long hair, acknowledging how much he would miss making fun of it and feeling it. He ran his hand affectionately over Sam's cheek, wiping away the tears there. He left his hand there, palm cupping his little brother's cheek.

"I don't care what's happened between us in the past. You've always been my little brother and always been the best part of my life. Nothing has ever and will never be better than you," Dean said, slowly moving his thumb over Sam's cheekbone. "I'm letting you go but I'm not promising I won't follow. We've said together or not at all."

Sam's eyes were falling shut even though he fought it. He was hardly breathing at all now. Dean leaned in and kissed Sam's forehead before pressing their foreheads together.

"I love you, Sammy," he breathed and didn't let go of his little brother even when all movement stopped.

The Men of Letters' bunker was completely silent. It was as though no one was occupying it. However, the occupants were huddled in one bedroom, in shock as they processed what had just happened.

Kevin was still on the floor and still leaning against the foot of the bed. His legs were stretched out now and his hands limp in his lap as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. Dean was still sitting on the bed. He still held Sam in his arms, his little brother's head under his chin. He still rubbed Sam's back and ran his fingers through the shaggy hair as he stared dully at the bed's blankets. His tears had stopped but he couldn't move, couldn't release his little brother. Maybe if he held on tight enough, long enough, Sam would come back to him.

He didn't know what to do. It was like back in Cold Oak all those years ago. It was like in Stull Cemetery. He was always so lost after losing his brother. He never knew what the next step was and this time was no different.

What was he supposed to do now?

He and Kevin were badly startled when heavy knocking on the bunker's door echoed throughout the place. They were further startled when the fallen and forgotten feather began to glow. They stared at it, unsure what to do. They jumped again when there was more knocking.

"Let me in before his lungs stop working, muttonheads."

Kevin gained a deep frown while Dean's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He knew that voice and he knew it well.

"Kevin, go let him in," Dean said, unable to believe what was happening.

Kevin gave him an incredulous look. "You want to let some...psycho in here?"

"Dude, let him in. I know him," Dean said.

"You're insane," Kevin muttered but got to his feet and rushed through the bunker to the door. He ran up the stairs and unlocked the door, pulling it open to reveal a man about Sam's age leaning on the door frame. He had sandy brown hair and brown eyes that looked like sun shining on a glass of whiskey.

I need a new hobby aside from those Supernatural books, he mused. He had gotten Charlie to send him the first few of the Carver Edlund books.

"Move," the man said and shoved Kevin to the side, stumbling down the stairs and towards Sam's bedroom.

Kevin blinked and then quickly followed, wanting to see what this guy was doing.

"What. The. Hell?" Dean said, staring in pure shock at the guy they had let into their home.

"Hey, Dean-o," the guy said. "We'll talk later. Give me the Green Giant first."

"What are you going to do?" Dean said, clutching his little brother protectively.

The guy rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna hurt the kid. I'm fond of the two of you so give him so he can, you know, live."

Kevin watched as Dean looked down at Sam's pale, unmoving face. The hunter brushed back Sam's hair again, a single tear leaving his eye.

"You can save him?" Dean whispered, locking eyes with the other man. "Isn't he already..."

"Technically, yes," the guy said, "but, Archangel and Trickster, remember? I got tricks of my own."

Dean swallowed thickly and then nodded. He let the guy carefully pull Sam away until Sam was lying flat on the bed next to Dean. He and Kevin watched as the guy put one palm on Sam's forehead and the other on Sam's chest. The guy's eyes closed and a white glow began to appear under his hands. After a few moments the glow stopped and the guy pulled his hands away. Dean glanced at him and then returned his eyes to Sam, dropping a hand on the top of Sam's head and threading his fingers through the hair. Kevin took a few steps closer, all the attention in the room on Sam.

It seemed like hours passed before the impossible happened. Sam's chest jumped and he drew in a deep breath, his eyes racing beneath his eyelids.

"Sammy?" Dean breathed, his eyes wide as he stared at his brother.

One of Sam's hands moved over the bed until it found Dean's leg where it latched on and squeezed weakly.

Kevin couldn't believe it. How was this possible? Sam had been dead, legitimately dead. He had been there when Sam took his last shuddering breath, when he fell completely limp against Dean's chest which had made Dean completely lose it.

And then Sam's eyes opened.

The hazel was revealed and moved around, trying to focus on something. They found Dean first naturally and then moved again to fall on the guy who had apparently brought him back to life. Sam's mouth moved and he licked his lips before he managed to speak.

"Gabriel?" he whispered.

To Be Continued...