Author's Note: Here's today's prompt! This is from TG who asked, "Would you consider a story about a compassionate Sam, and Dean doesn't despise him for it? In fact, he might think there's something worthwhile about Sam as a person? (I'll leave the hurt part to your discretion.)" Thank you for the lovely prompt! Please enjoy! This is set in season 6, post "Like a Virgin".

Here's the thing about Sam: he's always been more open with his emotions. As a kid, he used to cry over stray cats—But who will look after them, Dean?—and he used to feel sympathy towards the people that used to bully him—He's just lonely, Dean. He didn't mean it. Even now, one apocalypse and missing soul later, Sam is still capable of falling for anyone's sob story and will drop whatever he is doing to help someone he believes is in need.

So, yeah, maybe Dean is more hardened and cynical in his view. Maybe he believes that the world isn't as good as Sam deems it to be, but he doesn't begrudge his brother his view on life. Yes, sometimes Sam's incessant need to help everyone does get occasionally annoying, but after dealing with soulless Sam for six months too many, it's refreshing to have him back to his normal standards.

At least, it was.

The situation had arisen last night when Castiel had suddenly appeared in Bobby's living room, bleeding and fading fast. The two Winchester brothers had gotten him down on the couch and Dean had been patching up the wound when the Messenger of the Lord had pushed his hands away.

"Cas, what—?" Dean had begun.

"Curse." The angel breathed through ground teeth and Dean instantly understood. Someone—or something—had cursed Castiel so that he wouldn't be able to heal his own injuries. Maybe they had wanted revenge for something or maybe he had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time; regardless, there was nothing they could do short of breaking the curse to help their friend.

So, that was what they had done.

Two people researched while the third tended to Castiel, though there wasn't much that could be done. He bled through bandages like no tomorrow and while the injuries weren't life threatening to the angel, they had to hurt like hell.

"Okay," Bobby mumbled, glancing up from his huge book. Dean's gaze was instantly on the older hunter, while Sam's remained focus on the angel on the couch. "Got something."

"Shoot." Dean replied, his full attention on the gruff family friend.

"This curse wasn't designed to be used on angels," Bobby reported. "It's supposed to be used to kill humans within minutes. It can't kill immortal things."

"Then, why would someone cast it on Cas knowing it won't hurt him?" Sam asked quietly, helping the angel drink some water. He smiled softly at the Messenger of the Lord, though it was lost on him as he was consumed by pain. Sam winced at his agonized expression.

"Well, to take him out for a bit," Bobby replied. "With the curse on him, Castiel is stuck. He can't die, but he also can't heal himself—"

"Leaving whoever cast the spell to go back to doing whatever they were doing without Cas getting in the way." Dean completed.

"Exactly." Bobby nodded his head in approval.

"How do we reverse it?" Sam questioned softly, his eyes still trained on Castiel.

"We can't," The older hunter answer. "Least, not while it's affecting Cas."

"So, we're stuck too?" Dean inquired, frustration chipping away at his resolve.

"We could transfer it." Sam spoke up suddenly, his eyes meeting Bobby's gaze.

"Transfer?" Dean echoed, confused. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Perform a spell to shift the curse from Castiel to someone else." Bobby answered, though his eyes were quickly filling with concern.

"Someone else? Like who?" The eldest Winchester demanded, not liking the strange glint that Sam had in his eyes, like he had already made up his mind.

"Like me." Sam whispered.

"You? Hell no—!" Dean rose from his seat, voice shouting as he crossed to where his brother sat in a chair across from their fallen angel friend.

"Dean, be quiet," Sam admonished gently. "The spell has to be transferred to someone in order to undo it—"

"Then, why not me?" His older brother insisted.

"I have higher threshold for pain than you, Dean." Sam replied, matter-of-factly with a smug smile tugging on his lips. "I mean I survived the Cage, right? I should be able to handle anything else."

"Sam—"

"Bobby," Sam called, ignoring his clearly furious older brother. "Do it."

Dean just stared incredulously at his brother.

"You sure you want to—?"

"Yes, Dean." Sam replied, voice confident. "I can handle this. You and Bobby already have the counter spell ready to go. I'll just lose a bit of blood and be a little out of it for a bit."

"Sam, this spell is designed to kill people within minutes. We're talking more than a little blood here."

"You and Bobby won't let it take that long." His little brother told him, a confident expression on his face.

"Sam—" His older brother sighed, a protest on his lips.

"Please," The youngest Winchester whispered, puppy-dog eyes unleashing full force on his older brother. "Just let me do this." Dean hadn't had the heart to protest after that. He simply stood by and waited with baited breath as Bobby read the transference spell and then, in a blinding flash, Castiel was completely healed. For a second, Dean thought they had gotten lucky; maybe the spell had fixed everything.

And he watched with wide eyes as blood began to stain Sam's shirt a sickly shade of crimson and as his little brother toppled to the floor, suppressing a moan of pain. He hoisted his brother up and helped him to the couch that Castiel had quickly vacated and glanced at Bobby, who nodded and began to read the spell that would reverse the curse.

"Hang in there, Sammy," Dean soothed, applying pressure on Sam's biggest cut that was bleeding like no tomorrow. "Just hold on." Sam was pale now and still and it reminded Dean of a different time, of a different place when Sam had fallen down and hadn't gotten back up and there had been so much blood then and God, finish the spell already, would you, Bobby?

Then, it was over.

The blood suddenly stopped and the cuts vanished. Sam's eyes flew open and Dean could finally breathe again.

"I must thank you, Sam." Castiel stood stiffly before the youngest Winchester. His expression was clearly serious, though there was an undercurrent of embarrassment in his tone. The angel had never been good at expressing his emotions, something that Dean enjoyed immensely.

"No prob, Cas." His younger sibling replied, an easy smile on his lips.

"So . . . we are 'cool'?" It must've been a phrase he had heard somewhere and was now trying out and Dean suppressed a laugh. Bobby snorted from across the room, but if Castiel noticed, he didn't let on.

"Yeah," Sam answered. "We're cool."

"Good." Then, with a flutter of wings, he was gone once more.

"So much for that." Bobby scoffed and while Dean did feel burned a bit—what the heck had Castiel been doing in the first place that had caused him to get the curse—he couldn't help but feel grateful that everything had worked out in the end. Sam was okay.

That was all that mattered.

"So," Dean began, after Bobby had gone to bed muttering something about "damn angels" before clomping up the stairs and leaving the two boys behind. "Is this just a habit for you?"

"What?" Sam questioned, looking completely confused.

"Sacrificing yourself for others," He completed. "Because if it is, it needs to stop."

"Dude, what are you talking about?" Sam muttered, exasperated as he sunk back onto the pillow that Castiel had gotten him. He looked tired and after losing all that blood—thankfully not too much—he probably wanted nothing more but to sleep.

"All someone has to do is show up with a paper cut and you feel the need to take a bullet for them. I wanna know why." Dean leaned up against the wall, hands folded across his chest as he waited for his little brother to answer.

"Dean—"

"Why, Sammy?"

A long pause passed before Sam finally spoke.

"Because everyone deserves to be saved."

Sam shut his eyes and drifted off the sleep, leaving Dean to ponder over his statement. In his lifetime, Sam had bled more often for someone else's wellbeing than his own. He had taken bullets for strangers he barely knew, he had let himself be taken in order to rescue friends and he had damned himself to Hell to save a world that would never know of his sacrifice. That had always been Sam's nature and while Dean found it worrying—he couldn't help but wonder if Sam would one day die to protect someone else instead of watching his own back—he understood that it was who Sam was. Hell, he was proud that Sam was like this—it was one of the many reasons why he loved the kid so much.

And while Dean wished Sam would think a little bit more before deciding to possibly be a martyr for someone else's cause, he understood why Sam did it. He understood that to Sam, losing his own life was preferable than to losing someone else's. To Sam, a civilian's life was worth ten of his and dying for a friend was better than losing them.

Yeah, Dean understood why Sam did what he did, but that didn't mean he approved over all of it.

After all, Sam may have been ready to sacrifice himself for someone, but that didn't mean Dean would let him. For Dean, a life without Sam wasn't a life at all. So, it would appear they were at an impasse.

"I'll look after you, Sammy." He whispered to the sleeping figure before settling into an armchair himself and shutting his eyes.

Sam would protect others and Dean would protect Sam—end of story.

And together, they would save as many people as they could.

Author's Note: So, there you go! I hope you enjoyed! Please review!