I wish I owned Supernatural, but I don't. Just spelling errors.

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Chapter 13. One Last Request

Not wanting to hang around after that, Dean quickly hoisted the shifter over his shoulder, trying not to gag at the fact that he'd just shot himself…again…and made a hasty getaway out of the hospital using the back corridors. It was one of those occasions that he wished he had a silencer.

He dumped the body in the back of the Impala, noting to salt and burn it later, and hopped into in the car. Across the lot, the headlights of Bobby's own vehicle flared as the engine revved, and together they sped away.

Several miles out, over in the next town, Dean pulled up in front of a motel for them to hole up for the rest of the night.

"Dean!" Sam was no sooner out of Bobby's car when he jumped into Dean's arms, hugging him tight. "I knew it wasn' you, I knew!" Tears were streaking down his face. "You'd never be so mean an say nasty things like that. Nuh-uh. You don' hate me, do you?" he suddenly blurted.

"What? No, Sammy. You're my little brother and I love you, just the way you are." Maybe he'd killed the shapeshifter too fast. "That thing, it wasn't me. I'd never say those things. Never. You hear me?"

Sam wept into Dean's shoulder.

Bobby came running up to them from the motel lobby, a set of keys dangling in his hand. "Room 11, down at the end."

Dean nodded, and bundled Sam up in his coat, carrying the boy there.

It didn't take them long to settle in, and Sam was soon snuggled beneath one of the bed covers asleep.

Dean sat on the edge of the bed, lightly carding his fingers through his brother's hair.

"You need me?"

Dean looked up. "What?"

"Rufus called," Bobby explained. "Said something about a poltergeist."

Dean looked back down at Sam. "You go on ahead. I think we're good now."

"Ya sure?"

"Yeah. Sammy's safe now."

"I was asking about you," Bobby said.

Dean smiled weakly. "As long as Sam is okay, so am I."

"Alright then." Bobby gave the young hunter a pat on the shoulder. "You take it easy now, boy." And then he left.

Dean yawned. He'd been up for nearly 48 hours. It was time he hit the sack.

He turned to move over to the other bed, when a small hand grabbed his.

"Don' go…"

Dean sat back down. "Never, Sammy."

"Prawmish?"

Dean lay next to his sibling and wrapped an arm protectively around him. "Promise."

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"No…no…noooo…"

Dean awoke to desperate little whimpers. He blinked the sleep from his eyes, and as he did so, he realized that he no longer had his little brother in his grasp.

"Noooo….."

Sam was on the other side of the bed, laying haphazardly beneath the sheets and a sleek sheen of sweat glistening on his body.

"Deee…"

Dean quickly scooted over to him and pulled him into his arms. He didn't need to know what Sam was dreaming about to know that is wasn't happy. "Sammy… Sam, I'm here. You're safe."

Sam stilled, then ever so slowly cracked open an eyelid. "De?"

"I'm here, Sammy."

"De, I's scared…."

Dean's heart wrenched at the quiet words. "I know, kiddo, I know."

Sam turned around and fisted his hand into his big brother's shirt. "I…I want Daddy…"

I'm sorry, Sammy…I'm so, so damn sorry… But Dad's gone. Dad's…dead… "I know, Sammy," he said instead. "I want Dad too…"

But it was one thing neither of them could have.

They were alone.

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They stayed several nights in the motel; Dean didn't feel up to going anywhere, not with the state with baby brother was in. The nightmares became constant, and Sam's pleas for their father almost deafening.

The boy was traumatized enough, so telling that John was dead was out of the question.

But Dean couldn't take it anymore. His ears were ringing with Sam's cries.

"Where's Daddy?"

"I want Daddy!"

"Deeeeeaaaaannn! I want DAAAAAA-DDDYYYYYY!"

"Dad's not here, all right!" Dean snapped finally. "He's not here! He's…he's not…." He broke off with a sob.

"Dean?"

There was a tug on his sleeve and he looked down to see Sammy staring up at him with wide puppy eyes.

"Yeah, Sammy?" Dean asked, regretting that he'd yelled at his sibling.

Sam didn't answer, but instead crawled into his lap. "Don' worry, De," he said. "We have each other, righ'?"

"Right."

Always.

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It had been a mistake the first time. He'd almost lost his little brother. But to keep him this way? It was asking for Sam to get killed.

Dean paced outside the motel. He had to be quick. He'd told Sam he was only getting a soda and would only be a minute, not wanting to leave the boy alone for long.

Actually, Dean didn't want to leave him alone at all, but he had to do this. He had to.

One more time.

"God…" He exhaled heavily, shoulders lumping in defeat. "I-I know I asked for you to give me my little brother back…and I…well, you took it literally, but….thanks." Dean gave a nod. "Thanks a lot. It made me realize that Sam's still my brother, no matter how much he's changed."

He glanced up towards the evening sky. "And I'd like you to change him back. Please."

He waited for a moment, trying to remember if he was missing something. Oh yeah…

"Amen."

And with that, Dean went back inside.

"Wer's your soda, Dean?"

Dean ruffled Sam's hair affectionately. "Changed my mind, kiddo. Now, into bed, you."

Sam scrambled beneath the covers and looked towards Dean in anticipation.

"What?"

"Story, Dean."

"What?" Dean repeated.

"I wants a story."

Dean sighed. "I think you're getting too old for that, Sammy."

"Pweeeeeeeaaaaassse?" Sam put on his best puppy dog eyes.

Dean caved in. He couldn't refuse the look, not that one. "All right! All right." He perched himself on the edge of Sam's bed. "Ummm…" Crap. He couldn't remember any of the stories he used to tell his little brother. I knew I should've kept those damn books…

"Ummm… Once upon a time…uh…there were two brothers—"

"Like us?"

"Yeah, Sammy, like us. Now, these two brothers were heroes, okay? Not like Superman or Batman or anything, but heroes. They saved people, fought monsters…"

"Monsters like the bad people who hurt me?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. So…they did all that, taking down any bad guys they could find, traveling all over the country to find these things and keep them from hurting anyone. And though the world would never know about them, it felt good to know that they saved lives."

"How come no one knows?"

"Because people are afraid to know what lies in the dark, Sammy."

"Are you afraid?"

Dean smiled. "Do I look afraid to you?"

"No."

"Anyway, these two brothers weren't afraid either. Not that they enjoyed the job or anything, far from it, but someone had to do it. Besides, it was a family business. Their parents had done it, their grandparents…" God, we have a screwed up family… "So they did it too. There were evil things to hunt down, and no one else was gonna to do it for them."

"The younger brother tried to be normal though. He got a full ride to college, Stanford of all places, but…well…he was always the smart one in the family. But evil found him, and he was dragged back into this life, and everything went downhill from there."

Soft snores reached his ears and Dean glanced down to see Sam fast asleep.

"Hate, love, sacrifice… It's what we're about, isn't it, little brother?" Dean moved over to his own bed and slipped under the covers.

"Sleep tight, Sammy."

And crossing his fingers that God heard his plea, he promptly followed his sibling into dreamland.

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One more chapter left. :)

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