Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters. I also do not own the title--it belongs to Jimmy Eat World.
Author's Note: This is probably the shortest chapter in the entire story. It was originally longer, but then I realized that I needed to do some much needed editing to the latter half of this, so this ended up being chapter 5 and I shall post chapter 6 tomorrow. Enjoy!!
Author's Note 2: Thanks to all the wonderful people who have read and reviewed this story. I am really surprised at the interest in this story. So thank you so much and I hope you continue to enjoy the story as much as I do.
Author's Note 3: There may seem to be a huge mistake in this chapter, but believe me, it's not. If you read carefully, you will realize that everything in this chapter can actually happen according to what goes on in the series. Just so you know... I am not completely crazy. Just mostly crazy.
Summary: A hunt goes wrong, landing both Winchesters in the hospital, one within an inch of death, the other regretting all the choices he has made. With help from an angel, Dean gets to see what would have happened if Jake hadn't killed Sam all those years ago in Cold Oak.
Polaris
Chapter 5
It was cold. Dean wondered if it had always been that cold and he didn't remember it or things were changing now that Sam had lived. Either way, it was freaking cold. And Sam was missing for the second time in forty-eight hours. Well, not really missing, but he wasn't in Dean's line of sight and that was cause for alarm along with the facts that Bobby was trying to close the devil's gate, Ellen was dead, and Dean was having issues breathing properly through the searing pain in his chest.
Things had been going relatively well in Dean's opinion, especially compared to the last time he had been through this event. Bobby, Ellen, Sam, and Dean had all gotten to the cowboy cemetery in southern Wyoming, like Dean had suggested so that they could 'check it out'. They had found the Colt lying next to the devil's gate. Dean started getting suspicious at that point. Dean's suspicions grew when Sam disappeared from his side and he couldn't find the gun he kept in the waist band of his pocket. Bobby tripped over something and that's when everything went to Hell. Literally.
Ellen pulled a gun out of her jacket pocket and pointed it at Dean. Dean had been so shocked that he didn't even notice Sam knock her out of the way just as the woman pulled the trigger. Dean was thrown backward by the force of the bullet entering his stomach.
"Dean!" Sam had yelled in anguish.
Ellen had shoved Sam out of the way, grabbed the Colt from the ground and put it in the slot.
"No!" Dean had yelled struggling to get back to his feet. A wave of pain had consumed him, forcing him to stay put.
Ellen's eyes shone gold as the devil's gate opened and demons and spirits from Hell poured out on to the world. Dean was thrown backward again, this time by a demonic power, and connected with a tree.
"Dean, Dean, Dean," Ellen… the yellow eyed demon… had said with a smirk. "How nice of you to kill Jake for Sammy! I have to say, I wasn't expecting that one. I really thought Jake was going to win. And now, I have Sam and you're never going to see your brother again. So thank you, Dean. Really."
"You bastard," Dean gasped wincing as he strained against the demonic force.
"No, that would be you, Dean. You have no father, no mother, and now, you aren't going to have a brother," the demon said.
"Hey!" Sam yelled from behind the demon.
Dean froze as he saw Sam aim the Colt at Ellen's head. The yellow-eyed demon possessing her grinned.
"You wouldn't kill me," the demon said. "You're not that strong."
"Sammy, just do it," Dean whispered closing his eyes as another wave of pain coursed through him. "Ellen wouldn't want this."
"Yeah, Sammy," the demon taunted. "Kill me."
Sam's hand shook. The moments stretched on endlessly as Dean's stomach continued to bleed and Bobby struggled to close the door. The wind screamed around them as demons and spirits of Hell walked the earth for the first time in hundreds of years.
"Sammy, please," Dean croaked. "Just do it. It's the only way to end this."
Sam shot a helpless glance at Dean. He was hesitating because it was a familiar person. It was Ellen. Or was it because he was remembering that night back in Salvation where he had tried to kill the yellow eyed demon and end this then and had missed… and if he missed this time, he would end up killing Dean.
"You won't miss," Dean said through clenched teeth. He was losing too much blood and he knew it. He was going to die. He couldn't move his hands to put pressure on the wound and he was bleeding out.
Dean was beginning to get black spots in his vision. He heard the gun go off and a sharp, surprised scream from Ellen. The demonic force pinning him to the tree was gone. Without it holding him up, Dean slid to the ground with a grunt, sending black stars over his vision.
"Dean!" Sam yelled. It was a scared shout, one that reminded Dean a lot of the one he had given when he saw Sam being stabbed in the back.
"M'okay," Dean murmured his eyes closing involuntarily. He forced them open again as Sam dropped to his knees in front of him.
"Dean?" Sam whispered. He spotted the bullet wound and paled for a moment, before swallowing. "You're going to be okay, all right? You're going to be okay, Dean."
The irony wasn't lost on Dean. Was this his destiny? To die in the place of his brother? It wasn't a bad way to die, he thought. If it was his time to go, then so be it. At least he wasn't heading for Hell this time around. Or maybe he was.
"Damn it, Dean. Open your eyes!" Sam shouted in his ear.
Dean struggled to do what he was told, not realizing that he had closed his eyes. He noticed that the wind had stopped; Bobby must have closed the devil's gate.
"Keep. Fighting. Love. You. Sammy," Dean slurred taking a deep breath and wincing. He was suddenly warm and comfortable. He wrenched his eyes open and found himself staring at Sam's shoulder.
"Bobby!" Sam yelled in a frantic voice. His voice sounded so far away, even though he was holding Dean as close as he dared.
Dean was drifting. He knew that something was going on above him, but he couldn't bring himself to react.
"Dean!" was the last thing he heard before he drifted off into an everlasting sleep.