AUTHOR'S NOTES: So I've been thinking of the episode 'My Heart Will Go On' and I've made a decision about this story line. For the sake of not giving away spoilers, if you want to hear about my plan, just pop me a review.

Part of this story is just a little family bonding between characters and part of it is putting a little bit of hurt on Sam and Dean.

Chapter 7

We'll Do It Together

The Impala roared down the road and kicked up gravel and dirt as Dean charged into the parking lot of the Singer Salvage Yard.

As he, Sam, and Fi got out, they wordlessly grabbed their guns, Sam and Fiona each checking that their knives were with easy reach.

Moving quietly up the porch steps, Dean silently signaled Sam to go first. Behind his brother, Dean gave Fiona a second signal and when Sam went through the front door they put away their weapons and slipped around back.

Inside the house, Sam turned to look at his brother and girlfriend and was startled when they weren't there. "Guys?" he called, nervously. Hearing no answer, he tried again. "Dean! Fi!" Panic was rising as Sam slowly made his way further into the house, his ears tuned to take every little sound.

Hearing the slightest sound coming from the library, Sam headed that way next, gun out ahead of him. But the library was empty and Sam lowered his gun an inch, raising it again when he heard a clattering in the kitchen. "Bobby?" Sam called as he cautiously headed for the kitchen.

But as he got there, he was ambushed from behind, his gun and knife knocked away as he was knocked to the floor.

Sam scrambled to his feet, and stopped dead as he saw Dean standing by the table with Fiona, Bobby, Jo, Ellen, and—"Rufus?" Sam said, caught off guard by the other hunter's presence. "What are you doing here? Bobby said you were in trouble."

"I am in trouble," Rufus Turner replied with a grin. "Bobby doesn't have any scotch around here worth spit."

As his heart rate came back down to normal, Sam looked around and was surprised when he saw a cake sitting on the counter and plates of food on the table along with a cooler filled with bottles of beer on ice. "What's all this?" Sam asked as Dean came up to him, holding out a beer.

"Happy birthday, Sammy," Dean said, warmly, nodding in the direction of a stack of presents in the corner.

"My birthday was more than a week ago, Dean," Sam said, quietly. But deep down, he was happy. It was a sudden step in the direction of normal and, sure, tomorrow the pain and torment would be back, but just for today… "Thanks," Sam said, sincerely.

"So how's it feel to be 27, son?" Bobby asked, pretending that he didn't notice Ellen taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Uh, let me get back to you on that?" Sam said with a quick smile. Looking over at the counter, he said, "Cake looks good."

"Jo made it," Ellen said with a warm laugh. Seeing Sam's amazed look, Ellen glanced over at her daughter before turning back to Sam. "Hey, she's a pretty decent cook. She's even taught me a few things." After a moment, she added, "Dean told Jo about that cake you had up in Vermont a couple years ago."

"The cinnamon roll cake with the maple frosting?" Sam said, remembering the bake shop and the woman who made the cake.

He and Dean had been hunting a wendigo up near the mountains in Vermont. It had been an unseasonably warm day and the boys had left their jackets in the Impala before heading out.

But the fight had gone badly and both brothers were hurt and cold when night fell. If it hadn't been for a young woman lost in the woods, neither Winchester would have made it out alive.

In the hospital a few days later, the young woman—Anna Jenks—came by to visit Sam and Dean, bringing Dean a piece of a mixed berry pie and Sam a piece of her own cinnamon roll cake. She told the brothers that she owned a bakery in town and there would always be free goodies whenever they came by.

After everyone filled plates and ate, Ellen and Bobby brought the presents to the living room while Dean put exactly 27 candles on the cake.

"Dean, you're going to burn Bobby's house down," Sam admonished, shaking his head.

But Dean's mood wasn't to be dampened as he grinned at his brother. When the others had gathered around, Dean said, "Make a wish, Sammy."

Sam hesitated as he studied the candles. Dozens of wishes ran through his mind—realistic and not—but finally he settled on one and took a deep breath and managed to blow out every one of the candles.

"So what'd you wish for?" Jo asked as Fiona cut slices of cake and passed them around.

"Doesn't matter," Sam shrugged, digging into his piece of cake. Jo really was a good cook. "It's not likely to come true anyway."

Jo bit her lip nervously as she looked at Sam. Finally she said, "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Sam thought about that for a moment and then nodded. "Okay. I wished… that I could just have one day when I could forget about hunting."

"What do you think this party is for?" Jo replied, laughing. "Sam, Dean called. Said you needed some downtime. And since he said you wanted to skip your birthday…"

Sam didn't feel like explaining to Jo that the lack of a birthday celebration was more about avoiding memories of the past than embracing the fact that he was alive for one more year. Besides, last year Dean had been ripped apart by hellhounds and the year before that, Sam had died and the year before that their father had died. May 2nd didn't usually end up being a good day if you were a Winchester.

Pulling the focus away from himself, Sam asked, "So what would you wish for?"

Jo smiled and thought of Dean. Honestly, she would have wished that the two of them could spend a wild and crazy weekend together, but thinking of what her mother would say about it, she just shrugged lightly. "Same as you, I guess."

Sam could tell that Jo was lying but decided not to call her out on it. After a while, Sam and Jo joined the others in the living room as Sam sat down on the couch. He could remember only one other birthday party and that had been when he was 13.

Opening Bobby's gift first, Sam found a leather-bound journal like his father's.

"Thought maybe you boys would need a new one since your daddy's is getting pretty full," Bobby explained.

"Thanks, Bobby," Sam replied, setting the journal aside. Taking the package Jo held out next, he opened and was surprised to find a photo album filled with pictures of himself and Dean—and even some shots with their father and Fiona and James Brendon.

"Been saving up the pictures for years," Bobby said, watching the younger Winchester flipping through the pages. "Jo put the album together."

Sam looked up at Jo and he wanted to say something other than just 'thanks'.

As if she could read his thoughts, Jo looked at Sam and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a regular renaissance woman."

"Yeah, I guess so," Sam said with a laugh, setting the second gift aside.

Ellen's gift was much smaller and when he opened the miniscule box, Sam was surprised to find a house key. "What's this for?" Sam asked, a little confused.

"Spare key to the house Jo and I used to live in," Ellen said with a warm look. "It's not much, but you can use it whenever you need to."

Sam just nodded, again thinking that the words 'thank you' didn't seem like enough. He wasn't even sure why Ellen was doing all this, and Sam felt a stab of guilt when he realized that she was acting like a mother to himself and Dean lately.

Ellen said nothing, instead just giving Sam a smile. She'd never known Mary Winchester—John had never talked about her much. And while Ellen knew Sam and Dean needed a little maternal love, she also knew that she could never replace their mother.

Sensing the mood in the room start to turn maudlin, Fiona handed Sam her gift, grinning as she watched her boyfriend unwrap 4 burned DVDs. "The best of Alton Brown," Fiona promised Sam, brightly. "There's something else, but it'll keep till later."

"Oh, I didn't want to know that," Dean groaned, thinking of what Fiona and Sam might be up to later.

Handing his brother that last present on the pile, Dean said nothing as Sam tore off the wrapping paper, looking amazed at the framed photo. "Dean," Sam said, looking up. "Where the hell did you find this?"

"It was in that box of pictures Jenny Cooper found in the basement of our old house," Dean replied.

It was a picture of a 3-month-old Sam with Dean and John and Mary. But rather than the old, worn picture Sam remembered, this looked like it had been shot a few days ago.

Sam looked up at the others and gave a smile that was both sad and genuine. "Thanks, guys," he said, sincerely.

"Don't mention it, Sam," Jo said, still smiling.

The party pretty much died down after that, and Sam went to Bobby's library to look for something when Ellen stopped him.

"I didn't mean anything by it, Sam," Ellen said, leaning against the wall. When the younger hunter gave her a quizzical look, she clarified, "The key. I just thought maybe you boys and Fiona might need some place to hole up some time if you weren't near here."

"No, I know," Sam said, quickly. "And I appreciate it. I do." When Ellen gave his a patient 'but' look, he shrugged. "You don't have to act like my mother, Ellen."

"Someone has to," Ellen countered with a shrug of her own. "I know Fiona's been trying but I also know it's not the same. And I'd never dream of trying to replace Mary Winchester." Going over to Sam and giving him a gentle nudge with her shoulder, she added, "I'm just trying to look out for you boys."

xxxxx

That night, Sam found it impossible to sleep.

He'd never had an easy time sleeping and for the longest time after leaving for Stanford he'd spent hours walking around the college campus, trying to quiet his mind. Finally, Jessica had had enough and made Sam get a prescription for sleeping pills.

Sam wasn't sure if Dean knew that he still kept a stash in his bag, but he was sure Dean suspected. But the bag with the drugs was out in the trunk of the Impala and Sam didn't want to risk waking his brother by going down stairs.

Deciding instead to try a glass of water, Sam headed out of the bedroom he was sharing with Fiona and across the hallway to the bathroom, stopping dead when he stepped on something sharp.

For a split second he thought it was a nail but when his lips started tingling, Sam felt a flash of horror as he looked down on the floor, wheezing. Stumbling back to the bedroom, Sam grabbed Fi's shoulder roughly just as he collapsed onto the bed.

"Sam!" Fiona shouted, panicked as she heard Sam's shallow breaths. Shaking him, she called his name again. "Sam!"

"Allergy…" Sam wheezed, fighting to stay conscious. "Pen…"

"Pen?" Fiona asked, her brain going fuzzy. Thinking for a second, her eyes widened in understanding. "An Epi-Pen? Where?"

Sam tried to think but his mind was going hazy. In a flash of panic, he realized that he hadn't brought the epi-pen in with him. "Trunk," he wheezed.

Fiona knew she had to move fast, but at the rate Sam was going, she might not be fast enough. Jumping off the bed, she hurriedly fumbled for her bag and dug out the bottle of Benadryl quick-dissolve tablets at the bottom. "This should help until I get the injector," she said, quickly, racing down the stairs and ignoring the fact that she'd woken Bobby, Ellen, Jo, and Dean as she bolted from the house and to the Impala, fumbling with the keys as she tried to unlock the trunk.

"Fiona, what's wrong?" Bobby asked, quickly when Fi raced back inside.

But Fi didn't need to answer as Dean had spotted the object in her hand. "Damnit, Sammy," he muttered, half a step behind Fiona.

In the bedroom, Dean snatched the epi-pen from Fiona and quickly jabbed it into Sam's left thigh. It was agony while he waited for the epinephrine to kick in but finally Sam gasped, taking a few strangled breaths.

Fiona breathed a sigh of relief as Sam started breathing better; watching as Dean made sure his brother was okay and didn't need an ambulance. Looking in the doorway, she saw Ellen and Bobby standing there.

"Sam okay?" Bobby asked, worriedly.

"He'll be fine," Dean assured him. "Kid's been allergic to bee stings ever since this one case a couple years ago." Looking up and giving Bobby a reassuring nod, Dean waited until Ellen and Bobby left before turning back to Sam.

"Dean…?" Sam said weakly, blinking a bit as he looked around.

"Right here, Sammy," Dean assured him, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

Sam nodded slightly and after a moment fell asleep.

The adrenaline rush wearing off, Dean was suddenly aware of the sharp pain in his left heel and after getting Sam comfortable in bed, he sat down, raising his heel.

"You okay?" Fiona asked, looking concerned.

"Think I picked up a splinter," Dean muttered, trying not to wince.

"Let me take a look," Fiona said, pulling a small flashlight from her bag and the field kit she kept in there. After a moment, she said, "Need you to lie on your stomach."

Dean did as directed and Fiona grabbed a sewing needle and a pair of tweezers before moving a wooden chair over to the end of the bed near Dean's foot. "Your heel's got more scales than a snake's belly," she said with a laugh.

"Dry skin," Dean muttered. "Dad told me once that Mom had the same problem. Yeow!" he suddenly yelped, jerking his foot out of Fiona's grip. "I thought you were going to get the splinter out, not hack my heel off!"

"Will you hold still, you big baby?" Fiona admonished, grabbing Dean's foot again. "This things really embedded."

Dean winced as Fiona continued digging at his foot, mentally cringing at the fact that he was raising a fuss over a friggin' splinter! He'd been cut, stabbed, shot, burned, and tortured, and a stupid sliver of wood was—

"Got it," Fiona said, finally, pulling a thick splinter about half an inch long. "Nice one." With a grin she held it out to Dean who had moved so he was sitting up and facing her. "Want to keep it?"

Dean shook his head, pushing Fiona's hand away before looking at his sleeping brother. "Think we're all going to make it out alive?"

Fiona shrugged as she put her things away as Dean managed to budge Sam over a bit on the mattress to make room for Fiona. Once she and Dean were on either side of Sam, she said, "I don't, Dean. But whatever happens, we'll do it together."

A/N: I'll admit, I may have borrowed the idea of Sam having a bee sting allergy from the fic 'Bugged' by K Hanna Korossy. Although Sam stepping on the thing is based on experience. I've been stung three times and each time was because I stepped on the bee or wasp in question.

Ditto for the splinter in Dean's heel. My mom's dug three out of my heel to date. So not fun.