Author's Note: And merrily we roll along! Next prompt comes from StrGazr04 who requested, "How about Sam gets really sick maybe because they had to do a hunt in someplace like Colorado or w/e in really bad snow? He gets a terrible fever and is delirious. The last time he was this sick, Dean was missing/in Purgatory. It turns out that the time Dean was in Hell wasn't the only time Sam kept his amulet. After Dean tossed it in the trash, Sam saved it and thus still had it when Dean was in Purgatory. Now, sick with fever, Dean finds Sam in bed clutching the amulet he didn't know Sam still had." Awww, this prompt is so cute! I adore it! Please enjoy this chapter!

"The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches."

― E.E. Cummings

There are few things that Dean will pay full price for.

He's grown up to be thrifty—credit card fraud, after all, can only last so long—and his father taught him how to stick to a budget. Buy used, save the difference, so his father would instruct. Yet, here in the middle of a freak snowstorm in Colorado, Dean would give anything to have one of those puffy, incredibly warm North Face jackets that he sees those mountain climbers use on those Everest Discovery Channel specials.

"Fucking cold." Dean barks out as he and Sam finally make it back to the cabin they were crashing in while they had hunted the wendigo terrorizing the local skiers.

"Yeah." Sam's teeth chatter as he strips out of his wet jacket and down to his soaked thermal. Moonlight streams in through the window, revealing just how badly Sam's coat kept out the snow.

"Next time we go shopping, we're getting good jackets. Like full price."

"I h-hear y-you." Sam manages to say through chattering teeth.

"Go on and take a warm shower and then change."

Sam doesn't need to be told twice. He soon disappears behind the bathroom door and Dean quickly changes into dry clothes of his own. Heading to the stove, he begins to boil some water for some of that girly tea that Sam likes. Dean may hate the taste, but it will warm them up and that's the key. A trip to the E.R. for frostbite was something that Dean is keen to prevent.

Sam emerges twenty minutes later, his hair still a little damp from the shower. His cheeks are flushed and he's sniffling a bit and Dean sighs as he reaches over and touches Sam's forehead.

"I'm fine, Dean."

Dean grimaces, "You're getting sick. Take some vitamin C, maybe we can curb this before it gets too serious."

Sam scrunches up his face in that way that he's been doing ever since he was three and had to eat something he didn't like. He's protesting without saying a word—not that Dean would listen to him when he knows he's right—but it's a small act of defiance all the same.

But Sam takes the pill and Dean relaxes and he allows himself to think that they are out of the woods.

They aren't.

Of course, true to their often shitty luck, Sam gets sick.

Really sick.

Like delirious and burning up with a fever of 104 degrees sick.

Dean, of course, would take him to the hospital if he could. 104 degrees isn't something to mess around with but the damn snow keeps falling and they're snowed in for the rest of the day at least. The best he can do is ply Sam with medicine and keep cold compresses on him. 9-1-1 is on standby in his phone, a last resort if everything goes to Hell in a hand basket, though he doubts any rescuers could get here as fast as they would be needed.

"C'mon, Sammy," Dean brushes some hair out of his brother's damp forehead and applies another cold pack to his forehead. "Let me know you're not boiling up in there."

But all Sam does is mumble strings of incoherent words and all Dean wants to do is sleep—he's going on 18 hours without sleep and counting—but no, they both have to fight this or it's not good enough.

"Just hang in there."

But Sam just mumbles something about a flying piano.

It's going to be a long night.

Dean's body finally crashes at around hour 26 and when he wakes up, Sam is on fire and crying, clutching something in his hand.

"Easy, Sam, it's just me." Dean tries to calm his distressed brother, trying to get him to swallow some more medicine. "Just relax, okay?"

Sam's eyes open but they show no recognition in them. Instead, his little brother draws his knees up to his chest and continues his death grip on whatever he's holding.

"Gone, gone," Sam whispers. "Alone, no, yes. All alone—"

"You're not alone," Dean tells him softly. "Just relax, okay?"

"Dean?" Sam asks, hesitant, afraid of being proved wrong. "I saved it."

"What, Sam?"

"This." He opens his hands and Dean's breath leaves him as he gasps.

Sam has the amulet. The amulet that he threw away almost three years ago, the one regret Dean had above all the others. The one mistake he had always wished he could take back.

"Sam," He whispers, "When did you . . . ?"

"Sorry, I know you were mad," Sam babbles on, unable to gauge his older brother's concerned expression. "But when you were gone I needed something, Dean, something to prevent me from blowing my brains out and this helps."

"It's okay." Dean assures him softly, though they are going to have one hell of talk about what exactly Sam went through when Dean was gone in Purgatory. What his brother suffered, it's clear that Dean needs to address it.

"I was alone." Sam holds the amulet to his chest.

"Hey," Dean pulls his sweaty, burning brother to his chest, wrapping his arms around him. "You're not alone anymore. I'm here."

That seems to calm his brother down, enough for him to still and take his medicine.

"You won't leave?" Sam clutches at him as the drowsiness starts to overtake him.

Dean just smiles, "I'll be here."

Sam falls back to sleep.

The next morning, Sam's fever is broken.

They go through their normal routine, as if nothing has changed between them, only something has. It takes the youngest Winchester a few minutes to notice it, but the amulet is back, securely being worn around Dean's neck.

"Dean?"

His brother just shrugs, "You want it back or something?" He's trying to be casual about the whole thing.

Sam shakes his head, "No, I'm good."

But inside, Sam can't help but feel relieved. The amulet is back where it belongs and it's like he can finally breathe again.

Dean is back.

His big brother is finally back.

"Hey, you want to do something for Christmas?" Dean questions.

"Like what?"

"Go to Bobby's. Relax?"

Sam grins, "Sounds good."

"Perfect."

And just like that, life goes on.

Author's Note: I believe there are only a few prompts left so there will probably be like 6-7 chapters at the most. I will do my best to keep you all entertained to the end. Please review if you have a moment. Thanks!