Tears stained Jenny's cheeks, all the way down to her neck and the collar of her shirt as she sat across from Dean, both of them staring down at Sam.

No part of the young Winchester moved. His chest didn't rise. It didn't fall. His fingers didn't twitch and he didn't mumbled in his lifeless sleep.

The sun shining in Jenny's face only made her tears glisten when Dean glanced to her. He noticed how red and puffy her eyes were, almost as if she had dried fake blood around her nose and under eyes. The whites of her eyes were bloodshot, and she sniffles hard, chest shaking as she inhaled.

The door to the cabin opened, Bobby slowly walking in with a bucket of fried chicken. "Dean? Jenny? Brought you this back."

"No, thanks." The replied numbly. Jenny didn't remove her gaze from Sam.

"You two should eat something."

"We said no, Bobby." Jenny snapped a little harshly, still unmoving. Jenny picked up the flask that was laying next to her, drinking it's remains as Dean took a swig of the bottle of whiskey he had.

"Guys... I hate to bring this up, I really do. But don't you think maybe it's time... we bury Sam?" Bobby asked. Dean shook his head. Bobby sighed. "We could maybe..."

"What? Torch his corpse? Not yet." Dean replied calmly, looking at Bobby.

"I want you two to come with me." Jenny stayed quiet, letting Dean reply for her, given that they were probably on the exact same page

"I'm not going anywhere." Dean whispered, turning back to Sam. He still didn't move.

"Dean... Jenny, please." Bobby begged, looking as if he was ready to give up himself.

"Would you cut us some slack?" Dean snapped, resting a hand in his knee as he stared at Bobby.

"I just don't think you two should be in this position right now, that's all. I gotta admit, I could use your help." Dean snorted, shaking his head. "Something big is going down – end-of-the world big."

"Well, then let it end!" Jenny flinched at how loud Dean spoke, standing up from his chair, which then fell down.

"You don't mean that." Bobby said quietly, watching as Dean got in his face.

"You don't think so? Huh? You don't think I've given enough? That Jenny hasn't given enough? You don't think we've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it. And if you know what's good for you, you'd turn around, and get the hell out of here." Dean argued. Bobby stood there, shaking his head. Dean shoved him suddenly, hard, and Jenny finally looked to the two of them. "Go!" Dean paused, his voice breaking as he continued. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, just go."

Bobby sighed, looking at Jenny, who let another tear slip. "You know where I'll be." He told the two, turning his back on them and left the cabin.

Dean looked at Jenny, her lip trembling as she looked back at Sam. He walked over to her slowly, pulling the chair back up and sat next to her. His hand grasped hers weakly, running circles around the back of her hand.

"You know, when... When we were little— and Sam couldn't been more than 5— he just started asking questions." Dean started, Jenny bitting down on her lips to stifle more tears. "How come we didn't have a mom? Why do we always have to move around? Where'd Dad go when he'd take off for days at a time? ... I remember I begged him, "Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't want to know.""

Silence followed for a long time, Dean swiped a tear from his face. "I just wanted him to be a kid... Just for a little while longer. I always tried to protect him... Keep him safe... Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I had one job... I had one job..." Silent again. Dean's voice broke as more tears blinded him. "And I screwed it up." Jenny looked at Dean, her eyes flickering as she squeezed his hand. "I blew it. I let Sammy down.
How can I? How am I supposed to live with that?" Dean cried, Jenny resting her forehead in his shoulder as tears slipped down her nose, onto Dean's shirt. "What are we supposed to do? Sammy. God."

Jenny stayed quiet, listing her head back up, looking at Sam. Suddenly, Dean stood up, taking another sip of the whiskey before walking towards the kitchen table, grabbing his keys. "Dean I don't think you should be driving."

"I just need a minute alone." He answered, leaving without another word. Jenny inhaled sharply, turning back to Sam. She leaned against her knees, staring at him before covering her face. She finally let out a long, muffled cry, trembling in her seat.

———

It was dark outside by now. Dean had been gone for hours, and at this point, Jenny believed he had crashed his car. Or he was at a bar, wallowing in his sorrows. She had found another bottle of whiskey, which was already halfway gone by the time the moon rose.

Jenny couldn't process the world around her as she stared at Sam's lifeless body on the thin mattress. Her face was slippery with tears that hadn't dried from the hours of crying she had done, red eyes every puffier, and nose so congested she could hardly breathe.

"I'm so sorry, Sammy." She barely spoke through shaky breaths, crying again. She collapsed onto her knees from her chair, now resting next to Sam. He didn't move as she grabbed his hand.

"I promised John I would protect you." she She, gripping his cold hand. Her lips parted in a silent cry, her heart aching with the pain of losing one of the only people she had ever cared for.

"What are we supposed to do without you?" Jenny asked, referring to her and Dean, who she increasingly started to worry about as the minutes passed. "I don't want to leave you, little brother."

She had never called him that. She had always viewed Sam her baby brother, the boy she would always protect, but she had never once called him her brother. Not until now.

Jenny looked down, thinking. "I remember... I remember when you were just starting your freshman year in high school. You and Dean came to visit during summer break when John found a case..." Jenny rubbed Sam's hand, her voice breaking. "That was when I was still beating you in height." She let out a soft laugh, sniffling. "God... You were so excited to start high school. But I kept telling you... "It's not worth the effort, Samurai." "You'll drop out by junior year, Sammy.'"

She was silent.

"And then you invited me to your graduation. And I... I didn't go." She started to cry again. "I didn't go. I'm sorry I didn't go, Sammy. I should have. I'm sorry I didn't wait just a little longer to use that damn bathroom.... I'm sorry I didn't protect you."

Jenny cried even harder. The regret, the guilt in her heart squeezing it so tightly she couldn't breathe again. She couldn't breathe.

Suddenly, Sam gasped and shot up, breathing heavily as Jenny let out a piercing scream. A scream she had never let out before. One of true fear.

She scrambled to her feet, rushing to her bag and taking out a flask. She drenched Sam in the holy water, and he stood up, just as confused. "Jenny? What are you doing?"

Jenny stared at Sam in disbelief, gripping the flask so tightly her knuckles were almost a pure shade of white.

"Sam..." Jenny whispered, dropping the flask as she slowly pulled the young Winchester up onto his feet. Into a tight hug, and sobbed out of pure relief, whispering. "Sammy."

"Jenny, what's wrong?" Sam was still confused, now an underlying concern crept up as he hugged her awkwardly.

Jenny pulled away from Sam, staring at him up and down. "How are you... You were..." Jenny's crying came to a sudden halt. Realization struck her like a bus. She now understood why Dean was gone for so long.

———

Sam looked at the scar on his back, wincing in pain as Jenny was just staring at him from the kitchen table. She looked relieved and outraged at the same time.

The door suddenly opened, Dean walking in. He stared at Sam for a moment, smiling. "Sammy? Thank god." Dean pulled his brother into a tight embrace.

"Owwww. Uh, Dean..."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, man. I'm just... I'm just happy to see you up and around, that's all." Sam nodded slowly, puzzled. "Come on, sit down." Dean looked at Jenny, who flashed a fake smile. "It's a relief, ain't it?" He asked her, and Jenny nodded slowly.

"Okay. Dean... what happened to me?"

"Well, what do you remember?" Dean asked, Jenny leaning forward.

"Yeah, Sam, what do you remember?" She repeated, Dean glancing to her nervously.

"I-I saw you two and Bobby, and... I felt this pain. This sharp pain, like... white-hot, you know, and then you started running at me, and Jenny ran past me... and... that's about it."

"Yeah, that— that kid, stabbed you in the back. You lost a lot of blood, you know.... It was pretty touch and go for awhile." Dean chuckled, Sam frowning.

"But Dean, you can't— you can't patch up a wound that bad." Dean shook his head, gesturing to Jenny.

"No, Bobby and Jenny could. Who was that kid, anyway?" Jenny raised a brow at Dean, a look of hurt hidden behind her puffy eyes.

"His name's Jake. Did you get him?" Sam asked. Dean was quiet for a second.

"Jenny had him for a moment. Thought she was gonna kill him but... He got away." Dean said as Sam shook his head

"We got to find him, Dean. And I swear I'm gonna tear that son of a bitch apart." Sam stood up, Dean following suit as Jenny stared at the back of the older Winchester a dagger look.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Van Damme. You just woke up, all right? Let's get you something to eat. Huh? You want something to eat?" Sam nodded. "I'm starving. Come on."

———

"And that's when you guys showed up." Sam finished his story. Jenny had a soft frown on her face, already missing Andy, although she had barely known him.

"That's awful. Poor Andy." Dean shook his head, looking at Jenny. "You're not gonna eat something?" He asked her, and Jenny shook her head.

"Not hungry." Dean gave her a puzzled look before biting into his food.

"The demon said he only wanted one of us to walk out alive." Dean glanced back to Sam, swallowing his food hard.

"He told you that?"

"Yep." Sam scoffed, shrugging. "He appeared in a dream." Jenny looked at Sam, her eyes widening slightly.

"He tell you anything else?" She asked. Sam shook his head.

"No. No. That was it. Nothing else. You know, what I don't get, Dean, is if the demon only wanted one of us, then how did Jake and I both get away?"

"Well, I mean, they left you for dead. I'm sure they thought it was over." Dean took a large bite of his pizza, turning away for a moment. "So now that Yellow Eyes has Jake, what's he gonna do with him?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. But whatever it is, we got to stop him."

"Well, hold on. You need to get your rest. We got time."

"No, we don't." Jenny and Sam answered, Dean frowning at both of them.

"Woah, oceans aren't boiling, okay? Frogs aren't raining from the sky. Let's get Sam his strength back first." Dean argued as Jenny gestured to him.

"Sam looks perfectly fine. He's alive."

Sam gave Jenny a suspicious look on how she worded her sentence, changing the subject. "Well did you call the roadhouse? They know anything?"  Dean nodded, turning away. "Dean... what is it?"

"The roadhouse burned to the ground. Ash is dead. Probably Ellen— a lot of other hunters, too." His brother answered. Sam obviously was shocked at the new information, swallowing hard.

"Demons?" He questioned. Jenny nodded.

"Yeah, we think so. We think because Ash found something." She stated, Sam raising a brow.

"What did he find?"

"Bobby's working on that right now." Dean answered, Sam starting to get out of his seat

"Well, come on then. Bobby's only a few hours away." Dean got up quickly, grabbing Sam by the shoulders.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, Sam, stop! Damn it. You almost died in there. I mean, what would I've —" Dean cut himself off as Jenny gave him a look, and he turned back to his brother. "Can't you just take care of yourself for a little bit, huh? Just for a little bit?"

"I'm sorry. No." Sam answered bluntly. Dean let go of him, shaking his head.

For those of you that found this book through TikTok (theplaidalecki for any of you that want to follow for updates and edits on this series 👀)... Are you surprised it was Dean making the deal instead of Jenny? because i never intended for her to sell her soul for Sam. it was just a giant 'what if?' scenario 🤭

anywho... the next chapter is the book finale. and idk if i'm fully prepared for it. BUT! I'm getting right into book three after I finish this so stick arouuuunnndddd because, like i've been saying A LOT on TikTok and here, I have SO many plans for book 3.