Note from the Author: I have always wondered what would have happened if Sam was unable to save Dean from the Djinn (Season 2, Episode 20; What is and what should never be), and so I decided to write up this little Alternate Universe ending to the episode.

I do not own the characters.

This story is from both Sam and Dean's Point of View.

"What if that's why she keeps appearing to me? She's not a spirit. It's - it's like more and more like I'm catching flashes of reality. You know, like I'm in here somewhere, and I'm - I'm catatonic, and I'm taking all this stuff in but I, but I can't snap out of it."

"Yeah, okay, look. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. I was wrong. You're not crazy but we – we – we need to get out of here. Fast."

The Wish!Sam took hold of Dean's arm and started to pull him alongside him – pulling him out of the warehouse they had tracked the Djinn to. But as Dean went along with the older male, something suddenly clicked in his mind: this wasn't real.

"What?" Sam threw his arms in the air as Dean had pulled away from him.

"I don't think you're real."

Frustrated now, Sam moved over to him and started to grab the older Winchester sibling by the arms. He was speaking in a rushed, almost breathless voice, "Dude, you feel that? You feel this? I'm real. This is not an acid trip. I'm real, and that thing is gonna come down here and kill us for real. Now, please—"

"There's one way to be sure." And with that, he pulled out his own silver knife, holding the blade to his torso.

Wish!Sam started to back off now with his hands raised. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?"

With the knife still pressed to his torso, Dean looked around before responding, "It's an old wives' tale. If you're about to die in a dream, you wake up."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's crazy. All right?"

But Dean was determined to find out what was real and wasn't. "Maybe."

Wish!Sam moved now, making his way towards Dean, his hands reaching out to his brother. "You're going to kill yourself—" His voice hesitated as Dean held the knife out towards him, stopping him in his tracks. "Okay…"

"Or I'm gonna wake up. One or the other."

"Okay, this isn't a dream, all right? I'm here, with you, now. And you're about to kill yourself, Dean." Wish!Sam started to sound desperate now, trying to keep Dean from plunging the knife into his torso.

"No, I'm pretty sure. Like, 90% sure. But I'm sure enough." Turning the knife onto himself now, Dean gripped the handle with both hands, his movements hesitating for a moment. Wish!Sam used this hesitation to call out, "Wait!"

x.x.x.x.x.x

Dean had been gone for hours and he wasn't answering his phone – how hard was it to take down a Djinn? Hadn't Dean had the element of surprise? The Djinn was unaware of the Winchester brothers hunting it down, right? Rubbing the skin beside each of his eyes, Sam let out a rough breath before moving to rub his hands together – his right knee jiggled, the muscles twitching with the nerves that were running through him.

"Come on, Dean," he spoke into the phone. "Pick up."

Another call that went straight to voicemail – Dean never had his phone off or anything; it was always switched on. Something was wrong. Something had happened. But what?

What if Dean had been caught by the Djinn?

What if Dean was dead?

Trying Dean's cell once more, he tried to steady his breathing, clearing his throat roughly.

Voice mail. Again.

Heart beat racing now, Sam grabbed his own silver blade dipped in blood, along with his jacket and rushed from the motel room. Rushing to the nearest car now, he shattered the window, not even caring if there was an alarm – there wasn't – and hotwired the car, revving the engine to life. Throwing the gear into drive, Sam sped off down the street and to the last warehouse Dean had mentioned – it was hours away, though. Well, hours away if one obeyed the traffic laws. But, in this moment, Sam could not care about the laws – whenever Dean was in trouble, a switch turned in his mind and nothing else mattered; he would do anything to rescue his brother, absolutely anything.

x.x.x.x.x.x

"Why'd you have to keep digging?"

Mary and Carmen were next to Sam now – proving his theory on that this world was not real, it was fantasy. Dean glanced at the woman who took shape of his mother, seeing that she was in the same nightgown she had died in before he turned to see that Jessica had appeared, standing next to Sam, their fingers interlocked.

"Why couldn't you have left well enough alone? You were happy."

Dean clenched his jaw slightly, the muscles bulging as he kept the knife held to his torso, his eyes fixed on his mother – well, the Wish version of his mother.

"Put the knife down, honey." Her voice was soft, her hands resting on top of his.

"You're not real. None of it is." Tears filled the rims of his eyes, blinking them away with a shake of his head.

"It doesn't matter. It's still better than anything you had."

"What?"

"It's everything you want. We're a family again. Let's go home."

"I'll die. The Djinn will…drain the life out of me in a couple of days."

"But in there, with us, it'll feel like years. Like a lifetime."

Turning his head now, Dean looked over at Wish!Sam who had offered him a small nod with a half-smile.

"I promise. No more pain. Or fear. Dean, stay with us."

One of her hands moved to take hold of his chin lightly, his thumb stroking the flesh as the other moved to try to take the knife from his grasp. Dean took in a shaky breath, his eyes falling closed, the tears spilling now as he leaned into his Wish!Mary's touch.

"Get some rest."

"Why is it our job to save everyone? Haven't we done enough? Give me the knife."

x.x.x.x.x.x

At the warehouse now, Sam rushed in, not caring that the Djinn would have heard his loud, non-stealth-like entrance.

"Where's my brother, you bastard?" He screamed out, his blade firmly grasped in his hand. "Give him back to me!" Grunting loudly, Sam rushed about the warehouse, making as much noise as he could to attract the attention of the Djinn – he wanted to kill him, to plunge the blade so deep into the creature's chest that he forces the knife through to the other side. "Come on," he shouted once more. "Show yourself!" But, there was nothing. The Djinn did not appear to Sam. The creature ignored his words, ignored his presence.

Still moving about the warehouse, his eyes widened at the sight before him in one of the larger areas – Dean and the girl they were searching for, strung up with an IV stuck in their carotid artery. "So, this how you survive," he mused to himself, hurrying over to where Dean was strung up. Fingers rested on where the pulse was – they were both still alive, Dean more than the female. The girl's pulse was weak; she would only have a few hours left, at best. "You place them into a sleep that makes them think you granted their wish…"

Just as he was about to pull the IV from Dean's neck, something took hold of him from behind, tossing his across the room. His body crashed into some empty boxes, smashing them as he landed hard on them with a grunt; the action having winded him. Struggling for breath now, he struggled to his feet, blade still in hand, pointing it at the creature. Rushing at the creature now – a fatal mistake – it took hold of his wrist and snapped the bones, forcing Sam to drop the knife with a grunt of pain. "Give me back my brother!" Sam spat at the Djinn, struggling against its powerful grasp. Something sparked behind the creature's eyes at his words, the lips turning into a smirk with a nodding of his head.

"Sleep…your brother is waiting for you."

Eyes rolled back into his head when the Djinn's strangely lit hand rested on his forehead. Sam's body fell limp, his struggling stopping as he let out an almost content, relaxed sigh.

"Dean…" Sam breathed with his last breath.

x.x.x.x.x.x

Sam stood now, his eyes wide at the sight before him – his mother, Jessica, himself (what?) and some unknown female all stood near Dean who still held the knife to his torso. They were talking to Dean, but what they were saying could not be heard. But, Jessica turned to look over at where Sam stood and her eyes lit up, sparkling before the other Sam vanished in an array of blue flames – the same that had been seen when the Djinn touched him.

Arms opened wide as he rushed towards Jessica, his arms scooping her up into a tight hold, burying his features into the crook of her neck with one hand entangling into her hair, holding her firmly to his body. Tears filled his eyes, closing them tightly, inhaling the scent that came off her in waves. "Jessica…" his breath was a sigh of relief, chuckling breathlessly with his embrace only tightening around her.

"Sammy?"

Sam turned to look at his brother and grinned, letting Jessica go before turning to embrace him now, the knife having been forgotten by the oldest Winchester brother.

"Dean, you're alive. The Djinn didn't kill you."

"Sammy…this isn't real. None of this real – Jessica, mom, Carmen – they aren't real."

Pulling back from Dean now, Sam nodded his head – he knew that. "I know that, I asked the Djinn to give me back my brother and he put me here, with you." From the expression on Dean's face, he was not overly pleased with what had happened. "And what about in the real world, Sam? Who is going to protect the people?" With a frustrated breath, Sam moved to stand beside Wish!Jessica, not caring that she wasn't real, this was real enough for him before responding, "Dean, I'm tired of hunting. All I ever wanted was to get married and start a family, to live a normal life – you wanted that for both of us, remember?" The youngest Winchester watched as Dean's eyes softened, nodding his head with a breath.

"So, what do we do then? Just give it up and pretend like we don't know what is really out there?"

"Dean, we are safe in this world. The Demons don't know anything about us…please, let's just live a normal life. I'm begging you, Dean."

Sam held Jessica at his side and offered Dean a small, his hand reaching out to his brother. "We are both happy in this world. I have Jess, you have a girlfriend too…Mom's alive. I never got to know what it was like to have a mom, Dean, you did."

With hopeful eyes, Sam watched as Dean surrendered to what Sam – his Sam – and the others in this Wish!World wanted.

Choosing to forget everything that they had gone through, Dean took hold of Carmen's hand and the brothers, with their significant others, walked from the warehouse to live their lives as normal.

"Thank you."

"I ain't losing you, Sammy – not in this world either."