"NO Sam!" Dean shouted suddenly snatching the blade back from his sibling, "What part of fucking No don't you understand!?" He yelled, breathing hard. Sam stared at his brother,

"You just said you understood! I know you don't want this…you think I do? But just coz you don't want it doesn't mean you can flat out deny that it's the best course of action, Dean!"

"It's not the best course of action, Sammy! I can protect you, I can stop it from happening!"

"Man, I knew you were egotistical, but this reaches a whole new level, even for you! You actually think you can change my fate? Single handed, you against the Gods?"

"Gods? Come on Sammy, you don't actually believe there's someone up there controlling your life? We're hunters we make our own choices! That's exactly why we do what we do!"

"No Dean, I didn't choose this life, remember? In fact I chose not to have this life! But something brought me back into it! Fate, Dean, fate. This will happen, I've come to terms with it, now you need to."

"This isn't you Sammy, you don't just give up, that's not the Winchester way." The older man muttered, shaking his head in denail.

"Maybe it has to be, Dean. Maybe now that's all we can do. Admit defeat, sign out with a little bit of dignity."

"You think slashing your wrists in some grotty motel bathroom gives you dignity? Man, you really are delusional!" Dean scoffed. Sam didn't say anything for a while, until finally he looked back to his brother,

"Ok, maybe I won't have dignity…maybe I'll go out in the worst way possible, I mean suicide isn't exactly the most noble way to go…but I refuse to become something more…or less than Sam Winchester, and if this is the way to ensure that…then so be it…" He finished quietly. Dean let out a long sigh, before whispering softly,

"Why are you doing this Sammy?"

"Because I have to, Dean." He said, smiling sadly,

"Well you know what, Dude? I don't believe you." Sam frowned and opened his mouth to object but Dean carried on, "I know you too well, I know everything you think and feel, I know when you're lonely, when your sad about Jess, about Dad, when you wonder what it would have been like to stay with that Sarah chick for longer, when you feel annoyed at your awesome big brother-" Sam smiled and rolled his eyes, "-when you get antsy because your freaky legs won't stretch out in my car, when you feel guilty about using fake ID's to get good people to trust you. I know all that, just like I know that you're lyin' now…not coz you believe you're goin' dark side, but coz your scared you'll lose the battle to try and stop it." Sam sighed, and looked away from his brother…confirmation enough that Dean had got it all spot on. All of it.

And you know what that means, Sammy?" Dean continued, "It means, that you know there's a chance you won't turn into one of the Big Bad's henchman…that there's a way to save you. And deep down I know that you know that I will find that way." He whispered, placing a rough hand on the side of his brothers neck, thumb gripping his jawline. It was a moment before Dean realised Sam's skin was slick with tears, that were dripping through his closed eyelids. He hung his head and reached up a hand to grip Deans which had slid down to his shoulder. Slowly he nodded, and Dean let out a massive sigh.

"Ok, Dean…You win, I trust you to help me. But man, that promise still stands…if I have to be tough enough to try fighting, you have to be tough enough to stop." Slowly Dean nodded too, a strange feeling in his gut, one that held an ominous foreboding of a coming war, one which the will of the Winchester brothers would be pivotal, whether that will be bent on fighting…or surrendering.