Title: Famous last words

Summary: "Sam, watch out!" he bellows, heart screeching to a halt in his chest almost forebodingly as if it already knew that it was about to be shattered into a million pieces any second now. Coda to 2x21 All hell breaks loose.

Warnings: Tissues, maybe? *sniffle* Death!Fic

Author's notes: A tribute to one of my all-time favorite moments in SPN history. To the day I still cannot watch this scene without tearing up.

"Sammy took his first steps yesterday. He walked toward Dean"

Even after everything they've been through together, all their highs and lows, every single conversation they ever shared, every touch they exchanged- no matter how trivial, every hug and every prank and every goddamn fight they had, there is only one thing on Dean's mind- only one particular memory from their childhood that flashes before his eyes the moment he watches that stranger closing in on his baby brother from behind.

"Sam, watch out!" he bellows, heart screeching to a halt in his chest almost forebodingly as if it already knew that it was about to be shattered into a million pieces soon.

And Dean's eyes widen in absolute terror- paralyzing fear taking hold of his body, when a sudden flash of something he had long thought forgotten resurfaces from the dusty corners of his mind.

Sam as a dimpled, chubby 1-year-old, stringing together senseless sounds and wordings in typical baby-gibberish.

His eyes alight with innocence, cheeks flushed with health as he throws his chubby arms in the air and screeches "Dean" out of nowhere.

It comes to a complete surprise for all of them.

Most of all to their father.

John is sitting at the coffee table, mindlessly skimming through his leather journal when it happens.

His eyes widen in shock and the hunt is instantly forgotten.

Dean's attention shifts from his baby brother to his father and then back to Sam, his little heart hammering wildly away in excitement.

His five-year-old self is too young to understand the full gravity of the situation- to grasp the meaning of Sam's actions- the implication behind that one word that his brother had just spoken.

"Sammy said something, Dad- he just said a real word!"

"I heard it, kiddo," John gives back before picking his youngest up from the ground and tenderly ruffling his soft chocolate brown baby locks. "Can you do that again, Sammy? Can you say something for us?"

"De-Dean," Sam babbles with a gap-toothed grin of happiness and points a tiny finger at his older brother trying to make his one-word-statement even clearer.

Dean's heart all but burns with pride, his cheeks flushing and he can't remember a single thing in the world that feels as good as this right here, having a little brother that looks at you as if you hung the moon and hearing your name from his lips for the very first time in what would later turn out to be a lifetime.

"He said my name, Daddy. Did you hear it?!"

John swallows, Adam's apple jumping beneath his stubbled throat when he gently lowers Sam back to the ground and returns to his seat at the coffee table.

"Deaaan!" Sammy squeals, making grabby- motions towards his big brother. Now that he has gotten the hang of the word, he apparently can't stop saying it.

"He did it again! Did you hear him? Did you listen, dad?"

"Yeah, yeah I heard it, buddy. Keep it down though, okay? I'm trying to work…"

Dean's smile falters for a second, eyebrows drawn together as he tries to find out why his father's mood has suddenly changed.

And then forgetting about it the next second, when Sam continues to say his name, clapping his hands and laughing and crawling towards him as if his whole world was narrowed down to Dean and nobody else.

The scene is painted out in his mind so vividly, that Dean can pretend- even if it's just for a moment that his brother and him are nothing but children, trying to cling to each other when there's nobody else to cling to instead.

But the second his brother's pained grunt fills the air, dragged over to him by the icy wind of fateful cruelty, when the stranger twists the knife in his back, Dean knows that this is what's really happening.

His brother's shocked gasp of air echoes hollowly through the night and Dean's body is reacting to the sound even before his brain does.

"Nooooooooooooo!"

His boots hit the wet, muddy earth as he starts running with nearly inhuman speed, legs eating up the distance that keeps them apart before he finally drops down on the icy clay before Sam.

His brother's whole body slumps to the side like a crumbling house of cards, head lolling forward, even when Dean grabs a hold of him. "Hey. Wow, wow, wow…"

Sam doesn't meet his eyes, doesn't react to anything he's saying and deep down inside Dean already knows. He just knows that there is nothing he can do.

"Sam. Hey, hey... come here, come here, let me look at ya..." his voice is rushed, words slurring together with the numbing fear that weighs his tongue down.

Sam is practically folding in half, his huge frame completely lax as it falls forward against his brother's chest. Dean wraps his arm around Sam's back and when his fingers come away coated in sticky blood, he draws in a panicked breath of his own.

"Oh, hey look, it's not even that bad... It's not even that bad, alright? Sammy, Sam!" he starts screaming when Sam gaze turns distant and his eyes slip to the side, shaking fingers wandering up to hold his little brother's head upright when he can't seem to bring up enough energy to do it himself..

"Hey, listen to me, we are going to patch you up okay... You'll be as good as new. Huh? I'm going to take care of you, I'm going to take care of you! I gotcha. It's my job, right, watch after my pain-in-the-ass little brother... Sam... Sam... ?"

He gently brushes the kid's bangs from his eyes and then does it again when the unruly strands just won't stay in place.

And while Dean's whole world is on hold for a terrifying second, there is one other memory that comes to his mind when he looks at his brother's slack features, mouth slightly apart in a deceptive illusion to imitate breathing, where Sam's lungs are no longer craving air.

"Sam!"

It's not a whole memory actually, just a brief glimpse at an entry in his dad's journal where John had written "Sammy took his first steps yesterday. He walked toward Dean." Followed by a brief flash of baby Sammy taking his first toddling steps towards him while he kept his arms opened in silent support. "Come here, Sammy! Over here, you can do it!"

I'm here to catch you if you fall. Don't be afraid. Big brother's gonna take care of you Sammy. I got you…

"No. No-no-no-no-no-no. Oh, God. Oh, God... Sam!"

Dean buries his face in his brother's long hair, squeezing his eyes shut against the overwhelming feeling of getting his heart ripped out of his chest.

His left hand is cradling Sam's head, while he holds his little brother close, breathing in his scent, taking in his residing warmth and spilling tears of unfathomable grief.

"SAMMY!"

Sam said his last word today and it was 'Dean'.
He also took his last step today.

It was toward Dean.

The END.

So what did you think? :)) I played a little with the style and language in that one and I'm really not sure if it worked out or not^^ But I just read somewhere in a forum that this quote about Sam's first step being towards Dean is actually a part of John's journal. So I had to write a short fic about it! *Squee* ;) Please drop me a note if you liked the story :D Reviews make me super happyy! Thanks :)