Title: Eternal Sleep

Rating: T (suicide deaths)

Summary: "I don't care how you deal. I really, really don't. But just don't get killed." Sam's words rumbled around his head as he tightened the noose around his neck. He hoped Sam would understand.

Spoilers: set after Season 7 Episode 13

Dean slipped the cover back on the marker and stood back from the wall. He wanted to leave a message for Sam but he didn't want to write it on a piece of paper that could easily get lost. He looked up at the message he wrote on the wall for him. The motel owner may be annoyed that someone intentionally wrote on their wall but this was important. He wanted to leave a message that was short and unimportant to anyone who read it but important to his brother.

He nodded when he was happy with the message. It was time.

Dean rubbed his hand over his eyes. He was tired. Frank was right. He could either do the job with a smile or not do it at all. And he did really try to do it. He wanted to do it with a smile. He didn't want to quit. He didn't want to leave his brother behind but maybe it was just easier this way. If he died on his terms, his way, Sam wouldn't have to worry about him and hopefully he would understand.

O****O

24 hours before

Dean met Sam exiting the library. He looked tired from researching all day and he rubbed the dryness out of his eyes. They were in a small town on the outskirts of Boston. Their eyes had caught the attention of a local television actor, Bradley Austin, who hung himself from the shower curtain in his bathroom. His sister, Alison, was the one who found him. She told them of her dickhead brother who was rude to everyone around him and went through assistants like he went through scripts until the arrival of one assistant, Lucy Kennedy, who changed everything. When she left, Bradley's acting career spiralled out of control. "But I never thought he'd kill himself," Alison said sadly. Dean asked her where Lucy was now. Alison turned her head as her brother's body was being wheeled out by the coroner. "She's in Lot 27 of Springfield cemetery." Sam queried how she died but Alison asked that they speak to someone else and ran away in tears.

Dean was left with the job of following the coroner while Sam was sent to find out how Lucy Kennedy died in the local library. Her parents were killed in a car crash six months ago, leaving her to take care of her two younger brothers. The three of them were found hanging from the ceiling of the garage two months ago. It was Bradley who found them.

The brothers walked side by side as they discussed the details of the case. "Maybe there's nothing supernatural about his. Maybe it's just a terrible suicide case," Sam remarked. Dean nudged him in the arm and pointed to a girl sitting on the grass away from them. "Hey, isn't that the victim's sister?" Dean recognised her even though she was sitting with her back to them. When they walked up to them, it was Dean who noticed her face first. It was drained of all colour and her lips were slightly blue. "It doesn't even hurt," she whispered looking up at him with sadness in her eyes. It was then that he noticed her wrists. They were cut and bleeding heavily. Dean slipped his arms under her legs and neck and carried her to the nearest hospital.

They waited until the doctors gave them permission to start questioning her. They showed her their badges again but her mind was elsewhere. She thanked them in a hushed tone and apologised for what they saw. "It wasn't... I didn't do... I mean," she paused as she tried to sort the events out in her head. Dean stepped forward and sat at the end of her bed. He gently told her to trust them and smiled when she looked up at him. She told them how she saw her brother in the park. He was looked happy. He told her not to worry. That death didn't even hurt. Alison then took Dean's hand showing him what her brother did. She rubbed her index finger along his wrist indicating where he cut her. "But ghosts can't hurt people, right?" she looked at them worryingly. "They're not supposed to be able to hurt people."

Sam agreed to protect Alison in her home while Dean went to burn the bones of Bradley Austin. It was while lighting the match over Bradley's body that he saw the familiar outline of a man in a flannel shirt and peak cap. The man then disappeared behind a headstone. Dean quickly threw the match in the grave and went in chase of the shadow. He found him at the entrance of the graveyard. "Bobby?" he whispered. His eyes watered with tears but he was afraid that if he wiped them away, the shadow would disappear like in his dreams. The man nodded as Dean slowly stepped forward. "Hello boy," the familiar voice replied.

Dean's legs felt weak. He wanted to run up and hug him hard but he knew he would only fall through. For a ghost, he looked so real. "Was it you... before... on the other cases?" Dean asked hoping the man would understand. He did and he nodded.

"I know it's been hard, son," Bobby softly said. "I know you're tired." Dean nodded. He really was. "You know, it doesn't even hurt. Maybe it's time to go to sleep?" Bobby asked. He then turned and walked away. Dean felt a pull inside him. It was like a rope had been tied around his heart. He didn't want to lose Bobby again. So, he followed him out hoping it wasn't another dream.

Bobby waited at the door in the motel room as Dean wrote his message on the wall. Dean stepped back and nodded when he was satisfied with what it said. "No chick flick moments," it read. "I'm sorry, love Dean." A small smile disappeared on his lips. The second line totally contradicted the first but he needed to write something only his brother would understand. He had to write something that would be meaningless to everyone else.

He turned back to Bobby and took the noose that was handed to him. He rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and placed the stool in the middle of the room. He looked back at Bobby and smiled. It was good to see him again even if he was just a ghost. It was a relief to know that at least someone was watching out for them. "Look after Sammy for me, will you?" Dean asked and waited for Bobby's head to nod. Dean then threw the rope over the wooden beam and secured it tightly. Sam's words were the only thing going through his head otherwise his mind was a peace. He closed his eyes as he placed the noose over his head and tightened it. His greatest hits flashed before him. He could see Ben with his head under the bonnet of the Impala. He could see Lisa flashing a white smile when she opened the door to him the first time. He saw his mother making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for him in their kitchen. He saw Sam singing Bon Jovi with him in the car. He saw him again lighting fireworks together on the fourth of July and again on the couch swapping Christmas presents when they were kids. His eyes watered and a tear dropped down his cheek. He hoped Sam would understand.

O****O

"You do know what you wrote was an oxymoron," Sam grinned widely when his brother moved in the bed. He gently handed him a cup of tepid water. He was glad he was awake. Seeing your brother being ripped apart by hell hounds was one thing but seeing him swinging from a noose was just devastating. It was while researching at Alison's house that he realised their mistake. They both thought it was an angry ghost when it was in fact a Vigor demon. They feed every ten years on the souls of the dying. Apparently, souls are tastier when they come from someone who has experienced extreme loss or heartbreak. The demon would take on the image of the dead loved one and persuade the victim to commit suicide. Then they would feed on their dying soul. To be honest, it was a complete fluke that Sam had found it in the first place. Alison couldn't get to sleep and offered to help. She opened a random book and found a page jutting out. The victims were dependent on who found who. Bradley found Lucy, Alison found Bradley and Dean found Alison.

"So, it wasn't really Bobby?" Dean asked sadly. Sam swore in his head. He couldn't believe his big brother still thought Bobby was hanging around them. "No," he sighed. "It was never Bobby." Sam saw the sadness in his brother's eyes and he found it disturbing. It worried him. It was a sadness someone got before they betray or before they quit. He knew Dean's attempted suicide was due to the demon. He knew Dean would never quit. He wasn't built like that but would he betray? Sam couldn't tell for sure but he hoped he was wrong.