Author's Note: Hi everyone. I want to thank everyone who read/reviewed/followed/favorited my last story. Your support is just awesome. And now, less than a week later, I'm back. This is a little bit of a dark story here, and just a warning in case you missed it in the summary... this story deals with suicide so if that bothers you either don't read or read with caution. This is set early season 7, after Cas is gone but before Bobby's death, and before the leviathans pose as Sam and Dean. I hope you all enjoy the ride.

Chapter One: Don't Do This, Dean

Now:

Sam Winchester wiped the blood away from his eyes and tried desperately to pull his legs free from the rubble without causing further injury to himself. He was pretty sure that he hadn't broken anything except a couple of ribs and he wanted to keep it that way. But he had to hurry. Dean already had a head start and Sam needed to catch up with him before it was too late. He was certain that he knew what his big brother was going to do and Dean had almost not survived his last attempt.

Sam managed to get his right leg free, but he was going to have to somehow dig through the pile of ceiling pieces and other junk if he wanted to liberate his left one. The hunter could feel that something had punctured the flesh and if he just yanked it out he'd run the risk of slicing his leg open.

The younger Winchester began grabbing pieces of debris and throwing them away from himself. He hoped that he'd get free in time. The trail of blood that Dean had left behind indicated that he was injured as well, but Sam had no clue if that would even slow him down in his current state.

"What does it matter? Just lie back and let your brother go."

Sam turned his head and saw Lucifer standing next to him looking down with something akin to amused pity written on his face. But no. It wasn't Lucifer. That fallen angel was still locked up tight in the cage. This… this was just a hallucination.

"Aww, don't be like that. You know I'm right. How many times have you told Dean how useless and weak he is. And now, when he finally gets the message, you're going to run off to his unwanted rescue? What are you? Nuts? Well, yeah… okay you are but…"

Sam stopped pulling the debris off of his leg and dug his fingers into his left palm. The image of Lucifer flickered and was gone. Sam turned his attention back to the matter at hand, trying to ignore what the hallucination had said. Sure, it had kind of been true. But Sam only spat those mean things at his brother when he wasn't himself or was under a great deal of stress. But he never meant to cause Dean any pain. And he certainly didn't want to lose his big brother. Especially not like this.

Finally Sam located the sharp piece of a broken chandelier that had embedded itself in his leg. With a grunt, he pulled it out. Blood ran from the wound and Sam winced as he tried to slow down the flow with his hand. He removed his jacket and undid the buttons on his long sleeve shirt before taking that off as well. Then he wrapped the clothing around his leg and tied it tightly. After putting his jacket back on over his t-shirt, Sam stood up, pleased that his leg would support him.

Sam limped off, following the trail of his brother's blood. Truthfully, he didn't need the trail to find Dean. If the older Winchester was going to do what Sam expected him to do, there was only one place for him to go. So much for their preparations…

Climbing the stairs out of the basement was difficult with his wounded leg, but he'd done more with far worse injuries before. At the top, he turned right and walked quickly down the winding, seemingly endless hall. Sam wanted to run, but knew he wouldn't be able to. When he reached the large main room, the hunter took the staircase to the left and went up to the second floor. He located the huge library with no trouble and used the spiral staircase inside to reach the third floor. From there Sam exited the library and made his way through yet another long hallway. As he half-limped/half-jogged down the poorly lit passage, he couldn't help but smile at the memory of Dean's comments about the mansion's unusual maze-like setup. But he sobered as he realized that if he didn't hurry, memories would be all he had left of his big brother.

Finally he found the door to the study. Sam grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn it only to find that it was locked.

"Dean! Dean, open the door! C'mon man, don't do this. Please, Dean. Open the door."

Sam got no response. He'd have to get in on his own. He kicked it but all that accomplished was extra pain in his injured leg. Sam really wished he had a gun to shoot the lock off with, but all their weapons were in a duffle bag in the room he currently was locked out of. He checked all his pockets and found the piece of wire that he'd picked up earlier. It would work.

After a moment, Sam had successfully picked the lock. He turned the knob and opened the door. And there, standing in the center of the room with the weapons bag opened by his feet, was Dean. Sam was relieved that his brother was still alive, but that relief didn't last long. Because, while Dean was not dead and his multiple cuts and lacerations didn't seem too terribly bad, the older hunter was holding a gun with his finger on the trigger. And the barrel of the weapon was pushed into the soft skin under his own chin.

"Dean, put the gun down."

"Sammy…" Dean's eyes were pleading with him as one lone tear slipped out.

"Don't do this, Dean." Sam didn't dare step forwards, afraid that any move could lead to Dean killing himself.

"Sammy, I… I can't…"

Dean's eyes closed and Sam had no time to react as his brother pulled the trigger.

Author's Note Part Two: Just a reminder... dead men do not write stories so if you want to know what happens next you cannot kill me for this cliffhanger. I hope you all enjoyed and please take a moment to leave a review. Thank you so much.