Dean almost didn't live to see his 14th birthday.

John had spent the month prior roaming the country dragging the boys from one hunt after another. Two weeks after Christmas found them up in Blue Earth, Minnesota at Pastor Jim's who became rather annoyed with John for allowing the holiday to once again go unobserved. Looking over the boys he quickly noticed how they had grown in the few months since he had seen them last. Dean's jeans were at least 2 inches too small for him as well as Sammy's, but Jim doubted that John had even noticed his boys were growing up, seeing how he was so wrapped up in his latest research. Sammy didn't even have an adequate winter coat for the cold Minnesota winter they were currently enduring. It was time to take matters into his own hands.

Jim knew John wasn't neglecting his sons on purpose he just had other priorities. He also knew John was strapped for cash most of the time and even if he had noticed his sons had outgrown their clothes he wasn't exactly in the position to buy replacements. This being said, Jim knew there was no way in hell John was going to accept charity to get them. Jim had to play it smart. He took the opportunity to take the boys shopping one afternoon while John was deeply involved with researching his new hunt. Of course he did not tell John what he was up to. He made up a story about needing the boys to help dig out the homes of some of his elderly parishioners and John just gave the trio a wave and sent them off.

A few hours later, Jim and the boys came back with bags of clothes from the local Walmart. Sammy excitedly wearing his new coat and Dean happily wearing the new pair of boots Jim had gotten him. John gave Jim a puzzling look and then an angry one when he realized what his old friend had done.

"No way Jim, no way I'm accepting all this stuff from you. You're just gonna have to take it all back." John angrily announce as he watched the boys pull their new clothes from the various blue bags. Dean and Sammy quickly gave each other worried glances and stopped taking their new things out of the bags. They knew it was going to become a battle of wills between their father and Pastor Jim as to whether or not they got to keep their new things. Jim gave the boys a quick reassuring smile and walked over to where their father was standing.

"I'm not taking anything back John and that's it, end of story. Consider them late Christmas presents. You know Christmas, the holiday most people celebrate that happened to be 2 weeks ago or did you forget again." Jim shot John a stern look as he talked. When John started to protest again Jim simply raised his hand and stopped him. "You're not going to win this battle John Winchester. Your boys are growing up and they needed new clothes. I happened to have some cash given to me by my parishioners for the holiday and I decided to spend that money on the boys. MY choice, my decision, and I'm not taking anything back."

Both Dean and Sam held their breaths as the seconds ticked by, waiting to see if their father would back down. John looked over at the two of them and reluctantly nodded his head.

"Jim I don't know how I'm gonna repay you." John said solemnly realizing the gravity of what Jim had done. Jim leaned in and gave his old friend a smile.

"Johnny boy you don't repay Christmas presents."

"Christmas presents eh?" John looked at his sons once again pulling out their new clothes.

"Merry Christmas John." Jim said as he gave John a friendly nudge.

"Thanks Jim." John said as he nudged him back.

"You're welcome."

Another storm blew in from Canada and even John was grateful they weren't on the road or trapped in some cheap motel for the duration. Jim's library was a wealth of information and both John and Sam spent time surrounded by its books. Though Sam was only 9 he wrestled with books that would have stopped older readers in their tracks and managed to make sense of them. Even John was impressed when Jim handed Sam a book in Latin and Sammy read it like it was nothing. Dean on the other hand preferred to spend time with Jim in his armory checking out the various weapons that the good Pastor kept hidden from his brethren. Oh if his parishioners only knew. It probably was a good thing they didn't.

John was pleased to see the boys taking a greater interest in hunting. Time seemed to stand still the first few days of their visit as snow drifts measured in feet wafted across Blue Earth keeping them inside. By the sixth day the boys were beginning to get cabin fever. John and Jim tried their best to keep the boys occupied but eventually they drove the two older men to desperate measures. Finally granted with a few hours of calm weather John gratefully allowed Dean and Sam sometime outside to explore the woods around Pastor Jim's property.

The boys marveled at the tall piles of snow churned by the wind and took turns rolling down their steep inclines. They hurled snow balls at each other and slam each other into various snow drifts never realizing the danger that was only a few yards away.

A small creek ran past the Pastor's property and its waters were frozen solid by the weeks of sub zero weather. Mostly covered by snow, Dean and Sam had no idea that at the bottom of the large pile of snow they were about to climb the ice was 10 inches thick. They continued to yell and throw snow balls at each other, as Dean got to the top of the pile first. Tossing one last snowball at his brother he hurled himself headfirst down the drift, somersaulting at least twice before hitting the bottom with a thud. At first Sam thought Dean was playing a trick on him. He raced down the pile to his brother assuming Dean would just leap up and shove him into the snow bank and they would go back to chasing each other around again. As he looked down at his brother Sam could see red seeping out from under Dean's head and he suddenly became very frightened.

"Dean…" Sam asked hesitantly looking intently at his brother's face against the frozen surface. When he didn't answer Sam reached down to shake his brother's shoulder but Dean continued to lay there unresponsive.

"C'mon Dean quit fooling around." The 9 year old said with a shaky voice. He looked around realizing just how far they were from the rectory. So lost in their play they never realized what direction they were taking and now Sam found himself lost and starting to panic. He knew he couldn't wake his brother and he sure wasn't going to be able to carry him even if he could find his way back. He looked at his watch and saw they'd been gone for at least two hours. In another hour the sun would begin to set and he had to come up with some plan and quickly if he was going to help his brother. He tried to wake Dean again and felt his heart sink when the older boy stayed silent.

"Dean please, I don't know how to get back." He said pleading with his brother to wake up. He rolled Dean onto his back and quickly saw the blood oozing from his head wound. Tears welled up in his eyes as he shook Dean and got no response. He looked around again and saw the foot prints in the snow from where they had been chasing each other around. Standing up he knew he had to try to follow those foot prints back if he was going to be able to get back to the rectory and get help. Thankfully the wind had stopped blowing hours before and the footprints were still fairly visible. He took off his scarf and wrapped Dean's face and head with it hoping it would give him some further protection from the weather. Reluctantly he left Dean laying unconscious in the snow and set out back to the rectory.

Meanwhile John was starting to look out the window watching off in the distance for his sons to reappear. Looking at his watch he realized how long they'd been gone but knew his boys would see how late it was getting and start heading back. Seeing John looking out the window, Jim came up behind him and looked out the window as well.

"They're still not back eh?" Jim asked not ready to be alarmed yet but concerned enough to realize two young boys in the cold couldn't last much longer outside, especially after dark.

"I'm gonna give them another 15 minutes and then I'm gonna go out looking for them." John said looking off in the direction he had seen the boys disappear in.

"I'll heat up some soup and hot chocolate. I'm sure the boys will want something hot after all that playing in the snow." Jim said, trying to distract his friends worry. Knowing the boys as well as he did he knew it was only a matter of time before they came traipsing back with tales of snowballs wins and defeats at the hands of each other.

John moved away from the window a few minutes later. Pulling on his boots and grabbing his coat he took one last look out the window only to be shocked by the small form of his youngest son trudging through the snow towards them… alone. Racing out the door much to Jim's surprise, John ran to Sam, fear griping him at the sight of his son without his older brother.

"Sammy!" John called out as he struggled to run through the snow. Finally reaching Sam he bent down to the younger boy's height and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Sammy where's Dean?"

"Dadddd we were justtt playing, I swear, weeeee weren't doingggg anything wrrrrong." Sam stammered out his little body starting to shiver with the combination of fear and the growing cold.

"Sammy I'm not mad, tell me where Dean is." John asked with growing concern. At the sight of John racing out the door Jim had grabbed his coat as well and was coming up behind him.

"Heeee rolled downnn this bigggg pile of snow daddy, anddd he hit his headddd on some ice. I couldn't get him tooo wakeeee up daddy. I trrrried, I really tried." Sam stuttered.

"Where Sammy, where?" John asked knowing they only had a few more minutes to find Dean and it was quickly getting darker and colder. Sam looked back from where he had just come from and pointed.

"Tttthat way dadddddy."

John looked at Jim standing next to him for confirmation that there was some frozen water source nearby. At first Jim was at a loss to recall any place nearby when he suddenly remembered the creek that ran past his property.

"John's there's a little creek that runs at the back of the property 'bout a quarter mile away. Its steep banks would have been perfect for the boys to go rolling down." Jim moved behind Sam and gave him some shelter from the wind that had suddenly begun to pick up.

"I'm gonna after Dean will you take Sammy back to the rectory?" John asked already knowing his friend would do every thing he could to care for Sam.

"I'll call 911 John. If he is hurt we'll need to get him to the hospital right away." Jim said knowing how John felt about taking the boys to the hospital. John nodded in agreement knowing Jim spoke the truth. Dean could be dead for all he knew and if he was still alive he had to be unconscious and hypothermic. It was a deadly combination. For an instant all John's fears reflected in his eyes and Jim saw how troubled his friend was.

"You're gonna find him John. Just go and I'll get Sammy here back inside and warmed up." he grabbed Sammy up into his arms and gave John an encouraging smile. John's eyes narrowed but he took the kind gesture smiling back.

"I can't lose him Jim." He said with a worried tone.

"You won't." Jim answered back. "Go find your son."

John nodded, turned, and started running through the steep snow following the boy's footprints. It seemed to take forever as he followed up and down the various piles the boys had played on. Suddenly he realized he was near the creek when he almost ran off the bank of it. Looking down he saw Dean's still body lying in the snow. He jumped down the embankment and up to his oldest son. Holding his ear up to Dean's mouth he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Dean's shallow breathing. He struggled but managed to get Dean up into his arms. Finding a shallower side of the creek he climbed up and for the next half hour he struggle to get Dean back to Jim's.

Several times he almost fell over in the steep snow and dropped his son. John clutched him tighter and looking ahead he could see the rotating lights from the local ambulance parked in the rectory's driveway and the two paramedics who ran towards him. Exhausted, he reluctantly let go of Dean as the first paramedic slid a back board on the snow and John laid Dean on top of it. He could hear their voices shouting at each other and at him but at the moment he was too cold and frightened to make sense of it all. The three of them quickly trudged through the snow to the waiting ambulance and got Dean loaded into its warmth.

John stood outside as the two paramedics began quickly working on Dean. The adrenaline rush he had had suddenly began to quickly fade as he watched them put Dean on warmed oxygen while covering him with a heat generating blanket. He felt hands on his arms and looked to see Jim standing behind him pulling him away towards the idling Impala. Minutes later the ambulance raced to the nearby hospital with Jim driving the Impala like a bat out of hell behind it. Jim turned up the heat when he saw Sam shivering next to John in the front seat. The younger boy now quiet as he kept his eyes on the speeding ambulance ahead of them. Numb and exhausted John could only watch as well, visions of his son lying in the cold snow filled his head. He inwardly cursed himself for his lapse in judgment in allowing the boys to leave the house under such cold conditions. He willed his oldest son to be okay.

An eternity later the ambulance pulled up to the ER doors and the paramedics raced Dean inside. Sliding into a spot nearby Jim parked the Impala and watched as John leaped out and ran in the sliding doors. Sam started to follow his father but Jim came around and took him by the hand, stopping him. Leaning down he looked into the eyes of the frightened child.

"You're brother is going to be fine Sammy, I promise." Jim said in a reassuring voice.

"He wasn't moving Pastor Jim. What if…." Sammy fearfully started to question the older man but stopped when he felt Jim pull him close.

"That's not going to happen Sammy, I've got it on good authority that you're brother is going to be okay." Jim said pointing up to the sky. Sammy nodded trusting the word of his father's friend. "Now let's go inside and see how your brother is doing."

"Okay" Sammy answered in his still frightened voice.

Inside they would find John intently watching the doctors and nurses work on Dean. Jim pulled Sam away when he started to cry at the sight of Dean in the ER. Together they would spend the next hour in the waiting room until John found them with news on Dean's condition.

Tbc

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Author's notes: I took a little liberty regarding the area around Pastor Jim's rectory. I've never been to Blue Earth and so have no real idea what the terrain is like but I suspect it is a rural area. Growing up outside of Buffalo I've had plenty of childhood experiences with sliding down snow banks as well as unfortunately, whacking my head a few times on the frozen pond we used for skating. The good news is I was never injured as severely as Dean was…I just saw lots of stars. Serves me right for trying to skate while the neighborhood boys were playing ice hockey. Thanks for reading and please leave a review in the box next to the door. Hot Cocoa for all that do.