Disclaimer: I'm in no way related to the TV show Supernatural. It's characters (sadly) do not belong to me. I'm not making any profit with this story.

A.N: I wrote this story for a challenge about Dean's deal and Evil or NotEvil Sam. I hope you like what I made out of that :)

A huge thanks to Kaz for beta reading. All mistakes are mine.

Sacrifices

by Silwyna

"Dude, that was good." Dean grinned as he sat down on the bed. With a satisfied smile, he emptied the beer bottle that Sam had gotten him before they had left the diner.

He and Sam were staying in the Seventh Heaven Motel in Chippawa Falls, Wisconsin – the last motel Dean would stay in. When he had read the name, he had immediately declared that they would stay the night.

"Yes, it was good." Sam replied. "Best fries I ever had."

He didn't sound very convincing.

"Perfect last meal." Dean winked.

Sam remained silent.

"Aren't you gonna sit down? Or are you …" A yawn stopped Dean from continuing. "Man, I'm tired. Dead tired." He joked. Even with only a few hours left, Dean tried to make fun of the situation. It was easier that way. He wasn't going to get down while contemplating all the things he hadn't had the chance to do in his life.

Like going to Mexico.

Or seeing the Grand Canyon.

Or watching Led Zeppelin live on stage.

Or finding a place that he could call home. Even though he had the Impala, it wasn't the same. He would've liked to have a simple place like Bobby's. Something that he and Sam could return to between hunts. And maybe someone there, waiting for him to come home, once Sam had left him to persue his own career, live his own life. The life that he deserved.

No, Dean wouldn't think of all that. What was the point?

"You look tired." Sam said quietly, standing almost motionless in the middle of the room.

"I can sleep when I'm dead." Dean grinned, his words followed by another yawn. Maybe he shouldn't have had that last beer.

Or maybe he needed one more. One more to get rid of the panic that was bubbling under the surface.

Only six more hours.

It wasn't enough.

Dean spotted another six-pack on the table and rose to get a new bottle. But the moment he stood upright, he was hit by a wave of dizziness; the world tilted and he stumbled to the side. His legs gave way and he fell on his knees, the bed beside him the only thing that kept him upright.

Dean looked up at his brother and the panic he had tried to hide all day, all year, was clearly visible in his eyes now.

It was too early!

And where the hell were the hound dogs?

"Sam, something's wrong." He pressed out between breaths.

"It's okay, Dean." Sam said, his tone soothing and comforting. Except for the slight tremble in his voice.

The younger Winchester knelt down in front of his brother, a steady hand on Dean's shoulder stopping him from falling over.

"Sam?" Dean looked up at his brother; it took his confused mind a moment before he understood what he was seeing in Sam's eyes. And the moment that realization hit him, his panic multiplied a hundred fold. "No. Sam, what have you done?"

"Just let go, Dean, it's okay. I love you, bro." Sam swallowed thickly. "Thanks for everything." He bent forward and tenderly kissed his brother on the forehead, before moving away and causing Dean to fall forward onto the motel carpet.

"No …" Dean muttered, using his arms to break his fall, one arm reaching up towards Sam, trying to stop him, to hold on to him, to keep him from leaving him. "Wha..what have you…" His last words died on his lips as the sleeping pill that Sam had dropped into his beer earlier made its presence felt and slowly his world turned dark.

Sam stood still as he watched his brother slip into unconsciousness. He saw his resistance fail in the slow movements of his body. A wave of guilt washed over him when he saw how Dean's eyes closed and his breathing relaxed with a sigh as he slumped onto the floor.

His brother's image swam before him as tears welled up in his eyes. This was it. He had no other choice left.

Sam cast a last glance at his brother before he turned around and left, closing the door behind him and stepping away from the one person he loved more than life.

XXXXXXX

With a start, Dean awoke, immediately knowing that something was wrong. His eyes scanned the room, looking for his brother, the one constant in his life, the one person that would always be at his side – not counting those four missing years he had lost Sam to normalcy, to safety.

"Sam?" Dean's head jerked up when he found the room empty. He immediately regretted the motion as the worst of all killer headaches attacked his head. Black dots were dancing in front of his eyes and with a groan, Dean leant back onto the bed.

A few moments later, he dared to try again and slowly raised himself up until he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Sam?" He called again, hoping against hope that his brother was only in the bathroom. "Sammy?"

And then it all came back.

The dizziness. The realization that Sam had done something stupid. That he had said goodbye.

With a haunted look, Dean grabbed his cell phone that lay on the nightstand next to his bed and hit the number for Sam's phone. After the eighth ring the voicemail sprang on.

"Sam, where the hell are you?" Dean yelled into the phone. "Pick up the damn phone and come back here!"

He ended the call and waited a few moments for his phone to ring. Two minutes later, he called again. And again the voicemail answered.

"Sam, I swear I'll come back and haunt your sorry ass until the end of days. Pick up your freakin' phone and call me!"

He tried three more times and every time he left a message for Sam, he sounded more frantic and panicked.

What the hell had his stupid kid brother done now?

In that moment the first sunbeams fell into the room. Dean blinked as they blinded his eyes.

Then he froze.

The day before he had watched the sun go down, knowing that it would be the last time he would see it. Ever! His eyes fell on the clock on the wall and when he read the time, they widened in horror.

He should have died over two hours ago. He should be in hell.

He speed dialed Sam's number again and hoped, prayed, that his own personal hell hadn't just come true.

XXXXXXX

Four hours earlier

Sam stood in the middle of the room, a magic circle drew around where he stood. He had everything he needed. Nine candles, consisting of human fat – hard to get these days, but Bela had helped him out with that. Incenses, mixed together on a plate, ready to be burned. The athame, lying next to the cup that would be filled with his blood. And two seals with the demon's name, Tamiel, engraved on it, one in his hand and one lying in the middle of the Devil's Trap Sam had drew a few feet away from his position.

He was scared of what he was about to do. But also determined.

He wouldn't let Dean die for him.

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the athame and sliced his wrists open. He didn't feel any pain as he watched his blood slowly fill the cup.

There was no way back now.

"Excito te potentem maximumque spiritum… " He began reading the summoning spell. His left hand held the seal tightly; with the right hand he pulled out the Colt – another "gift" from Bela. She had asked a lot for it, but that hadn't surprised him. He was just glad that whatever he had to give was enough to satisfy her. He wasn't sure what he would have done had she refused.

He had just finished the conjuration spell, when the lights in the room flickered; a moment later a young man appeared before Sam. As planned, the seal had brought him right into the middle of the Devil's Trap.

"Sam Winchester, now why am I not surprised to see you." The man – Tamiel – said.

"Let my brother out of the deal." Sam said coldly, coming right down to business. He tightened his grip around the Colt; he could already feel the blood loss starting to take its toll.

"Sure, why not." Tamiel grinned. "And what do you have to offer in order for me to let go of your brother?"

"You're life."

The demon laughed loudly at Sam's remark. "Oh really? Well, now I'm scared." He smirked.

Sam raised the Colt and pointed it directly at the demon.

"You want me to kill with this?" Tamiel laughed again; a cold, evil laughter. "Just because you managed to conquer Azazel, don't think you can go up against me. Least of all with that." He waved dismissively at the gun in Sam's hand.

"You think you're better than Azazel?" Sam swallowed. "Let's find out."

His finger tightened around the trigger; he was ready to shoot the moment it became necessary.

"You're willing to sacrifice your soul for your bother, Sammy boy?" Tamiel asked.

"No more deals. You let Dean go and you get to live. Or I kill you now and Dean gets to live as well. I win either way." Sam forced himself to smile; he needed to appear confident to pull this off. "What's it going to be?"

"Kill me then." Tamiel smirked.

Sam only hesitated a second. He pulled the trigger and the demon fell to the ground immediately. Sam stared at the motionless body in shock, waiting for any sign of movement.

It never came.

A sudden shiver spread though his body and both the gun and seal fell to the ground. Sam sank down on his knees and stared at the demon for a long moment.

He'd done it. He had found the demon who had held Dean's contract and he had killed him.

Too easy. This had been too easy.

The words kept replaying in Sam's mind, but he pushed them away. The demon was dead and Dean would live. That was all that mattered.

With shivering hands, Sam pulled out some gauze from his bag that lay just outside of the circle he was in. Black dots were starting to appear in front of his eyes and the world spun around him, but he managed to bandage his slit wrists before unconsciousness claimed him.

A few hours later the repeated ringing of his cell phone brought Sam back to awareness.

XXXXXXX

Dean had stopped counting how many times he had tried to reach Sam. As soon as his mind had cleared enough, he had jumped into the Impala and had started searching the area for his missing brother.

Sam hadn't taken the Impala, so Dean figured that he couldn't have gone far. Unless he had stolen a car, which was something Sam hated to do; but he had done it in the past when he saw no other way.

Dean hated it when Sam went up against his principles.

He hit the number for Sam's phone again, expecting to hear the voicemail spring on. Instead he heard his brother's voice after the fourth ring.

"You never give up, do you?" Sam asked.

It were the most beautiful words Dean had heard in his life.

"Sam, where the hell are you?" He barked.

There was a long pause on the phone and Dean was starting to fear that he had only imagined Sam answering his call. Maybe he was losing his mind?

"Green Bay." The whispered reply came after a moment.

"Green Bay? What the hell are you doing in Green Bay?" Dean yelled, already turning the Impala and trying to figure out the fastest way to get to his brother.

"What time is it?" Sam asked instead of giving an answer.

And Dean suddenly noticed how weak and slurred his brother's voice sounded.

"Around 8 am. Sammy, what did you do?" Dean inquired, his worry spiked by the condition his brother seemed to be in.

"It worked." Sam replied weakly.

Dean could practically hear him smiling through the phone and it irritated him immensely. "What worked?"

"I killed the demon, Dean. Tamiel. He …" He paused and Dean could hear deep breaths through the phone as if his brother was trying to catch his breath. "He's the one who held your contract."

Dean was stunned. "When did you find that out?"

"A few weeks ago." Sam's reply was hardly audible anymore.

Dean had to force his voice to sound steady and not betray the worry he was feeling. "How did you do it?"

"The Colt … I met up with … with Bela. She sold it … sold it to me." Sam slurred.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Dean finally asked the question that burned on his mind.

"Sorry, Dean, I …" His voice trailed off .

Through the phone, Dean heard a thump, the clatter of Sam's phone and then nothing but silence.

"Sam? Sam!" He yelled. "Come on, Sammy, answer me! Where exactly are you? SAM!"

"76 Webster Road." Sam replied weakly after a moment.

Dean let out a relieved breath. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"S'okay, Dean. I … I made it right."

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, afraid of the answer.

"What's dead … should stay dead."

Dean shook his head in despair. "No, Sammy, that's … that's bullshit. You …" Tears were brimming in his eyes when he realized that his brother was most likely dying at this very moment. And there was nothing he could do to prevent it. "Just hang on, okay? I'm on my way. It'll be all right."

"I love you, Dean."

"No, Sam! SAM!"

His brother never replied.

"SAMMY!"

TBC