E/O Challenge Word:

darling /ˈdärliNG/ n. – Used as an affectionate form of address. Vernacular: darlin'

Spoilers/Warnings: events in 6x12

Disclaimer: Not mine

Word Count: double drabble

Just when you think you've got it made the walls come tumbling down. ~ Warner Mack

It happened on a Thursday afternoon.

One minute Dean was flirting with a middle-aged waitress at the diner they had stopped at for lunch – just because he liked the way she called him darlin' – and the next he was frowning across the table at Sam as his brother suddenly gasped and grabbed his head with both hands.

And that was that.

Without warning, the wall came tumbling down in what must have been a flash of blinding light and overwhelming pain judging by the way Sam squinted and continued to squeeze his head.

In the next instant, Sam lost consciousness; bonelessly listing sideways in the booth and causing Dean to bodily push the waitress out of the way as he rushed to catch his falling brother.

"No," was all Dean could manage to say as he followed Sam to the floor; sprawled on the black and white tile with his brother in his lap. "No," he said again; forcing all of his rage and terror into that one word.

Because this was not happening; it was not happening.

Dean had just gotten Sam back – fully souled...and thus fully his little brother – and he wasn't going to lose the kid.

Not again.

Not like this.

And sure as hell not today.

FIN