Fic: Second Chances (SPN/CSI:NY, FRM, X-over)

[2wingsnuts]

This fic contains spoilers for the finale of Supernatural. You have been warned and advised of what's contained below. Don't want spoilers? DON"T READ!

Title: Second Chances
Authors: Ginny and Dee
Rating: FRM
Pairing: Dean/Danny, Sam/Don
Summary: Don is given a second chance. Danny is determined to get a second chance.
Warning: SPOILERS for All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One and Two; Character Death
Author's Notes: For the third part of our brain. We weren't hiding fic, we were just trying to not spoil the episodes for you.
Challenge: Writing Together
Prompt: 16 - Rain

~*~*~

He closed his eyes, ignoring the shouts behind him, and stepped from the roof.

Don fought as something wrapped around his body, shaking him as shouts echoed toward him.

"Danny?" he asked, fighting harder. "Let me go. Let me die."

"It's not Danny. Look at me," the man insisted.

Don opened his eyes and looked at the man. He choked out a sob and wrapped his arms tightly around the other man, crying uncontrollably against his shoulder as arms wrapped around him.

"Don," Sam whispered, running his hands down his back soothingly and pulling him closer. "What's wrong?"

"Sammy?" Don choked out. "Sammy? Is it really you? You're dead. Dean said so. You feel so real. Am I dead?" he babbled.

"You're not dead Don. I'm not either," Sam promised.

"But Dean said you were," Don whispered.

"It was just a dream."

"Sammy," Don cried out and wrapped his arms tighter around his lover's body. "It was real," he insisted. "So fuckin' real." He coughed once before the tears started back, harder than before. "You can't fight in the war. You can't. Please Sammy....please. I don't want to be without you."

"You know I have to fight," Sam said softly.

"Please," Don whispered.

"I have to," Sam repeated.

"No," Don cried. "You'll be killed before the war starts. You can't, it's not worth it."

"You go to work every day knowing that you could be killed," Sam pointed out reasonably.

"It's not the same."

"It is Don," Sam said with a soft smile. "We both protect people. It's just that most have no idea what I truly do. It's what we have to do."

"If I quit and find a nice safe job, will you quit and stay with me. If you die Sammy, I won't be able to live without you. I won't want to."

"You can't quit," Sam said. "This is in your blood. Just as hunting as in mine. I promise that I will do everything in my power to come back to you after this. But, if I don't, you have to go on."

"Sammy," Don cried harder. "I won't. If something happens to you, I'll be with you as soon as I hear about it."

"You won't," Sam insisted. "You have to promise me you won't."

"Why? Why shouldn't I follow you?"

"Because I need you to watch out for Dean - and Danny - if I'm gone."

"I love you," Don whispered. "If you won't let me kill myself, then I'll never take another lover. Ever. If I can't have you, and you don't want me to kill myself, I'll be alone."

"I want you to be happy."

"Then don't die."

"Don," Sam sighed. "I have to do this. If I don't, there's no telling how the war will end. I need to be with Dean. Keep Dean safe and keep you safe."

"Then stay here."

"You know I can't do that."

"Then let me come with you."

"No, you need to stay here and keep an eye on Danny." Sam sighed. "Please. I don't want to have to worry about you."

"Danny will come with me. We'll keep you safe. I know how you...you...and I can protect you. Please Sammy?" he begged. "Please let us come with you."

"Don," Sam sighed, rolling and covering his body with his own. "This is not a fight that you've been training for. This is mine. And Dean's. You have to let me do this."

Don shuddered and wrapped his arms tightly around Sam. "I don't want to let you die."

"I promise Don. I will do everything I can to come back to you."

Don didn't answer. He just wrapped his body around Sam's and held the younger man as close as he could as silent tears fell down his face.

"It's going to be all right," Sam soothed, hoping that he was right.

"The only way it'll be all right is when you come back this time," Don softly replied. "Cause I'm sure this'll be the last time..." He sighed. "Just remember I love you. And if you have to hurt anyone, make sure they're dead before you walk away. Deal?"

"If I have to, I will," Sam promised.

"Thank you."

Sam wrapped his arms tighter around Don. "Don't worry."

"I'll try not to but I can't promise that I won't."

"I know. I love you," he said again.

"I love you too," Don whispered and kissed Sam sloppily.

Sam kissed him back, pressing him firmly into the mattress. "We'll get through this."

"I hope so," Don replied and laughed nervously. "I don't know whether to hold you or push you away," he admitted.

"You can try to push, but I'm going to hold onto you," Sam warned.

Don sighed and snuggled closer to Sam. "Let's just go back to sleep."

"Okay," Sam agreed softly, running his hands lightly down Don's side.

Don did not reply, he only closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

~*~*~

Don stretched his arms over his head as he slowly woke up on Danny's couch. He smiled contentedly as he remembered the all night video game marathon they had the night before and slowly opened his eyes. He saw Danny standing over him, a look of pain and horror on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Dean just called. Something happened."

"What happened?" Don asked, studying Danny's movements.

Danny started pacing. "Look, Don." Danny stopped as the rain beat hard against his apartment window. "Jesus Don, I don't want to tell you this. Never have I wanted to tell you this but...Sam...Sammy's dead."

Don sat up immediately. "That's not funny," he said harshly.

"Donnie," Danny said as his voice caught. "It's not a joke. He was a few days ago. Dean couldn't - " He stopped and turned away as tears filled his eyes.

"I don't - that can't - how?" Don asked, his throat tight.

"Dean said he was kidnapped and as soon as Dean arrived to rescue him, he was stabbed in the back," Danny replied softly. "I'm sorry. God Don, I am so fucking sorry." He turned slowly and watched Don.

Don stared at him blankly. "I don't understand," he whispered. He brushed half-heartedly at the tears that were falling down his cheeks.

"Don," Danny said softy.

"Where is he?" Don asked. He closed his eyes tight, rubbing the palms of his hands against them. "Where's Dean?"

"North Dakota but I don't know where he is now." Danny brushed away his tears. "He doesn't want to be around, he's afraid you'll think it's his fault but he wanted you to know about Sam."

"What?" Don asked. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he thinks it's his fault he failed Sam," Danny said softly. "He thinks he's failed at the most important thing in his life."

"But you..." Don trailed off.

"Don, Sam was his little brother; he swore to their father he'd keep him safe. Dean thinks he's failed...he's lost everyone he loved but us and he has never loved us like he loved his dad and Sam, you know that."

"What do we do now?" Don asked.

"I don't know," Danny whispered. "Does Gerrard know that you're gay? You should call him, take a day off." He took a deep shaky breath. "Are you okay?"

"No," Don said so softly that Danny could barely hear him. "I'm not."

Danny wordlessly crossed the room and pulled Don into his arms.

Don's breath hitched as he wrapped his arms tightly around Danny. "He can't be gone," Don whispered.

Danny didn't say a word; he only tightened his hold and pressed a soft kiss to the side of Don's head.

"I need to see him," Don said what seemed like hours later.

"See who?" Danny whispered, loosening his grip and looking at Don's tear-streaked face.

"Sam," Don whispered, his eyes closing at the pain.

"Don, he didn't say anything about Sam's..." Danny trailed off. "You want me to call anyone?"

"I don't know who to call," Don said softly.

"You sit right here," Danny ordered and flipped open his cell phone. Using the quick dial feature, he punched the S and paused when Sam's name appeared. Pushing past the pain, he hit the down arrow until he highlighted Stella's name.

"Stel," he whispered. "Everyone that's not on call, could you gather them up and come to my apartment? Sam was...was...killed a few days ago and Don's in..." He stopped, his voice cracking as his own emotions overwhelmed him.

He hung up few seconds later. He wrapped his eyes around Don again. "It's going to be okay," he whispered.

"I want Sammy back," Don cried, his body shaking hard in Danny's arms.

"I know," Danny said quietly as he pulled Don closer. He didn't loosen his grip, simply held onto the other man, he was clutching at him as if his life depended on it. He just couldn't believe it. They both knew that Dean and Sam did dangerous things, but they had never truly thought that something like this would happen.

Danny just held him as the minutes turned into hours and the harsh knock on the door broke the two men apart.

Danny stood and opened the door to see Stella standing there, the entire team behind her. He stared in surprise for a few seconds. "You're all here?" he said in amazement.

"You're our friends," Sheldon told him.

"Of course we are," Lindsay answered as she moved past Danny and into the apartment.

"Lindsay?" Don asked as he looked up. When he saw the entire team, his face cringed and he started crying again. Stella and Lindsay moved fast, wrapping their arms tightly around Don's shaking body.

"Are you all right?" Sheldon asked as he and Mac followed the women into the apartment.

"Sam's..." Don stopped and pulled away from them, stopping next to the window. "He loved the rain," he whispered. "And now he'll never get to see it again. He'll never get to feel it on his face." He turned back to his friends. "Sam's gone and no, I'm not all right."

"You feel like the world has ended and no one else realizes it," Mac said quietly.

"Yes," Don agreed and stepped toward him. "Exactly. What do I do?" he begged, fresh tears streaming down his face. "I know what I want to do."

"You fight through every day," Mac told him. "You remember and you do your best to honor that memory and the love that you had."

"I don't think I can Mac," Don whispered softly. "I don't want to. I don't want to go on if Sam's not in my life."

"But you have to," Danny argued as Don's phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Don answered, not looking at the caller id.

"Hey Don," a familiar voice replied through the phone, a soft smile evident in his voice.

"Sam?" Don asked, his voice cracking.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked immediately concerned. "Dean and I are about thirty minutes away. Do we need to hurry? Are you okay?"

"Sam?" his friends asked as one as they watched Don's face pale.

"Sam," Don repeated, clutching the phone tightly. He could hear Sam shouting at Dean to drive faster. Someone tried to pull the phone out of his fingers, but he couldn't let go.

"Don, listen to me. Take a deep breath and talk to me. It's Sam, I love you. No matter what's happened, I love you."

"Sam," Don replied with a choked sob as he tightened his hold on the phone.

"Give me the phone Don," Danny said quietly but Don only shook his head.

"It's you?"

"It's me. I promise it's me."

"This isn't some fucking joke?" Don asked as he walked to the window and looked toward the street.

"No! Why would this be a joke?"

"Don, give me the phone, please?" Danny asked, placing a hand on Don's shoulder. "You can't be talking to Sam," he reminded him softly. "Sammy's gone."

"Back off," Don hissed. He didn't care if he was imagining it, all he knew was that he was talking to Sam and nothing was going to get in his way.

"Don? What's going on?" Sam asked before he heard him yell at Dean to drive faster. "We're almost there. We be turning down the road soon."

Don nodded and continued to stare out the window. When he saw the Impala stop in front of the building, he turned and pushed past his friends, darting out the front door. He took the stairs three at a time until he landed in the lobby.

Don burst through the door to see Sam stepping out of the Impala. He ran, wrapping his arms tightly around Sam, knocking him back against the car as he clung.

Sam's arms wrapped tightly around him. "What's wrong?" he whispered against his hair.

"Dean said you were dead," Don whispered back, not loosening his hold.

"Don!" several voices shouted as the group of people burst through the doors and skidded to a halt.

"Sam?" Danny asked in disbelief. "Dean? You wanna tell me what's goin' on? You call me yesterday and told me...and now I'm lookin' at him."

"I was wrong," Dean said, meeting Danny's gaze evenly.

"You're never wrong," Danny replied.

"I was," Dean insisted with a slight shrug. "Sammy's back," he smiled and clasped his brother's shoulder before turning his attention to the group of people. "Hi," he smiled his most charming smile. "Name's Dean. You must be Danny and Don's friends. Nice to meet all of you."

"Mac Taylor," Mac said, staring at Dean intently.

Dean forced himself to take the hand Mac offered. He had a feeling that Mac knew exactly who he was.

"We've heard a lot about you," Stella greeted with a smile. "Stella Bonasera."

Dean tore his gaze from Mac's and smiled brighter at her before kissing the back of her hand. "A real pleasure."

"You described him well," Stella told Danny, smirking slightly.

"I know," Danny replied dryly as Lindsay took a step forward.

"Lindsay Monroe," she greeted and received the same smile from Dean before he kissed the back of her hand also.

"Don?" Sam's voice carried to them. "Will you let me go? I'd like to meet your friends with Dean."

Don reluctantly loosened his hold on Sam and let him move to talk to the others, but kept one arm firmly around Sam.

"Hi," Sam smiled. "I'm Sam. You must be Mac." He held his hand out. "I've heard so much about all of you, I feel as though I know you."

"We haven't heard anything about you," Mac said, giving Don and Danny a questioning look.

"Can we move this inside?" Danny asked. He had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of explaining going on.

"Of course," Mac nodded.

Don walked past them, pulling Sam with him, and stepped into the stairwell as their friends boarded the elevator. "I thought you were gone," he said before slamming his lips to Sam's in a violent kiss.

Sam kissed back firmly, running his fingers lightly down Don's face. "I'm here now," he whispered when Don pulled back.

Don nodded, kissing him lightly once more before letting his forehead rest against Sam's cheek. "What happened?"

"I was killed," he replied. "I was dead but Dean brought me back."

"How?"

"I...now's not a good time. Let's go upstairs, okay? Tonight when your friends leave, I'll take you to your bed and make love to you all night." He smiled and started up the stairs, his hand on the small of Don's back.

"In the morning we'll talk," Don added.

Sam smiled sadly and nodded. "Yeah. I'll explain everything later. Just ... just let me know that I have you now? I had thought -" Sam shook his head. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"Same here," Don admitted as he opened Danny's apartment door.

"You have to promise you're not going to arrest them," Danny was telling Mac. "If you can't, we're all going to leave. I can't risk what they're doing for your sense of justice."

"Why would I arrest John Winchester's boys?" Mac asked.

Dean's head snapped up, almost knocking himself off of the couch. "How do you know our dad?" he asked before looking at Sam.

"You know our father?" Sam then asked as he moved farther into the room.

"I did. I was sorry to hear about his death," Mac said. He looked over at Don and Danny. "If I'd known, I would have passes my condolences on earlier."

"We don't exactly advertise who we're dating," Danny told him with an unconcerned shrug.

Dean moved to the edge of the couch. "How? How do you know our father?" he demanded as Danny touched his arm gently.

"We passed through the same area a few times when we were both Marines. Afterwards ... I worked with him occasionally," Mac said.

"You helped him on hunts?" Sam asked, his brow burrowed in concentration as if he was trying to remember some distant memory.

"A few times. Mostly give him information or a place to stay."

"I can't believe this," Dean said.

"Hunts?" Sheldon asked, reminding the five of them that there were others present.

"Hold on," Sam said with a wave of his hand. "Miss Claire? Is that her name? The woman that used to help me with my homework when I was little? Mac?" he asked in recognition. "I wondered what happened to you."

"We went on separate paths," Mac said. "Claire wanted to settle down and nothing was going to stop your father from his hunt."

"Hello?" Lindsay said. "What are you guys talking about?"

"You know the things under your bed? The ghost in your closet and everything else that goes bump in the night? We kill them all. Send those sons-of-bitches straight back to hell where they belong," Dean replied with a smirk.

"You didn't tell us that your boyfriend is nuts," Lindsay told Danny.

"He's not. He's telling the truth."

"You wanna see my trunk?" he sneered at her. "I'm not nuts. Neither of us are. And I hope you're not calling Mac nuts. He's seen it, or at least some of it. How can we prove it to you?"

"Dean," Sam said calmly. "Just don't worry. They'll either believe us or they won't. There's nothing we can do to make them believe us."

Dean glared at her, but let Danny take his arm and push him onto the couch. "Here," Danny said, giving him the beer that Stella had handed to him. "Drink this. Everyone sit down. We'll give you a quick explanation now and Don and I will answer any questions you have later. That good for everyone?"

"Sure," Sheldon replied, leaning closer.

When Danny opened his mouth, Sam silenced him with a hand on his forearm. "Let us," he whispered before turning his attention to the others in the room. The brothers started to tell their tale and an hour later they were done with the very condensed version.

"Any questions?" Sam asked with a bright smile.

"A ton," Sheldon said.

"But we'll ask tomorrow," Stella added.

Danny nodded and stood. A brief hug was shared between Mac, Sam and Dean before their teammates left.

"All right, not that I'm complaining but what happened? You told me Sam was gone and now he's here. What happened?" Don asked.

"It's nothing. I overreacted and was wrong," Dean said. "Got anymore beer?"

"Dean," Sam admonished.

"You're here Sam, what does anything else matter?" Dean shot back.

"You know exactly what matters," Sam yelled. "You better start talkin'; maybe they can help me get your stupid ass outta this mess."

"What happened?" Danny asked, interrupting them. Dean was silent. "What. Happened?" he repeated slowly.

"Noth-"

"Dean Winchester!" Sam growled, his face tightening in anger. "Start talking or I'll start talking. You better tell him, them, before I do."

"Sam was dead!" Dean exploded, leaping up from the couch. He started to pace the room. "You got that? Sam. Was. Dead. I watched that fucker stab him in the back because I didn't move fast enough. I failed at the one thing I was supposed to do."

"Dean," Danny said softly, fear starting to eat at him. "What did you do?"

Dean looked at Danny with red eyes. "I did what I had to do," he said simply.

"What did you do?" Don asked softly.

"He sold-"

"Sam!" Dean hissed, interrupting him.

"You have to tell them!" Sam snapped.

"Fine. I made a deal and got Sam back," Dean said, bracing himself.

"You made a deal?" Danny said and then comprehension filled him. "You made a deal."

"Yes."

"How long?" Danny asked numbly.

"Long enough to finish this mess and spend some time with you."

"How long?" Danny repeated.

"A year. I traded the rest of my life so I could have one more year with Sam. And with you."

Danny nodded and, without another word, walked out of the apartment.

Don jumped up and followed Danny. "Dan? It'll be okay. We'll help them. We'll find a loophole. We can get Dean outta this." He squeezed his friend's shoulder. "We'll help. We'll help them do research. You're good at research."

Danny nodded silently.

"It's going to be okay," Don said again, hoping to get Danny to believe him.

"Sure," Danny said softly. He shrugged in resignation. "He did what he had to do. He saved Sam."

"And we'll save him," Don finished.

Danny nodded. "Yeah."

"You ready to go back in now?" Don asked.

Danny took a deep breath and nodded. He stepped into the room and reached for his laptop.

"All right. You two are gonna start talkin'. Sam, ya got your dad's journal? I'm sure if we get started right now we'll get this figured out before ya know it," Danny said as he opened his computer and turned it on. He looked up at the three men. "We don't have time for standin' around. I'm sure Sam's gonna run off with Don soon but we gotta find a startin' spot."

"What are you doing?" Dean asked.

Danny met his gaze evenly. "What does it look like? I know why you did what you did. I understand. But I'm not letting you go without a hell of a fight."

The other three men smiled. "Here," Sam said as he handed Danny the journal before reaching for his bag and pulled out his laptop.

"Don? Let's go to the car and get the books," Dean replied. Don nodded and pressed a quick kiss to Sam's lips before following Dean out of the apartment. He had the feeling it was going to be a very long night, and even longer once Sam got his hands on him.

"I'm sorry," Sam said after the door closed behind Dean and Don.

"For what?" Danny asked, flipping through the journal.

"If I hadn't - I'm just sorry," Sam said.

Danny shook his head. "It's not your fault. And I'm not mad at you. Dean did this to himself but I'm thankful you're alive. The look in Don's eyes - " Danny sighed " - I never want to see pain like that again in his eyes. Now we got time. We'll fix this." He smiled and touched Sam's shoulder briefly. "Thanks for helpin' me."

Sam smiled and nodded. "We'll figure it out."

"We will," Danny agreed. Dean had done his job, now it was their turn to do theirs.

End