SOULMATES

All he wanted was Jo. They were meant to be together but he'd lost her. He promised himself to avenge her death and as a prize, he got her back. She was his. They'd have an apple pie life together. After all, they were soul mates.

Joanna Beth Harvelle. The blonde who could take his breath away. The determined set in her chin and the bravery in her eyes. He couldn't see anything bad in her, anything wrong with her. Well, except for the fact that she loved him. He didn't know why. How could anyone in their right mind fall for the disappointment that is Dean Winchester? He'd spaced out thinking about her and hadn't heard Sam almost screaming at him.

Dean Winchester. The dropout with six bucks to his name. He couldn't understand what he had done to deserve such a beautiful woman. What he didn't realize was that to her, he was the perfect man. The strong, green-eyed man who took away her breath every time. The one person in the world with whom she felt completely safe. The one man that could make Jo, the confident young woman stutter. He spaced out yet again.

This time, Sam slapped him. A little too harsh for a man getting married. "Dean, man, you have got to start getting ready. You're getting married in a couple of hours, dude." "Sammy, what if I'm forcing her into this? What if she's marrying me only because we've got little ones on the way? She can never be safe with me around, man." Sam laughed. He remembered when all those years ago Jo had a gun pointed at his brother. The minute Dean had seen her, Sam could see the sparks fly. When she shot Meg's hellhounds and saved him, Sam knew. These two were meant for each other. Maybe Dean couldn't see it but no one deserved a peaceful, happy life more than Dean. He'd saved the world on enough occasions to finally live an apple pie life, as he called it.

Sam recalled the last few months. How eventful they'd been. They'd lost so many friends on the way. They'd found out that God didn't care about them anymore. They'd seen all the death and destruction that Lucifer had caused. He remembered Castiel's sacrifice for humanity. The only thing that could end Lucifer was the blade of an archangel. They'd managed to find out how to create another blade as powerful as an archangel's blade to kill Lucifer.

The only human who could put Lucifer to an end was Michael's true vessel, Dean Winchester. But at what cost? They learned that they could use the blade of a regular angel, a Seraph to kill Lucifer if that blade was dipped in the blood of his true vessel and the creators of that vessel. They'd travelled back in time and managed to get a litre of blood each from John and Mary. They had enough of Sam's blood. Their only true loss would be Cas. The Seraph whose blade would be put to use had to be sacrificed by that very blade by the one they wanted to kill. Castiel was ready for the sacrifice but Sam and Dean weren't. They were against it but at the end, he convinced the brothers. Lucifer had no idea of the existence of this spell to end him. He went up against Cas and had brutally murdered him with his own blade. He'd left the angel's vessel in a cemetery in Sioux Falls. Dean broke down at the sight of Castiel's body. His best friend, his guardian angel, was no more. But he knew what he had to do. They managed to track down Lucifer and his garrison of demons to Detroit. Lucifer had warned him before that Sam would eventually say yes to him in Detroit so Bobby had suggested that they leave Sam behind.

As Dean plunged the blade into the Devil's heart, he said, "For Jo. For Ellen. For all who are gone because of you." Before the demons could attack him, Bobby used a megaphone to burst out a short, Enochian exorcism. In a few minutes which seemed like hours to the hunters, they'd killed the Devil. They'd driven back home that night without a rest. Dean had passed out after killing Satan and had not come to yet. Sam ran out of the house when they reached Singer Salvage and as Bobby carried Dean out of the impala, he thought his brother was dead. He broke down right there on the threshold of Bobby's residence. Bobby assured him that Dean was still breathing. They looked him over and decided that he'd passed out from exhaustion or maybe it was an after effect of killing such a powerful entity.

It had been nearly three days when Dean woke up. He could hear some sort of commotion downstairs and heard a shotgun go off. He ran down, in a rather erratic way, and found Bobby's house full. There were about forty hunters in there at the least. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see someone approach him. His vision was a little blurry but he knew. He thought he'd died and gone to Heaven. There was no other way that this was possible. From behind him, Sam shouted, "Dean. I went up to check on you and you weren't there. Don't ever do that again." "Sammy, is this Heaven? Did I die? And why are you here? I thought we left you at Singer Salvage when we left for our death mission." Sam chuckled. His brother was clearly shocked at seeing all their hunter friends, most of whom they'd lost on the way, alive and kicking again. He turned to his left and pinched himself. It was true. There she was, in all her glory, Joanna Beth Harvelle. She looked beautiful in the light. With glossy eyes, he went towards her and kissed her breathless. He apologized for being an ass to her. He saw Ellen and Bill walk towards him, Ellen wielding a meat tenderizer. Out of the blue, he heard a voice he never expected to hear. It had been nearly three decades. "Mom", he turned around. He was taken aback at seeing everyone alive. Ash, Mary, Karen, even Jess was in this crowd, he didn't want to know how. All he wanted was to embrace the feeling of family, this feeling he'd last felt when he was four years old.

It had been eleven months since this astonishing change of luck. He'd felt more alive than he had ever since the yellow-eyed bastard had taken his mother from him. He had a family, a girlfriend, a steady job as a mechanic and they even took up hunts on the weekends. Call it recreation. He was living with his family. John was being a better father to him than ever before, Sammy was finishing his law degree at Kansas University. Not Stanford, but it still meant a great deal to him. But most of all, he had Jo. The woman of his dreams. The love of his life. His soul mate. He and Jo had got together after all the people who got caught in the crossfire of the apocalypse had been so graciously resurrected by Death. Death like Dean. He trusted him and most importantly, he was impressed at the way the boys had dealt with the Devil. He'd brought back everyone they had lost along the way and restored them into a normal family. Dean had never be more grateful for anything or to anybody. He had the apple pie life he'd dreamt of. He was finally getting married.

He remembered how nervous he had been on the day he proposed to Jo. Only Sammy had known and helped him pick out a ring. He'd taken her to the newly rebuilt Roadhouse. He'd taken her parents' permission while she went to bring them some beers from the back. They couldn't be happier, of course. "You hurt my baby and I'll make sure you never walk straight again, boy" Ellen had said. Dean knew better than to get on Ellen's wrong side. When she got back with only three bottles, her parents had said they were going out for a walk. It seemed a little peculiar to her but she brushed it off. Here she was, with the man she loved. She never thought she'd see him again when they blew up that building. She knew he'd save the world but there was no hope for her. She hoped he would be happy. But here she was, the reason he was happy. They'd been together six months now. Six months since she had been resurrected. Before he could propose, he asked her why she wasn't drinking. "I don't feel like it", she said.

He knew he couldn't put it off any longer. He got down on his knew from the barstool and said, "Jo. This might be too soon but I know two things for sure. One, Bert and Ernie are gay. And the other, well, I'm head over heels in love with you. I know you're the one thing that makes me happier than Baby. You have and always will be my soul mate. Do me an honour by accepting this ring and marry me?" She had cried of course. She was a month pregnant and was about to tell him. And here he was, sweeping her off her feet with a beautiful ring and an eloquently worded proposal. She wondered how many times he'd practiced. She jumped up and said yes. She knew they'd get married some day but she didn't know it was this close. Her happiness knew no bounds. As he slipped the ring on her finger, she whispered into his ear. "Dean, there is one thing I'm sure will make you happier than I do. Happier than you seeing Sam and Jess together makes you. Happier than Baby does. I'm pregnant." Just when he thought he couldn't be more blessed, she told him they were having a child. Dean Winchester, macho man, alpha hunter, would be changing diapers in less than a year. He showered kisses on her as they hugged and whispered, "Well, seeing as you're carrying my baby, you're still the only person who can make me this happy."

It was finally his wedding day. The man with more one night stands to his name than Charlie Sheen was getting hitched. He had twins on the way, he'd found out only the previous day. A girl and a boy. They'd decided on the names too. Castiel Henry Winchester and Anna Mary-Ellen Winchester. He knew that in three months time, he'd have two little bundles of joy to take care of. Sam could only imagine how much love and care they'd get from Dean because he himself had been a recipient of that intense love his brother offered. He got into his tux. He decided he cleaned up very well. They go to the little church where the ceremony would take place. Sam was his best man. Jess was Jo's maid of honour. He had Ash, Caleb and a few others with him. She had a couple of other hunters as her bridesmaids. It was beyond perfect to him.

He couldn't help but tear up as Bill brought her up the aisle. She looked astonishingly beautiful. Her blonde locks tied back. The glow in her face and of course, her hazel eyes left him mesmerized. He couldn't think of a day when he'd been happier. They danced to Speedwagon's "Cant fight this feeling". After all, it was their song. He knew he hadn't seen Mary and John happier either. This was the first proper wedding any of the hunters had ever been to. Most of the guests were hunters, a few civilians from the garage Dean worked at, a few of John's Marine buddies, a few mutual friends from Sam's college and of course, their neighbours. All the doubts he had of Jo's love for him vanished. He knew they'd always be this happy and he vowed to keep every promise he had made to her at the ceremony. He had a wonderful life and he knew, all that he'd ever miss was Cas. He knew if Cas had been there, he would have married them off. What better way than to be married by an Angel of the Lord? He hoped his best friend was happy, wherever he was.

Six months. It had been six months since his marriage. Both his babies were perfectly healthy and beautiful. They'd been so happy, living in Kansas with his parents and his brother close by. Sam and Jess were going to be married at the end of the month. He had a white picket fence and still managed to save people and hunt monsters. After all, who could abandon their family business? He still remembered Cas and prayed to him once in a while. He knew his angel buddy was long gone but the fact that Cas's death hadn't been for nothing soothed him. He knew that he'd saved the world from Lucifer and even managed to have his vessel, Nick resurrected by Death. They had to explain what had happened to him of course and he'd made a great hunter. Unfortunately, they couldn't bring his family back but he was happy knowing they were in heaven.

Three years later, he wondered as they walked down a beach. His whole family was there. John, Mary, Sam, Jess, Bobby, Karen, Ellen, Bill, Ash and Caleb and his wife, Hannah. What happened to dead angels? Where'd they go? Heaven or Purgatory? He decided to research when they got back home from their little vacation. His kids, Castiel and Anna were playing with Sammy's two year old, Brandon. Jess had another kid on the way. They had another one year old now, Jonathan Lucas Winchester. His life was finally complete.

Forty years down the line, he sat at the very same beach in Hawaii. He had six grandkids with him. His parents and Jo's parents were long gone. Of course, he had Sammy and Jess but the one thing he couldn't get over was Jo's death. It was her fifteenth death anniversary next month. He didn't talk much about her to his grandchildren or Sam's grandchildren. In fact, he didn't discuss her much at all. Bu today, the youngest of the Winchester family, decided to ask her grandfather. Amelia spoke up, "Granpa, what was granma like? Did you love her?" He had tears in his eyes. He was at a loss for words. Fifteen years and his heart still ached at the thought of his beloved. He began to tell them of his spectacular wedding day and how their love had blossomed over the years. He spoke of her with the most intense admiration and love. "Kids, she was the most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes on. Her eyes were a thing of beauty. She loved me like no other". Sam walked up and said, "Oh yeah. Their love was inspirational. Just hope you find love like that, kids. That was the true thing of beauty".

As they all laughed and has a wonderful time, Dean thought of his Jo. How graceful she had been even with her hunter like stride. How she always knew he was lying, how her hunter instincts kicked in when Anna and Cas had gone away to fetch ice cream when they were nine, how she cried when Anna had left for college and how she reassured him and told him to be happy as she felt her last breath slip away. He'd been depressed for months but he kept going. Her last words had been his guiding light for the last fifteen years. He knew she'd be waiting when he got up there. He knew more than anything, their love was forever. But most importantly, he knew they were soulmates.