…there'll be peace when you are done

Darkness.

And then light.

At least that was the way how Dean remembered it.

He blinked against the light that fell upon him and frowned in confusion.

Above him was the sky, a clear blue with white clouds and the sun was shining too. He sat slowly up, realizing he was sitting in the middle of a very familiar looking street and turned his head. There stood Baby, unharmed, shiny as new and right behind her was the bunker. He seriously had to talk to Sam. How dare he abandon Baby in FRONT of the bunker when there was a nice spot for her reserved in the garage? Dean got up and walked over to his beloved car, made sure she was fine and patted her hood lovingly.

"I'll talk to him, Baby. No one parks you in front of the door!"

Determined, he stomped over to the heavy bunker door and reached for the handle. Dean froze. No, that wasn't right… He turned around again, looked at the unharmed car and tried to remember what was bugging him about it. Then it hit him… Baby had been totaled, Sam and he had barely suffered a scratch, but the car had been a goner. But why? What had caused the accident? What had they been doing before? Dean raked his brain, his eyes never leaving the car in front of him. Cas had been on the phone… Cas had told them that…

"Lucifer…," Dean muttered and the truth hit him like a freight train.

Of course. They had been hunting Lucifer, who had somehow managed to get out of the Empty, had sucked his son dry of grace and had left Jack's body behind for them to find. Lucifer had gone nuts with too much power. Thanks to Rowena they had located him at an abandoned warehouse where Lucifer had been about to open the gate to hell. And then…

"I see you remember…"

Dean startled and whipped around, his green eyes meeting bright blue ones.

"Chuck…"

God smiled at him and abandoned his spot at the bunker's door to join Dean's side. His eyes traced the metal of Baby with a sigh.

"I hope I copied her right?" he asked, but didn't wait for a reply. "Do you remember what happened, Dean?"

Did he? Dean couldn't tell. His brain was a mess and it seemed that memories were all over the place. What he was sure about: they had tried to stop Lucifer. Rowena had given them a spell, Cas had worked on it while he and Sam…

"Did it work?"

Chuck furrowed his brows as if the question alone was stupid enough.

"Lucifer is back where he belongs. Deep inside of the Empty. So deep that he will never wake up again," he explained and still had the same look on his face. "Do you remember, Dean?"

Dean sighed and tried and tried and tried. Sam had Gabriel's arch angel blade… Dean had… Dean had thrown himself at Lucifer's back to give Sam the much needed opening and Sam had…

"Sam stabbed Lucifer…"

Chuck nodded.

"And then, Dean? What happened then?"

Cas had finished the spell. And the room had filled with bright blue light… Afterwards, there had been darkness, then light…, which could only mean…

"Am I dead?" Dean asked and swallowed hard. He didn't dare look at Chuck.

"Yes, Dean. You are. Locking Lucifer away with that spell came with a sacrifice," God explained and he took in his creation with a heavy sigh. "I tried to copy your home as well as I could from my memories. I hope you appreciate it. If not, you can just think something up. Your heaven is a special one, Dean. You earned it."

Dean stared at Chuck in shock and shook his head. No, no he couldn't be dead. Sammy needed him. Cas needed him. What happened to them?! Where did they end up? Where they alive? Mourning him? Where were they?!

"They are dead too, Dean," Chuck replied and Dean realized he must have said it out loud.

"No! No, you need to bring them back!" Dean protested and made a step forward, but God remained unimpressed.

"No, Dean. That is it. No more revivals, no more granted wishes or deals. It's over! Your work is done and I'll be forever grateful."

"Grateful my ass!" Dean barked angered. "We are not your pawns!"

"But you are, Dean. You are my creation in the end. I wrote your books, I wrote your story and this is how it ends," Chuck replied defiantly and spread his arms for Dean to take in his surroundings. "You got a gift in exchange. Isn't that enough? Your heaven is special."

"I don't want it!" Dean snarled. "I don't want your gift or your heaven or, or whatever else you dumped here!"

Chuck sighed and shook his head.

"Well, that's what you get, Dean," he said and made a step back. "How about you really look at your gift before you insult me and my generosity?"

Before Dean could have said anything else Chuck had snapped his fingers and was gone.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean shouted and clenched his shaking fists in rage.

Oh, he'd be getting out of here! God could shove his gift up his holy ass. Dean stomped back over to the bunker's door, anger still pumping through his veins and slammed the door open. If Chuck did his job right, the bunker was a perfect copy of their bunker, which means it had all books and material that Dean could use to get the hell out of here and using them he would. He entered the building and froze as he heard music and loud voices downstairs. Confused, he looked over the banister and froze in shock.

"Dean!" Sam called surprised and with a big smile on his face, Eileen next to him.

"Sammy…," Dean whispered.

But it wasn't just Sam and Eileen that were now looking up at him while Dean's favorite AC/DC music was blaring in the background. There were also Bobby, the original one, who was busy bickering with Rufus over a bottle of beer, Kevin, who was in deep nerdy discussion with their Charlie, Ash, Ellen and Jo, Jack and Kelly, Mick, who was obviously making peace with Ketch, Missouri and Pamela and… Dean's breath hitched as his eyes fell on them. John and Mary Winchester stood next to each other, both smiling proudly at him. His mother said something to his father and used the stairs to Dean's right to look at her son.

"Dean…," Mary whispered, voice sad but so full of love for her child. "Welcome home."

She enveloped him in a strong embrace and swayed soothingly as a sob escaped Dean even if he desperately tried not to cry. But holding her again after losing her like this… His tear-filled eyes opened and he realized that literally everyone was now looking at the pair and for the first time since arriving, Dean felt at peace. Somewhere in the bunker the music changed and now Kansas was playing.

Carry on my wayward son…

Dean breathed in his mother's scent and peace washed over him. This…he could live with. This…was alright.

…for there'll be peace when you are done…

Suddenly Mary and everyone else froze and God reappeared with a smile on his face.

"And now, Dean?" Chuck asked, waiting patiently.

Dean let go of his frozen mother and wiped his face with one hand.

"Thank you, Chuck."

Chuck nodded and Dean looked at everyone once more. No, not everyone…

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked.

"Where angels go when they die, Dean," Chuck replied and Dean began to shook his head. He sighed. Chuck knew what would be coming now. "Dean…"

"No! Cas earned this! He earned being with his friends and family in heaven! Not sleeping in some dead-ass dark room!"

Chuck closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sometimes, Dean, I really wonder where your trust and patience are. Goodbye, Dean!"

And with that Chuck was gone again.

"Son of a…," Dean began as Mary blinked awake.

"Come on downstairs, Dean," Mary smiled and beckoned him to follow her. "You need to greet everyone. They've been waiting for you. And there's pie!"

…lay your weary head to rest…

"I'll be right there…," Dean promised, the hole in his chest that had been there since he realized that not everyone was here weighing him down.

Mary nodded knowingly and descended the stairs once more to join their friends and family, while Dean reached out to close the bunker's door. His eyes fell on Baby and the empty street. It wasn't fair. This wasn't right. With a heavy heart he began to close the door, promising himself that he would try everything in his power to get Cas' feathery ass here.

A flutter of wings suddenly echoed behind him, a familiar voice greeting him and the hole immediately disappeared. Dean smiled. This was right. The door could be closed now.

…don't you cry no more.

THE END