Sam and Dean Winchester woke up in a brightly lit room. Dean recognized it the one he had been taken to by Zachariah to 'wait' for Sam to 'start' the apocalypse, starting with Lilith. Sam just looked around in wonder and thought it was the most beautiful room he had ever been in. Dean figured it probably was.
An old man sat watching them, smiling peacefully. The boys had never felt such Grace and Power coming off any supernatural being they had ever met. They realized they knew who this was.
"God?" Dean asked and Sam stuttered in surprise.
They managed to be troubled and humbled at the same time at the fact that God had taken time out of his 'heavenly' work to speak with them personally. It made one feel really nervous to get this much attention from someone who could erase them from existence with barely a thought. Most of his own children had never even been in his presence, and they were powerful angels. They were just the Winchesters, with the bad luck and tainted lives to prove it.
"Yes, Dean. It's me. It is nice to meet you. You, too. Sam." God said assuring them it was him. They just stared at him, speechless. His voice was so harmonious and melodious at the same time. It nearly broke their hearts every time he stopped talking; it was the most glorious thing they had ever heard.
"I came to offer you a gift." God said and made a waving motion in the air with one hand. The air around them suddenly became full of images and scenes that only Dean had ever seen. They were echoes of the life the Djinn had put into his head when it had poisoned him that night in the warehouse, when Sam nearly lost him for good. He has so wanted to stay but had to choose what was real over what he has always wanted but never dared hope to have. He felt his heart breaking again and had to look away.
Sam watched every image, every scene, and heard every word they said. He had understood what Dean had said he had seen in his mind, what the Djinn had put there, but to see it for himself; he could see why Dean had wanted to stay so badly. It was all Sam had ever wanted too. It all hit home and he felt his heart soar at the happiness these scenes promised him, no, not just him, their whole family.
They eventually turned to face God once more and with a wave of his hand, the wonderful scenes vanished. They waited to see what he wanted in return. They had learned the hard way that something that perfect and good had to have a big price tag to go along with it.
"I will give you and your family this life; this will be your lives." He smiled peacefully. The boys waited for the punch line.
"What about Dad? Will he be alive in this new reality?" Dean asked, Dad had been the only missing piece last time and he was such an importance piece to live without, he knew this from personal experience.
"Yes, he will be there. He will live a long life. He will walk you both down the aisle and get to play with his grandchildren. He will have a normal life, without all the horrors and nightmares of Hunting down evil and fighting for his life all the time. So will you boys." God answered, patiently waiting to find out their answers. It was natural to have questions, mortals always did.
The boys said in silence contemplating what this could mean for them and those they had loved and lost. Running over all the possibilities this presented for them in their minds. They whispered back and forth and finally found something they had to ask.
"What about all the good we did? What about all the people we saved? What happens to them?" Dean asked, finally figuring out the catch to this offer. Finally getting the punch line. He knew what God would say before God said it. It was the same reason he could not exist in the Djinn's dream state.
"You will not do those things and so those battles were not won. Those people were not saved." God answered sadly, seeing Dean's pain in his eyes as he agonized over this decision. They always made such great sacrifices, these worthy souls, they gave up everything and sacrificed everything they wanted or loved, even their own loved ones were not spared. Theirs the path of sacrifice and thus the path of the most glorious reward.
The boys talked among themselves briefly and both turned to face God with agony etched on their features. This was such a high price to pay, he knew that. They were of one mind on this, as was their usual stand. They agreed more often than they disagreed, this is part of what made them such worth souls, why he chose them to be the example of what brotherly love and devotion was supposed to be like not what it had become for his own children.
God patiently awaited their decision, so much depended on this one moment, this one decision. The boys would never really fully grasp that fact but that was normal for mortals too. They were after all his most wonderful creations.
The World and the Universe held their breath as the boys pondered their decision and let out a sigh of release when they spoke.
Both boys wanted it so much but knew what their decision had to be. Their hearts' broke as they mourned the loss of what they could have had and the price they paid for the good of those they had saved and the good they had done. They were sacrificing their most precious hopes and dreams in these moments, and it was meant to hurt. Sacrifice always did.
The boys gave their answered and God smiled gently at them, as they made the right decision. He knew they would. A glorious light shown around them and the room dissolved around them.
The boys awoke abruptly in their own beds in their own motel room, remembering everything they had just experienced. They both sobbed silently as their hearts broke once again. A gentle voice caressed their ears and a soft invisible touch wiped their tears away. "You have chosen wisely and well. Your sacrifices will be honored and rewarded."
The boys looked at each other, feeling bereft and lost, but comforted at the same time. Dean finally hugged his brother close, Sam's eyes silently crying out his loss, and they cried together, mourning the loss of what they could have had and knowing they would make the same decision if confronted with the same choice again. It didn't take the pain away. It didn't make them feel better. It was the truth, the cold hard truth. The truth within the truth. The truth may set you free but it hurts like a bitch when it does. Nothing in this life was free; everything leaves scars, especially the truth.
This is probably why humans preferred lies.
The boys cried themselves out and sat side by side with their shared grief and pain.
God smiled, wishing he could take away this pain but knowing it was not possible.
In the end, they had save the World and the Universe, with just one word.
The boys said, "No."