No one ever thinks to thank a hunter, and I can never be sure if it's because they don't know of their existence or if it's because they are expected to be heroes. But though people give the courteous thank you, Sam and Dean cannot remember the last time that a non-hunter actually looked at them with true gratitude in their eyes. There is always a hint of regret there because they regretted ever finding reason to meet someone like Sam and Dean. The brothers knew that people half-blamed them for their world shattering to pieces or being forced to realize that nightmares were real. It was part of the job. But they always wanted a real and sincere thank you. Was that too much to ask considering how many times they died for this world or how many times they stuck their necks out when no one else would? Apparently everyone thought so.

Sam was running full tilt trying to get to the other side of the building, his shotgun held close to his chest as he ran. He tripped twice over the odd cracks and lifts in the floor from where the building had moved, but he managed to get right back up to run again. There was nothing that could stop him; he had to find Dean because his brother was calling for him.

"Dean! Dean! Where the hell are you?"

He rounded a corner sharply only to be greeted by a group of demons, their eyes completely black as they grinned to him. Damn it, he seriously didn't have time for this. The crack of his cocking shotgun rebounded off the wall as he got off one shot then another crack as he got off another. The first two demons went down without too much fanfare but the other two came running toward him. Sam took hold of the muzzle of his shotgun and squared up only to knock the first one clean across the jaw with his best baseball swing. The demon dropped like a bag of potatoes but the other one was on him before he could resituate himself.

Slammed against the wall Sam let out a grunt, placing the gun between their bodies to use it as leverage to keep the demon at bay even as it seethed at him like some kind of rabid animal.

"You're going to die today, Winchester," he said as he leaned in mouth open as he was going to bite Sam's neck. Demons had lost their minds lately, taking any chance they got to actually rip out a person's throat even resorting to using their teeth. Sam knew this just about as well as any hunter and this demon was a bit too close for comfort.

Head tilted back, Sam let out a groan of discomfort as he tried to get as far away from those teeth as possible. His eyes finally opened when he heard the demon let out a groan of pain only to be greeted by his brother's eyes over the demon's shoulder.

"Maybe we will but after you, dick."

Dean pulled the knife out of the poor guys back and let the demon slump to the floor with a still twitching. He pressed a hand to Sam's chest before slapping the side of his face lightly to snap Sam out of his slight stupor.

"Hey, wake up, Sammy. We don't have all day for this…if we're going to die in here we're taking that bastard with us."

"Yeah. Yeah. Right."

"We just have to get him back to the cage, Sam. If we end this…if we all die then it's over. He has no more vessels to try and take."

"I just feel bad about Adam, you know. He didn't deserve this life."

"None of us did, Sammy but it's the crap hand we were dealt. And you know what that means?"

"We go all in and see if he will call our bluff."

"Except we're not bluffing," Dean said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"No. It's all in."

Sam didn't bother to ask for permission or wait for Dean to make a move instead he pulled his brother in for a hug. Fingers fisted into the back of his leather jacket as tears stung at his eyes and for a moment he felt utterly foolish, but if only he could see Dean's face he would have known his brother was on the verge of tears himself. It was hard to tell if they were tears of sadness, tears of fear, or tears of just anguish but whatever kind of tears they were the brothers didn't have time for them.

The brothers pulled apart, but didn't meet each other's gaze instead Sam picked up his fallen shotgun and Dean wiped his demon blade on the back of the dead guys shirt. They stole a glance at one another before they started down the hall, deeper into the bowels of the abandoned warehouse. It was eerily quiet in here, but Dean kept reminding himself that this was the eye of the hurricane of course it was still. It was going to become hell on earth again when the next wall came barreling toward them.

Dean came to a stop at two double steel doors with thick plate-glass windows set into them so one could peer inside but he didn't dare. Instead, he stood and just stared at the doors for a moment willing them to move on their own to give him that extra bit of motivation to enter. He was not even aware of the fact that Sam wasn't even looking at the doors, but actually looking at him. Waiting for his big brother to lead the way; Sam had decided quite recently that he was going to follow Dean to the end.

There would be no apple-pie, white picket fence life for either of them and in the end Sam could not imagine a life where Dean wasn't in it. Too bad neither of them was aware of the fact that this need went both ways. Dean had once lived that life where Sam wasn't in it and it had always felt a bit too forced, like doing the waltz without ever taking the time to learn the dance. You can get the basic gist of it, but it never really looks like you're not trying and you never feel like you're quite getting it right.

"Dean," Sam whispered before swallowing thickly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Dean looked over his shoulder to his little brother and for a moment saw him as a five year old again, always asking Dean if his was comfortable with what John made him do. The answer was always the same:

"Yes, Sammy. If I don't do it who will?"

"If we don't, you mean."

"Yeah, we."

Another roll of his broad shoulders before Dean pushed the double steel doors open and entered with his trusty handgun at the ready. Sam rushed in after him with his shotgun locked and loaded, waiting for something to shoot at but nothing came rushing them at the door.

There was only one person in the room and they were standing at the center of the room with their back to the door. Dressed from top to bottom in all white, that stark white suit was rather offensive to the eye because it was too white if there was such a thing. Even the shoes this person was wearing were white and Dean knew immediately who it was without having to be told so. Lucifer always wore white when he was feeling particularly theatric or as if he were winning and apparently he thought he was winning now because there he stood. Even the fedora atop his head was white with a single blood-red band around the base of the hat and that was new because Dean did not recall that hat.

The man turned around and though the boys had been expecting the sight that didn't stop them from looking truly shocked to see Adam standing there with a sympathetic smile on his face. His blue eyes looked from Dean to Sam then back again, studying their surprised faces which actually brought him a good amount of joy to see.

"Do you like my new body, boys?"

"You look like a Pimp Jesus," Dean said with slight cock of his head. "Doesn't he, Sammy?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of America's Next Top Gangster gone wrong, personally."

"Ah, yes I see it. What's with the hat, Lucifer?"

"I like fedora's but your moose brother's antlers get in the way," he said with a shrug pulling the fedora from his head and looking it over, giving it a spin between his hands before placing it back on his head. He looked up to see the confused expression on the brother's faces only to shake his head. "Meaning he has a huge head, morons."

"Oh, girls tell me that all the time."

"Haha. Nice one, Sammy."

"Cute. Talking monkey's do have a sense of humor."

"I'm awesome, personally. Sammy, well, he gives a good joke or two every once in a while, but hey one of us had to be the funnier brother."

"One of us had to be the better looking brother."

"So I guess that makes Adam the smarter one?" Dean asked as he looked over to Sam.

"I don't know," Sam said with a slight 'hm' face.

"Oh, I did miss you boys," Lucifer said with a slight grin on his lips.

It was so weird for Sam and Dean to see Adam standing before them not as himself, a ghoul or even Michael but as Lucifer. They had to keep reminding themselves that he was no longer their brother. In fact, they could not be sure that his soul was even in there and not still in the pit. But even still Sam had a bit of a problem with accepting that Adam wasn't in there no matter how much Dean told him otherwise.

"So tell me, Dean. How does it feel being back in Detroit?"

"Nostalgic," Dean said dryly as he glared at Lucifer.

"I would imagine so, I personally like it. Such a nice place to start hell on earth."

"Well, it's half way there. Way to make it easier on yourself, Lucifer," Sam chimed in now. "I never took you as the lazy type."

"I did miss your wit, Sam," he chuckled and stepped closer to them, the boy stood their ground though. "So what did you come here for? To stand and look pretty?"

"To kill you," Dean said.

"Kill me? I thought you figured out that you can't. Not without an angel blade and from what I hear you got my little brother who was…how did you put it? All up in your ass? I hear you let him die."

"Don't you…" Dean took a step forward, but Sam reached to grab his arm to keep him in place.

"Don't Dean."

"Oh, did I hit a nerve? Miss your boyfriend, Dean?"

Dean grit his teeth, jaw setting as he glared at Lucifer only to stop as his brother had told him to but he was too close already. The angel reached out quickly and took hold of Dean's throat causing him to choke on his next breath and drop his gun in surprise. Sam took a step forward only to be thrown back by Lucifer's telekinetic powers; he hit the wall hard and grunted. Dean reached to grip at Lucifer's wrist trying to get him to release him as he tried to gasp for a breath that wasn't coming. Instead of loosening his grip, Lucifer cocked his free arm back and punched Dean several times till he felt cartilage break beneath his knuckles.

Blood ran down Dean's nose, flowing over his lips and into his slightly open mouth but he did not grimace at the pain. Instead he continued to glare at his assailant.

"You always underestimate me, Dean. You think I won't kill you? That I can't? You are sorely mistaken. It would be my pleasure," he said with a smirk as he squeezed the hunter's neck tighter.

Sam felt blood trickling down his forehead and pressure on his chest as he could not look away from the sight of Lucifer killing his brother. His lips parted and he let out a soft protest wanting to plea for his brother's life but nothing came out. Dean was slipping into unconsciousness as his vision began to tunnel, his longs were screaming for some air but he could not seem to get any due to the pressure on his windpipe. He watched as the world started going black till he heard the loud crack of a shotgun and fell to the floor.

On his hands and knees he looked up just when two more shots from that shotgun rang out to see Lucifer tumble forward. That pristine white suit was stained with red and black from the buckshot and the angel had stumbled forward. Dean took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder to see Sam still sitting on the floor but moving again, no gun in his hands. Whipping his head around he found Bobby standing there with a shotgun in hand, firing another two shots into Lucifer's back before going over to Dean to help him up.

"Get up you, idjit," he said gruffly.

"Bobby, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I'd let you boys get yourselves killed without me? You two muck up everything without me."

"Thanks, Bobby."

"Don't thank me…just finish th—"

Bobby stopped midsentence and his head spun to a deadly angle, the snap of his bones echoed in Dean's ears as he watched Bobby fall to the floor.

"Bobby!"

"Didn't I kill him already?" Lucifer asked as he looked down at his suit, frowning at the blood stained mess he now was. "He ruined my suit. Damn it."

Dean was still looking down at Bobby's body before he got back to his feet a bit unsteadily. Reaching back he pulled the silver angel blade out from its place at his back beneath his shirt. The blade shimmered dangerously and it caused a flash of genuine fear to cross Lucifer's eyes.

"Where did you get that?" He asked hollowly as he pointed to the blade.

"From my angel boyfriend," Dean said gravely as he moved forward.

The boys were so in sync that they did not even spare each other a glance when Sam moved behind Lucifer and hooked his arms behind his back. Lucifer locked up and bucked back slightly against Sam who held his ground with a grunt, arms tangled with the angels to keep him painfully arched at his back. Sam leaned in to whisper disdainfully into Lucifer's ear.

"I've got you now."

Dean drove the blade into Lucifer's abdomen, not deep enough to kill him. Instead, he watched as Lucifer's eyes flashed bright and then went back to normal a few times.

"You haven't killed me yet. Don't…tell me you're a coward, Dean," Lucifer said as blood started to trickle out of his mouth and down his chin.

The elder hunter sneered at the Devil and leaned over till he was about an inch from his face.

"I'm not going to kill you. We're going to send you back to hell and make sure you don't have a way to get out again."

Dean reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small remote with a single button on it. He held it before Lucifer's face and flipped the little catch that held the button safely in place.

"You don't know what I'm prepared to do for family, Lucifer. You have no idea what it's like to have true loyalty to those you love. If we go down…we're taking you with us. See you in hell."

His thumb hovered over the button when his eyes met Sam's and they shared a long moment before Sam spoke up.

"Because heaven wouldn't be heaven without you, Dean. Not anymore."

Dean gave his brother a sad smile and nodded his head as he pressed the button.

"I know."

The building went up in a blast, flames and shrapnel shot into the air as the C4 the boys had planted ignited. They used so much of it that when the initial blast was over there was nothing left of the warehouse but a pile of steaming, burning ashes.

It was over and Sam and Dean stood in the ghostly plane with Adam and Lucifer. Lucifer was hard to describe in his angelic form, he did not take any true substance as he seemed to fade in and out of existence but he wasn't going anywhere. For a moment he stood solid as any man then the next his body wavered as if a breeze was pushing through the pixels of a hologram. His eyes were all white though and fathomless as he looked to the three Winchester brothers.

"Hello boys. I knew I'd be seeing you soon," Death spoke as he stood at the center of the street, cane in hand and resting against asphalt. "Didn't think it would be this soon and all three of you…" He tilted his head disbelievingly only to grin. "Tsk, so reckless."

"Look, Death," Dean said with a sigh. "Just take him, put him back in his cage and go about your business. You're free now, but if he stays out you're out of a job, man."

"This is not the only planet with things that die, Dean."

"No, but it is the only one with a being stronger than you, Death."

That voice hit Sam and Dean like a strike to the back of the head with a baseball bat, nearly had them toppling over in surprise. Both brothers spun around to see none other than Castiel standing there in his trench-coat and tie. He smiled brightly to the boy and even to Adam, who honestly looked a bit confused.

"You aren't taking any of the Winchesters today. But you will take Lucifer back to his cage…or we'll do away with you and let one of your underlings take up your position."

Death sized up Castiel with a slow and lazy gaze before he sighed and rolled his eyes in that sassy way of his.

"Fine, till next time boys."

"There won't be a next time, Death. We're retired," Sam said with a small smile, looking over to Dean who smiled as well.

Was it weird to be so happy to be dead? Well, he and Sam were still together and that's all he could ask for.

Death nodded and with that he was gone, the pulsing presence that had been Lucifer was gone too. Dean turned around to look at his brother's only to find Adam was walking away from them.

"Hey, Adam. Where do you think you're going?"

"With my mom," he said as he glanced over his shoulder to Sam and Dean, stepping aside to reveal a woman waiting at the end of the sidewalk. She was wearing a warm smile and holding out her hand for Adam, who looked back to her and seemed to brighten up. Giving another glance to his elder brothers he smiled again, his face lighting up when he did. "Thanks, guys. For saving me."

"Thanks for not hating us," Sam said as he swallowed thickly.

Together they watched their little brother walk hand-in-hand with the woman into the light that engulfed them whole. Finally, they turned to look at each other and then to Castiel. Stoic as ever, the angel stood there quietly not wanting to bother the brothers.

"So what now, Cas?" Dean asked. "We go our separate ways?"

Sam looked on the verge of tears as he grit his teeth, jaw setting as he prepared himself to argue his way into being able to stay with Dean.

"No, Dean. You and your brother, you changed the rules to the apocalypse, to the nature of demon hunting, to death. What makes you think you couldn't change the rules of heaven?"

Sam and Dean looked at each other then back to Castiel, their mouths slightly open as they were about to say something but they were interrupted.

"Boys."

They whipped around to find John Winchester standing there with a proud smile on his face, tears twinkling in his dark eyes.

"Good job. I'm so proud of the both of you. Now it's time to rest, come home."

They did not need to be told twice, they actually ran toward their father and as they ran they slowly transformed from the men they were to the boys they had once been. Sam was seven years old with bright eyes and warming smile while Dean was eleven years old with a cheeky grin and wise eyes. John crouched down to hug both of his son's, clutching them to his chest and kissing their hair in turn. Straightening up he lifted Sam up onto his hip and ruffled Dean's hair with a grin on his handsome face.

"My little soldier, thank you for taking care of your little brother," John said with a smile before looking to Sam. "And thank you, my little survivor, for never giving up on your family."

Dean clutched to John's hand when it was offered to him and started to pull him toward the light, but John stopped in his place before chuckling.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Dean?"

The hazel-eyed boy whipped around to look at Castiel before gesturing him to come over with a wave of his free arm.

"Come on, Castiel. You're family now too."

Castiel beamed and stepped forward to take the young boys hand, falling in-step with him as they walked toward the light.

"Dad, is Uncle Bobby there?" Little Sam asked.

"Yup."

"Ellen? Jo?"

"Yes, they are there too."

"What about mom?"

"She's the one who is most excited to see you again."

The four of them walked into the light before it engulfed them. And for the first time since the creation of man two boys changed the very foundation and idea of heaven. For the first time it was everyone didn't have their own individual heaven, but a collective one where family was all that mattered.

So you see, the Winchesters – all of the Winchesters – gave their lives for this world and never got a real thank you. None of you know how much they gave up to keep you safe and that was the whole point. They were doing a job that no one else would do or could do. Destiny is funny that way. But let me end this with a Thank you to them.

Thank you, John Winchester; for falling in love with your wife and loving her well passed the day that she died, for raising Sam and Dean to know that the world is important but not more important than family, and for dying for your son and saving all the lives you did by hunting what went bump in the night.

Thank you, Bobby Singer; for never giving up on the two idjits that your good friend raised, for being the father that they never had but never trying to replace their father in doing so, for standing by them and supporting them no matter their stupid choices, and for always saving their asses when they got into a bind.

Thank you, Castiel; for never giving up on Dean even when he gave up on you, for giving the human race a chance to redeem itself, for turning your back against God and your brothers because you believed Sam and Dean were right, and for always coming when they called.

And finally thank you Sam and Dean Winchester; for saving the world plain simple, for saving lives of people who don't even know you, for giving up everything normal that you could have had so that others could have it instead, and mostly thank you for giving up your lives for the rest of us. We owe you. Oh, and thank you for teaching us that family is always family so long as you love them.

Now, my friends, this will be the last Supernatural book I ever write because it is the end for the Winchesters. Or at least the end of what you get to see of them. Rest in peace, guys.

*cue Carry On My Wayward Son – Kansas*