Today was their last, Dean knew that. There was no way they would all survive this battle.
All Hell had broken loose, literally. Lucifer was ripped out of his cage again and every possible Gate to Hell had opened.
They had assembled on the front line, near the biggest Gate, but it was just them. Just Sam, Cas and Dean.
With a heavy heart, Dean realised once more that there was no way that the three of them were all going to live through this battle.
It was like someone slammed a gong. There was a loud blast and seconds of immense, mortifying silence, until they heard a soft rumble that started growing and growing, until they couldn't hear anything else.
Sam shouted something, but Dean couldn't hear what. He went to stand next to his brother, Sam on his right and Castiel on his left.
He pulled Ruby's knife (he still thought of it as Ruby's) and clasped it in his hand, hoping it could slash the smoke as well as the vessels.
Dean looked to his right, to his brother, who had a stern look on his face and a frightened set to his jaw.
Suddenly, he felt someone grab his left hand. Castiel.
He looked to the ex-Angel, with the ghost of a smile on his face and squeezed.
Castiel smiled too.
And suddenly Dean didn't know if he minded dying anymore. He knew that he, whatever happened, would never end up alone.
