We'll Always Have Kansas: Chapter 10 by asesina
disclaimer: Eric Kripke owns Supernatural.
a/n: Well, it's been a long and arduous journey. I went through periods of writer's block, but here I am, finally posting the tenth and final chapter of this story.
I must say, even if it suffered from pacing issues and plot holes, I'm proud to say that this is my first completed chapter fic. I usually did one shots in the past. This story evolved from an open-ended one shot to a bizarre post-apocalyptic journey, so thank you to those who stuck with it!
Warning: this chapter will end with the deaths of major character(s). If you do not like this, please do not read the chapter!
Enjoy!
"And we can have forever
And we can love forever
Forever is our today
Who wants to live forever?"
Queen, Who Wants to Live Forever
Sam stumbled backwards in shock. He frantically searched the park for any sign of Castiel, but the angel was long gone.
He turned his gaze back to Lydia and tried to hide the terror that shone in his hazel eyes.
"I never thought I'd see you like this, Lucifer," Lydia purred with a sly grin. She leaned forward and cupped Sam's chin with a cool, slender hand, and Sam shied away from her touch in disgust.
"My name is Sam," he whispered defiantly.
"You're the same person to me," Lydia hissed. She struck Sam with a powerful backhand slap that sent him skidding across the frozen earth.
"You," she began angrily, gliding towards Sam as if walking on air, "you are the cause of everything evil in this world!"
Sam swallowed nervously and glanced around again, searching in vain for a weapon, a branch, anything to stop the angel in her tracks.
"This is it," Sam thought suddenly. He and Dean had caused the apocalypse and started to rebuild the world, and he was going to die in a picnic spot in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
"What a fitting end for a life as screwed up as mine," Sam mused sullenly as he tried to pull himself into a sitting position.
His curled his fingers through the frost-covered grass and leaned forward, exhaling slowly as the frigid air nipped at his ears and fingertips.
"My official cause of death would probably be exposure," Sam thought, grinning ironically despite himself.
"What's so funny, you piece of filth?" Lydia shrieked. She struck Sam again, and he nearly passed out as the edges of his vision danced with inky waves of unconsciousness.
"You're not going to kill me," Sam sputtered as he wiped a bit of blood from his bottom lip.
"Believe me, I'm going to kill you, whether directly or indirectly, whether it takes an instant or an eternity of suffering," Lydia spat. She laughed harshly and stomped on Sam's left hand.
"Let's make every bit of you useless," she added with a feral grin.
"Get away from me," Sam whispered coldly. He paused to cough up more blood, leaving a fine scarlet trail from his lips to his chin.
"Not a chance. What other angel has this opportunity? I'm standing in front of the veritable anti-Christ, the enemy of all humanity and heaven," Lydia exclaimed proudly.
"I'm going to make you suffer, Sam, or is it Sammy? It doesn't matter. I will wipe every trace of you from this earth when I am done, and I will be the great champion of heaven," Lydia continued, pacing around Sam's body as she looked for an area to attack next.
"This isn't right, Lydia. You're an angel. You're supposed to help humanity, not destroy it," Sam whispered.
"You're hardly human, Sam," Lydia shot back, delivering a swift kick to his side as he doubled over in pain.
"This is the end, Sam. You're alone. No Castiel, no daddy, no angelic mother or brave big brother to save you," she taunted, flicking her golden mane over a regal shoulder.
Sam closed his eyes and prepared for Lydia's next attack. Behind his closed eyelids, Sam saw a lifetime of memories: hunting, fighting with Dean, playing mindless road trip games in the back of the Impala, learning how to track and hunt with his father, imagining what his mother might've looked like when she sang him to sleep...
Sam let a single, stray tear slide down his cheek. He didn't care any more. He had ruined his life and the entire world, but his journey was almost over.
After a few moments, Sam opened his eyes and looked up at Lydia expectantly.
She was frozen in place, eyes wide and terrified as she slowly turned around to see why she was completely immobilized.
"You have it wrong, Lydia. Sam's still got me," came a familiar voice.
"Dean?!" Sam cried incredulously. He tried to find his brother, but Dean was nowhere to be found.
"Behind her, Sammy," Dean croaked.
Sam's eyes fell on a prone figure at Lydia's feet. Dean was breathing heavily, and he was surrounded by a pool of blood that was flowing steadily from his arm.
"Dean!" Sam cried.
"Stay back, Sammy," Dean said softly.
He finished drawing the sigil on the ground and unceremoniously grabbed Lydia's ankle.
"See ya, bitch," Dean spat with a weak grin.
Lydia's body was illuminated with a blindingly bright light as her eyes glowed white. A strangled shriek escaped from her lips as her host body crumpled to the ground.
A shot of white light shot up from the body and arced across the sky, landing somewhere far beyond the treeline.
When they finally realized that Lydia was gone, Sam suddenly became aware of Dean's ragged, noisy breathing.
"Shit," Sam muttered.
"Dean," he drawled weakly.
"Sammy, I'm beat. What do you say we head back to the- the motel?" he began, abruptly ending the suggestion with a hoarse cough.
"Yeah, yeah. I think we just need to rest," Sam said quietly.
"Where's Cas?" Dean managed, trying to lift his head as his eyelids drooped heavily.
"Dean, stay awake," Sam urged, crawling towards his older brother.
"Can't, Sammy. I- I just need to rest my eyes," he said softly, letting his wounded arm drop to the ground.
"No," Sam whispered brokenly.
"No!" he shouted, startling a flock of birds from their treetop perches.
"You can't die, Dean! Not now! It's all my fault again," Sam murmured. He let a few tears stream freely down his face, and they soon gave way to bitter weeping.
"Not dead yet, Sammy. I still have something to do," Dean said quietly.
"What, Dean?" Sam asked desperately.
"I'm sorry, Sammy. I can't see you suffer any more. We've seen enough of this hell hole. Let's be free," Dean grunted, trying his best to form coherent sentences as he became more lightheaded and dizzy.
"Dean, I can't. I'm stuck here, remember? You - you can't die. I don't want to be alone," Sam cried, his voice thick with grief and despair.
"You don't have to be alone, Sammy. You don't have to be a wandering soul any more. You can have peace," Dean whispered. He touched his wounded arm gingerly and managed to smile weakly at Sam.
"Dean, save your strength. We'll get you to a hospital soon. Just please stop moving," Sam begged.
"See ya on the other side, Sammy. I should've told you this when we were kids, but I love you," Dean managed. A single tear sparkled in his eye and it almost brought Sam the verge of tears again.
"I love you too, but why are you talking like this?" Sam asked in a quavering voice as his breath hitched with a sob.
Dean placed a hand on Sam's forehead.
"Let's hope this works," he whispered.
"Requiscas in pace aeterna. Volas, phasma phasmatis," Dean added. He felt a shudder pass through Sam's body, and then his brother was eerily still.
"Sammy?" Dean asked quickly.
He put his hand over Sam's and begged that he wouldn't have to see Sam like this for long. Seeing his brother die once was more than enough.
"It won't be long, Sammy," Dean whispered to the sky.
The grey clouds floated past his vision, curling around the gnarled black shadows that once resembled trees, and the veiled white orb that used to be the sun faded from his vision.
"We really were like Castor and Pollux, Sammy. Zeus put them together in the sky after they died. Man, I'd love to see your face when you realize that I actually remembered one of your geeky Greek mythology stories," Dean mused aloud. He tried to say something else, but the phrase died on his lips as his eyes fluttered closed and he breathed his last breath.
Epilogue
Where the streets have no name
Everything happened in a flash of light.
They flew past spinning stars, galaxies, conundrums and paradoxes yet undiscovered on this plane of existence.
Then, after a lightyear of silence, they arrived at a garden gate. A soft chorus greeted their ears, and they stepped forward onto an endless golden field.
The two young boys opened their eyes and drank in the sunlight and boundless blue skies.
They glanced at each other with wordless understanding as they began to grin uncontrollably.
The boys joined hands and raced down the path together, heading straight for the expectant, outstretched arms of a blonde-haired woman and a dark-haired man, both clad in heavenly white.
End.