The next few days pass uneventful. Henry doesn't necessarily ignores the boys, but he doesn't particularly strike up a conversation unless it is necessary. Crowley is yet to reveal any information regarding the demons topside, and Kevin is the last one to find out for certain that Sam and Dean are now an item. Kevin takes the news to their relationship much better than Henry did, but he finds it just as astonishing that Sam had carried Dea. Regardless of how he feels about Sam's and Dean's relationship he says that he needs to go back to living by himself. He rents a car and he drives back to California and promises that he will keep in contact.
In the next two weeks the Winchester man work on completing the first trial. Henry volunteers to complete the trial, although they get nothing but protest from Sam and Dean. He tells them that it must be him, that they have a child to look after and they should be more responsible. And Henry can tell that his words have an effect on the boys. He feels that he let John down, but he can make it up to his grandchildren.
The first one is not as hard as they thought it would be. Apparently a lot of people like making deals with demons, and it only takes finding a person who has sold their soul to know that after their ten years are up, the hell-hounds would come on growling.
For the second trial they spent an entire month trying to obtain intel about how to get to Hell and back. The Winchesters had to capture crossroad demon after crossroad demon to get the information until one of them actually spilled. The demon informs them that there is, for a lack of a better word, a rabbit hole in purgatory that would lead them straight into Hell and back. That there is a reaper that for a price would transport a person to purgatory.
Dean knows the horrors that is purgatory not to mention hell, and the three Winchesters spent three days debating why it is such a bad idea to even consider it and that they should find another way around this. But Henry is just as stubborn as Sam and Dean, and trying to convince him to stop at their attempts to close the gates of hell forever is just foolish and irresponsible to the human race. So Henry takes his trip to purgatory, finds the rabbit hole and rescues Bobby's soul from damnation. Only that instead of going straight to heaven once rescued, Castiel deceives to step in and use his power to restore Bobby's soul and body. To say that Sam and Dean are happy is an understatement.
Henry is getting weaker and the boys can tell that the trials are having a negative effect on his body. One day Sam notices Henry coughing up blood, apparently it has been happening for a while, but he has been hiding it well. Sam tells Dean, and Dean demands that Castiel works his mojo on Henry and cure him, but not even Castiel can repair the internal damage, the damage is irreparable.
The third trial is by far the most consuming not only time wise, but it requires a physical and emotion devotion and motivation. How does one cure the King of Hell, of demons? It feels wrong to have to essentially torture someone into submission, but Crowley is demon, he had it coming and all this pales in comparison to all the horrible things he has done. Plus if this all work, he will no longer be a demon, he will be human, blood and flesh and vulnerable just like the rest of us. One more spirit put to rest, or at least to what it once was before evil consumed him.
The third trial is taking a bigger toll on Henry, and he looks pale and ill. He is using his blood to inject Crowley with and during the first three attempts there is not as much as a flinch; no reaction at all. They don't give up, and attempt after attempt is proving fruitless until the seventh try some of Crowley's humanity sips through and for a moment, there is no more screams, but a few tears as if he is remembering something from his past. He looks to be in pain, physical pain and pain of a different kind.
It is unfair that Crowley the King of Hell, the king of demons gets another chance at life, while Henry is sacrificed in the process. Sam and Dean tried everything to stop him from completing the final task, after they find out that Henry will have to die in order for the last spell to work. Henry knows that this is his destiny. He knows that all though he couldn't save his John, his family has a chance, a chance to live in a world without demons.
The final spells is completed. As soon as Henry reads the words there is a wave of energy that surrounds them and moments later Sam and Dean are left with a human Crowley and their dead grandfather a few feet away. Henry receives a hunter's funeral. The world will never know that Henry saved the world, that because of him there will be no more demons in this realm, and that all supernatural creatures were sucked back into the gates. He died a fighter.
They have been living in the bunker for nearly two months after Henry died, but Sam is still living out of boxes. Dean knows that he doesn't feel at home, to him the bunker rocks, it is safe, is clean, doesn't have lumpy finisher, no foul and spoil smells and best of all, very nice shower water pressure. But Sammy, Sammy doesn't feel at home. And then that is when it dawns on Dean. Back when Castiel had taken him back to the past he took some liberties and invested all the money he had in his pocket and now it is worth a small fortune.
"Sammy keep your eyes close, we are almost there."
"Dean what is this all about? You do realize that is Dea's birthday not mine, right?"
"Shut up, course I know."
Dean pulls up the road and he parks the car. He sees Sam trying to peek, "Sam, I swear it god…" He lets the warning hang knowing perfectly well that making Sam miserable would only bring misery to himself.
Sam lets out a chuckle and he smiles because he knows just how excited Dean has been since the morning. He is under the impression that they are going to do something special for Dea's first birthday.
Dean gets out of the car, and he lets Jack out of the back seat and he pulls Dea out of her baby seat. He quickly moves to open the passenger door to let Sam out and he grabs Sam's hand to let him know that it is okay to come out. "Keep them shut alright?"
"If I fall I'm totally going to kick your ass"
"Language Sam."
Sam smiles, "You are one to talk." Dea's vocabulary has become more extensive and she has a tendency to repeat all the wrong words. It is a non-official rule to not curse in front of the toddler.
Dean guides Sam until they are a few feet away from the Impala. "Open your eyes."
Sam opens his eyes and he is greeted with the sight of a beautiful two story house. It is painted white and grey with some hints of yellows. He realizes that the impala is parked in a dirt road and the only house seems to be at least three minutes away by walking. Sam looks at Dean and he can tell that he is looking sort of nervous. Quite frankly, Sam is nervous because he has no idea what they are doing in this neighborhood in South Dakota. "Dean? Whose house is this?"
Dean is still holding on to Dea. "Yours… ours."
Sam shakes his head and smiles, "what?" Sam is amused because certainly Dean can't be serious, they could never afford a house like this. But Dean's expression told him something different. "You got us a house?"
Dean takes his free hand grabs Sam's and squeezes. "Yeah Sammy, I did." Dean looks at his brother and smiles, "And before you say anything, no I didn't rub a bank, is all legit." Dean can later explain to Sam how he came up with the money.
Sam smiling dimples and all, "You got us a house."
"Howsy" Dea says excitedly.
"That's right Dea, daddy got us a house." Sam coos Dea and tickles her belly.
"Yeah well," Dean shrugs, "we have been through enough. Let's not waste any more time." And with that Dean kisses Sam with such passion and urgency that he feels that he is going to explode.
Sam and Dean's life has seen nothing but the darkness of the night. The loneliness the night is accompanied by and the danger the lurk in the shadows. There has been no rest and there has been no mercy. There has been no light. Every day for the last thirty years of their lives they have known loss beyond any one man can endure. They have been tortured, mistreated, persecuted, and killed more than once. They have known hell both figuratively and literally and they have loss each other more than they can stand. Everyday there was only the tiniest hope that anything would ever change.
Sam and Dean have been lost and broken for so long that this glimpse of a future seems but a dream. And every time this darkness they call a life gets closer and closer, they know that the dawn is coming and that Dea has provided that light. And that light is right there within reach and the moment that they wait for it to fully sip through, seems to be the darkest knowing that for once it is actually a possibility. It has always been darkest before the dawn. But when it finally hits them; that they have survived it all despite all the battles and struggles. Their future looks bright and promising for once. No more monsters, no more sacrificing, no more dying until they are good and ready.
Dean pulls Sam towards the house, their house, and Sam walks without a second thought. After all they have been through, after all the fights and struggles, after all the deaths and sacrifices, they have survived. And all they have ever needed is each other...and a baby and a dog.
The End
