Courtesy Call
This is just a courtesy call
This is just a matter of policy
This is just an act of kindness
To let you know your time is up.
As soon as Sam fell, the angels finished off the demons. They were too shocked to put up a fight. It wasn't supposed to happen this way.
But now the seal was permanently closed, and Dean swore he could hear Lucifer himself roar with rage. And he didn't care. His throat hurt from his brother's hands as he eased Sam to the ground.
"Sam..." He said, tears falling as he pulled the knife he'd shoved into his brother's chest out and tossed it to the side. "I didn't want this."
Castiel stood at Dean's side. "You didn't have a choice." He said quietly. It was always going to end this way. He knew that now. The ineffable plan. He should never have doubted it. For every step of the way, his father in heaven had made a counter step to thwart Lucifer, but it was for others to make that plan happen. It had always come down to brothers. It always came to war and sacrifice.
"Yes I did." Dean said as he wiped off his brother's face with his t shirt. "You always have a choice. There's always a choice." He smoothed down his brother's hair, and closed his eyes. "Did you win? Finally?" It didn't feel like a victory to him. "Where'd he go? Did my brother go to hell? Don't lie to me."
Castiel stared at the ground looking for some way to give Dean any comfort. It was what he was made for, protection and comfort. He was a guardian angel not an archangel, and yet he couldn't find the words. "Yes." He said quietly. It was Sam's choice as surely as it had been Dean's to go, and even though Castiel didn't believe either of them deserved that fate, it didn't change the reality of it. Free will was… complicated.
Dean nodded and wiped his eyes. "Fine. He'll need company. He's expecting me anyway."
Castiel's eyes widened. "Dean… no. You don't have to go back to hell. That was never in the plan. You were brought from hell without blemish or stain. You were a righteous man, don't undo that in the throes of emotion. You are grieving now. But the pain will mute over time."
"That is such a load of crap. Pain doesn't mute. It doesn't go away. You just figure out new ways to ignore it. I killed my brother. Don't you get that? He was the last thing I had in the world, and I looked into his eyes. Then I killed him. And you want me to live with that? I did what you guys wanted, I saved the damn world. Now let me go."
"Is the pain of remembering really worse than the pain that will await you in hell? Where they will use you against one another time and time again?" Castiel said. He had seen hell when they had broken through the gates to retrieve Dean. "Do you want to become what you have always hated?"
"I already am." Dean said, brokenly. "Just....go. Final order. Leave." He said as he got his jacket and got his gun. He tossed the keys to the car to Castiel. "Make sure Bobby gets that. Now go."
"You are not thinking rationally, Dean. Please. Rethink this. Sam wouldn't want this. You know he wouldn't want this for you."
"He thinks I'm in the pit already. That I never came back. That I'm just a really bad imposter. Weren't you listening?" Dean said. "Don't think I won't do this in front of you. I'm a guy with literally nothing left to lose." He said as he loaded the gun carefully. This would be an embarrassing time for the gun to jam. Big speech and weak finish.
"I know." He said quietly. "You have everything to lose, Dean. Your humanity, your friends, your dignity, you would become one of the enemy. You will become a demon one day. They won't make the offer this time. There is nothing to gain from your willingness. They will eat away all that there is to you. You will never find your brother when you go…do you think they would allow you that comfort? Or him?"
"Free will, Cas." Dean said as he sat by his brother's cooling body. "Can't interfere, remember? That was always your big thing. Watch and observe, try to guide, whatever. But you can't interfere. You should go home. There's probably a party up there."
"I don't think I am going to feel much like celebrating." He said. "And I won't leave so long as there is a chance. All I am asking is that you take time to think about this, think about how this is going to affect others. Bobby, Pamela…" he hesitated before adding, "Laura. She's waiting for you, Dean." It was hitting below the belt, but he had so little to work with.
"Don't." Dean said. "Just don't. There's no chance. I won the war, now I get to make my own decisions, without it affecting the rest of the world. This is my big reward, right? Better things in store for me and all. She believed it, when you said that to her. " He scoffed. "I never did."
"There are good things for you. If you choose them. If you give a life time. You have to take the right steps, Dean." He wasn't allowed to say it directly. Dean had to make those choices. He had to do it himself. "Going to hell isn't what I would consider a way to reward yourself for anything."
"I'm not rewarding myself." He said as he touched his brother. "Dammit, he's cold already. He cooled off so fast." He shook his head, sick of talking about things that didn't matter anymore and raised the gun to his temple.
Laura had known there was no way to reason with Dean. There was nothing anyone could say. He was lost in self loathing and loneliness. His own brother had tried to kill him. Nothing could stop what was going to happen next.
Except a miracle.
She appeared before him, and gently touched the gun, before caressing her lover's face. "I love you." She said softly.
The gun fell, Castiel moving quickly to catch it before it undid Laura's plan. Dean didn't even notice as Castiel slipped the safety back on. He could touch Laura, as he brought his own hand up to her face. Then, everything falling down around him, he laid his head in her lap and just cried.
She said nothing, she just sat there stroking his hair, rubbing his back. He could let go with her. He could grieve. He had to grieve. His body wracked with sobs, and she leaned over and held him tightly "I'm here." She murmured. "I'm here…" she knew nothing else she could say would comfort him. Nothing could end the pain of his brother's loss, or the guilt at having been the one to do it himself, and it wasn't alright. It wasn't going to be alright.
Dean was reeling from the knowledge that his whole family was now dead. His mom, his dad, now his brother. He'd killed the last member of his family, the brother he treasured beyond everything else. He'd done what he said he'd never do, put someone or something else above his brother.
There were only two options. Hell, where he'd share his brother's fate, even if they never saw each other. Or Heaven, where he'd have to explain to his parents why Sam was in hell, how he had let that happen. Hell was preferable. Finally, he just lay there quietly. "I get everyone killed. There's no fixing this."
She leaned her head down to his, gently kissed his hair. "Time is fluid." She murmured. "If you know the right people, nothing is set in stone. Fight for it. Fight for what you truly want. What your heart truly wants." She knew he would want his family over anything. Would give anything to see that happen. He just had to ask the right person."There is still fight in you, baby, please, I know there is."
"I'm so tired." He said, on his fighting anymore. He'd been tired before he went to hell. He came out of hell tired. He was still tired. But he heard her. "What do I want?" He said with a small chuckle. "I think I know." He sat up and wiped his face. "I know."
She caressed his face. "Are you sure…" she asked softly, searching his eyes, hoping against all hope that he wasn't still searching for death as an answer. There was so much hope if he could only see it.
"I'm sure." He said with a nod. "This time, I think it'll work." He said and kissed her. "I think everything will work out this time." He said as he stood up and looked at Castiel. "Okay, I saved the world. Now I want a favor. Am I allowed a favor?"
"Yes." Castiel said quietly. "If I can give it, I will." He couldn't take another team into hell to pull Sam out. That wasn't in his power, but if Dean asked the right question… wanted the right things…
"You know what I want." Dean said. "Make it happen."
*************
November 2, 1983
It was the shot he swore would be heard around the world. But he didn't care. He just stepped over the fallen demon, still sizzling from the Colt's bullet, and picked up the baby in the crib, going over to the rocking chair. He'd forgotten how small Sam really had been as a baby, but he was tiny.
"Don't worry, kiddo." Dean said softly as he rocked his baby brother back to sleep. "You grow up really big."
Little Sammy nestled into his now much older brother and slipped off to sleep, instinctively knowing he was safe in those arms.
Mary burst through the doors of the nursery, and the sound of heavy running footfalls coming up the stairs. "Who.. What?" Mary breathed looking at a man she remembered from so very long ago… but how could it be? He hadn't aged a bit. "Please… don't hurt my son." She said, not knowing what it was he wanted or was doing.
"I'm not going to hurt him." Dean said. "Believe me, it's the last thing I would ever want to do. That..." He said, gesturing to the body on the floor. "Now that....that would hurt Sammy. It's ten years, isn't?"
Mary paled. "The yellow eyed demon… you… you were there… I don't understand any of this, but you had better explain."
"Demon… what the hell is going on ?" John demanded. "Mary.. . Go and get Dean out of the house. I'll take care of this." He said, hoping and silently praying that he could make it through the night with his family whole and intact.
Dean looked at his father, then back at his mother, then down to his brother. "There are things that are hard to understand, at least for....John." He said. "Mary, you know what's going on. You've got an idea of what I just stopped, don't you?"
"That son of a bitch was going to hurt my family." She said. "But it has to go deeper. They aren't some petty evil. What was he going to do to my baby… my boys?"
"Mary," he said worriedly.
"John.. No… I can explain. But you have to let him explain. Don't you remember him…this is the same man that talked you into buying the Impala… there are things I've kept from you… things I thought I could escape. "
"He can't possibly be… Mary… this is madness."
"John… do you love me?"
"More than anything." He said and meant it. He started to speak again but stopped as she put her finger to his lips.
"Then hear me out… hear him out… please…"
"He wasn't a petty evil. His name was Azazel. He makes deals, then comes to collect. Taints babies with his blood, hoping to build an army for the Apocalypse." Dean said.
"Apocalypse?" John asked. "Okay, this has gone far enough." He said before Mary stopped him.
"She died here tonight. She tried to interrupt him, and he killed her. Then you took your boys on the road looking for him, for everything bad that goes bump in the night." Dean said.
"You're a psychic?"
"Not quite." He said to his father. His father, they were about the same age right now. And his mother was there too....he had to make this work. He had to.
"John… do you remember all those things I did when we first moved in together? The salt, the holy water, and all those things I learned from my parents. Do you remember them?"
"Yeah but-"
"John… listen to me… it's true. What he is saying… is possible. Demons are real. Monsters are real and not just the human kind. I know it sounds crazy but if you give me the chance, I can prove to you that I'm not insane. Please."
"You raised your sons to be warriors." Dean said, still looking at his brother. "Because she died. Now that she doesn't die, and you know the truth, they can still be warriors. But maybe they can be your sons too. Don't let them find out how much you loved them after it's far too late."
"Who are you? Where did you come from?" John asked him. "What the hell am I supposed to do with a dead body in the nursery and a wife who believes in demons… none of this makes any sense to me. Not one bit of it."
"Mary knows what to do with the body." Dean said. "And what do you do? Start learning. That's all I can say. And you know who I am. You won't admit it, either of you, but you know." He said as his younger self came into the nursery, luckily the body had already been covered up.
"Daddy....I heard a noise....."
John scooped his oldest boy up protectively and held him close, still worried about Sam in the arms of this … stranger. His brow furrowed and he looked over at his wife, into her green eyes, then back to the man in the rocking chair, he slowly sank to the floor and leaned against the wall.
"How?" Mary breathed, looking at the younger version of Dean and knowing what she was seeing.
"Miracles." Dean said. "Hey Dean. Wanna help me put Sammy to bed?" He said as his younger self wiggled out of his father's arms. "You are an awesome older brother, you know that? Just some words of wisdom. Don't sleep with your brother's prom date. And don't let him touch the radio." He said as he transferred the sleeping baby into the four year old's arms. He knew the four year old wouldn't drop him. Because he hadn't. "Okay, here we go." Dean said, picking himself (now there was something he'd never thought he'd do) up so the baby could be put back in the crib. "Don't forget the blanket."
John looked up as his oldest boy pulled the blanket up around his youngest. "I… I have to be dreaming this." He said quietly. He didn't want to scare Dean so he kept his voice in check.
"It's gonna be alright, John. Everything is going to be alright." Mary told him, and hoped that she wasn't lying. She didn't know how John was going to deal with the world as it truly was. She didn't know how she would deal with it. She had wanted to escape it. To be free of the hunting and the endless death. Her parents had loved that life but she had always felt trapped by it and now it was back in her life.
"I'm an old friend of your parents." Dean said. "I'm only in town for today." He said to his younger self. "But it's late for older brothers, they need their rest. So how about you get some sleep, okay?" He said, tousling the blonde hair. Then passed by his parents and headed down to the kitchen. Dammit, he deserved a drink, and his father was bound to have a beer in the house.
Mary followed Dean down the stairs while John walked Dean back to bed. "You're my son." She said, watching him open the refrigerator and take out a beer. "What is going on?" She asked him. "Tell me everything."
"Everything is what I want to change." Dean said as he sat down at the table with his beer. "You died tonight. He killed you. Dad found out the truth, and took us on a quest to find your killer. We did. I killed him. Felt really good too. But that was after Sam died. And I made a deal to bring him back. This is after Dad died, because he made a deal to bring me back. Sam and me, we save the world. And we have no idea why we should." He looked at his mother. God, his mother. "You never wanted your kids in this. I know that. But one way or another we end up in it. I learned the same time Dad learned, we made a lot of mistakes. I've removed the yellow eyed demon, it's a good start. But we need our family. Dad, he turns into one hell of a hunter, the best. But he grieved you until the day he died. We only had half a father."
"If this demon is dead… why shouldn't I keep things as they are… continue with a normal life? You boys deserve a normal life. That's all I ever wanted for us. Something without all the death and blood. With that the nightmares and the endless secrets."
"Then no secrets." Dean said. "Be honest with Dad. He found out later anyway, I think. I have it on good authority that we're destined to do this anyway. This is how it should be. As a family. All I ever wanted was my family together again. I had a dream once where you lived, and there was no hunting, and it didn't work out. Dad needs you. And we need you. But the world kinda needs us."
"Did you hate it… the hunting?" She asked him. "Did Sam?" She still half expected to wake up in the morning and find that it was all a nightmare. A terrible nightmare. Terrible and wonderful at the same time.
"No one loves hunting, unless you're a sadistic freak. It's got its good days and bad days. Some really bad days. But we helped a lot of people, saved a lot of people." Dean said. "Sam was awesome at research, languages. Always was a smart kid. Sam and Dad, they'd butt heads. Because Dad learned about the demon blood, and wanted to hold Sam as close as he could, protect him, watch him. But you know how kids are, they want to go off and try new things. It wasn't the hunting."
"I don't know how I am going to make him believe. Your father is a stubborn man. Very set in his ways. But I suppose you know that. He's good at it huh? My parents never would have believed that." She said with a smile.
"The absolute best." Dean said as he took an empty envelope and a pen and wrote down Missouri's name. "She's a psychic in town, the real deal. She was the one who told Dad the truth originally. Pastor Jim, he's another one. Man of God, and a hunter. Push comes to shove, Bobby Singer, he's in South Dakota. He and Dad were close, when they weren't threatening to kill each other. He was there for us."
"I know Missouri." She said. "Maybe she could help me convince John. He isn't going to like disposing of the body, that's for sure. I just hope he doesn't decide I am insane and that he needs to get you boys someplace safe."
"I'll talk to him." Dean said as he got up from the table and moved to the base of the stairs as John was coming down. "We should probably talk."
"Yeah… yeah we should." John said. "Let's go for a drive." He wanted this away from his family if it went scary. He wasn't sure yet that it wasn't going to. Obviously even if the man was telling the truth, he had shot someone in his son's nursery. Things could get scary.
Dean nodded. "I didn't lie, you know. The car is still bad ass even when it's forty years old." He said as they headed out to the Impala. "God, she's a beauty."
"That she is." John said as they both instinctively went for the driver's side door. He raised an eyebrow and indicated the passenger's side. "Not lying huh… so why don't you tell me all the truth, not just what you think I can handle."
Dean raised an eyebrow in return as he got into the passenger's seat. At least he wouldn't have to deal with whiny emo music. But he took off his jacket and threw it over the seat as he looked at his father, knowing full well his t-shirt was dirty, torn, and bloody. And he was bruised, especially on the neck. His face was presentable, but that was only a mirage, he still felt every single bruise and busted piece of skin. "What do you think you can handle? Right now?"
"Probably not as much as I am going to need to, but that's my problem. Might as well start at the beginning and push on through. But you better be convincing. I've got a dead body in my house and unless you convince me otherwise I have no reason to believe you two didn't show up together with the intent to take my boys."
"I'm not taking them. I have only a few hours, and then hopefully I don't exist anymore." Dean said as he turned down the radio. "But okay, fine. Tonight could have gone another way. Tonight you should have shoved Sammy into my arms, told me take him outside as fast as I could, don't look back, go now. You tried to save her, but you couldn't. So instead we sat on the hood of this car and watched our house burn. You weren't right after that, because you saw the demon in Sam's nursery as Mom died. You were relentless after. Training, studying, learning. Guns, ammo, knives, symbols, Latin. We jumped from town to town, conning our way through life, the only pay off we ever got was a half hearted thank you from the people we saved. And we never stopped hunting the demon."
"Alright." He said as he turned a corner headed toward an all night diner outside of town. A truck stop where the coffee kept coming and the food was good. "But there is a lot to this story that you aren't telling me. Like why you came back. Twice."
"The first time wasn't by choice. It was just an eye opener. Let me know that Azazel has deep plans, and an end game." Dean said. "The second was now, after Azazel's end game played out, and I won."
"Why did you come back? To set your mother… to get Mary and I to go on some crusade? To stop the demon from doing something to Sammy? So this demon was defeated and you came back to do it again? Talk to me. Don't leave things hanging for me to interpret."
"To stop the demon now, before he screwed with Sam. Before he got any further in his little agenda. So he didn't have a chance to kill you. He nearly killed me. I was on life support, the doctors didn't hold out much hope. He offered you my life for yours. And you took him up on it. Destroyed me. And Sam. For a while. Then he had Sam killed." Basically anyway. "And I traded me for him. I went to hell. Then I had to come back and try to save Sam as whatever the demon did to him made him....dark." He swallowed and stared straight ahead. "And I couldn't save him. Not then. Maybe I can now."
"You came back to save your brother. Truly save your brother." John said as he parked the car and looked over at the man beside him. The man claiming to be his son. The man that looked enough like both of them that it could be believed … if you believed in demons and time travel. "Is that what happened to you? The fight to save him at the end… the fight you failed." He could see the man's eyes and they were tormented. But hell? That was as hard to believe as time travel. Yet the man seemed so earnest.
"Yeah. I failed." Dean said as he got out of the car and headed into the diner and grabbed a table, waiting for his father. He'd definitely failed. And he'd probably fail right now. But at least the demon didn't get Sam. He looked up at John as he came in. "You don't believe me." He said as the waitress came over. "Coffee. Black and strong, please."
"Yeah well, my wife apparently does. So that's why you aren't sitting in a jail cell for murder." He said honestly. "I need some sort of proof. I'm pretty sure that isn't to be had, but I'm giving you a chance to convince me. You look like you went through a gauntlet."
Dean waited until the coffee was delivered and pulled out his wallet. And one by one, laid out snapshots and creased pictures. Some were his, some were taken from his father's wallet and journal after he died. Then sat back and drank his coffee.
"My god." John breathed after looking at the pictures long and hard. He saw images of him with Dean and another little boy he assumed was Sam, sitting on the car, in the car, two snapshots of graduations. "It's almost too much to comprehend."
"I know." Dean said. "And I'm asking a lot. But I'm asking it for all of us. I don't know what I just did. I might have screwed it up even more. But we're a family, always have been. I thought maybe you all could act like one now."
"I doubt you screwed things up more. Not if you saved your mother's life tonight. " John said, thinking he could use something a little stronger than a cup of coffee right then, but it was probably best he stuck with coffee. "Your mother. Now I have said it. I think I am losing my mind, but I believe you. What do I need to do? How do I keep them … you … safe?"
"Just be our dad. And translate that Marine toughness into being a bad ass hunter." Dean said. "Mom can show you. She nearly took me out ten years ago, you know." He said with a grin. "I took out Azazel, but there's plenty more where he came from. And if Sam wants to go to Stanford, let him go to Stanford."
"Stanford? Sammy gets into Stanford?" He asked, pride showing in his eyes. "Good thing we have that savings account set up for you boys to go to college." He chuckled and looked Dean over with an all too familiar appraising eye. "You've been through a lot. I can see it in your eyes. I saw that look a lot overseas. Men who had been on the battlefield too long."
"It's been way too long." Dean said with a nod. "But I can't have all those people die just because I'm tired. Hopefully, now I won't be."
"I'll do all that I can." He said suspecting that there was still a lot that his … son… wasn't telling him. "So you think you are just going to fade away? Become a different man because life turns out a little differently?"
"That's the hope." Dean said. "And I'm banking everything on it. Go see the psychic. She's the real deal, she'll tell you everything you need to know. I left a list with...Mom...of people who are important." He got up after finishing his coffee. "Oh, and if you have time, in about twenty years, send me to break up a cult in Maine."
"It's important to you… this cult in Maine?" John asked, looking the young man over. "Any particular reason?"
"If it works out, you'll know why." Dean said and saw Castiel outside. "Time's up." He said and looked back at his father. "I love you, Dad."
He smiled slowly. "I love that little guy back in my house… probably more than I ever told him. I guess that means I love you, too." He would make sure Dean got to Maine. It meant enough to him to mention it. It was important.
Dean nodded and walked out of the diner and looked at Castiel. "Did I screw it up?" He asked. "Tell me I didn't just make everything worse."
"No." Castiel said with an almost perceptible smile. "You haven't made things worse. Would you like to see?" He asked him. This Dean had sacrificed everything he had ever held dear. He deserved a little peace before fading away.
"You know?" Dean said, thoughtful. "I would. I want to see my family together again. With a Sam that preferably doesn't drool as much." He needed to see an adult Sam. Just once more.
The world shifted around them and they stood in back of his family's dining room, smells of his mother's cooking filled the house.
"I am not too young!" Came a female voice. "I'm old enough to kill monsters, but I'm not old enough to date? That is so not fair!" A blonde girl that resembled his mother greatly came into the room carrying a meat platter and set it on the table.
"It's perfectly fair." Mary said completely unfazed by the teenager's outburst. "Your father and I didn't let your brothers date until they were sixteen, either. See… fair."
"Dean did." The girl said as though that negated her mother's statement, which made Mary laugh.
"That doesn't mean we let him. It also means that your father and I have figured out all the ways to sneak out of this house and we used all the other means of attempting to fool our parents when we were first dating so…you're out of luck. Go get tell your brother to come inside and clean up. Sam and Jessica called and are almost here."
"Whatever." The girl said, rolling her eyes and heading out to the back yard to tell her older brother it was time to come inside.
"I have a sister. That is so cool." Dean said as his sister passed right through him. "Am I around to beat off the boys?" He asked Castiel, but Castiel didn't even have to answer as his father came into the room. Tall, broad shouldered, back straight, as if he wasn't carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"She still complaining about the dating thing?" John asked his wife, kissing her before washing his hands. Mary laughed and nodded.
"Dean called, he's on schedule to be here. Probably a little after Sam and Jessica get here. Apparently he's bringing a guest." Mary said. "Thank God I cooked enough for a platoon."
"A guest, huh?" John said. "Did he say what kind of guest?" He asked
"No. Not a clue." Mary said. "Here take this into the dining room, I'm going to see what's keeping Robby and Sera." She said, going to the back door just as the front door opened.
"Mom, Dad? We're here." Sam said as he led his wife into the house, holding hands and smiling at each other.
"Hey!" John said with a smile, putting the platter down on the table. "Your mother's rounding up Robby and Sera, Dean should be here any moment." He said. "You look beautiful." He said, kissing his daughter in law's cheek. "Come on in, we're waiting on Dean. He's bringing someone. Any idea?"
"No." Sam said looking between his father and Jessica. "Is it a woman? He hasn't been talking about his exploits lately. That could mean he is taking someone a little more seriously." He suggested. "The last time he talked about a girl, it was that virgin sacrifice he rescued when you sent him up to Maine."
"Or he has finally made his way through every woman in town where he lives and none of them are speaking to him anymore?" Jessica teased.
"Quit whining, runt." Robby was telling his sister. "No one in this town is worth wasting your time on anyway. Especially not some jerk on the football team. Trust me… I was on the high school football team. I know what those guys are like."
"Ugh! You are all unbelievable. My life could end this weekend, and I'll never have been kissed. And none of you see a problem with that?" Sera said.
John shook his head. "Absolutely none."
"Sam! Sam will help me." Sera said with a grin. "You dated before you were sixteen, right? You can confess, you're married now and don't live here so you can't be grounded. Did it damage you for life?"
"I hate to break your image of me… but I didn't date till my junior prom. I was 17. I was a huge geek. Heather Marin gave me a sympathy date because her older sister was dating Dean. There it is, the sad humiliating truth." Sam said.
"What do you mean you were a huge geek?" Robby said with a grin. "You still are a huge geek."
"And it starts already." Mary said, coming out with another platter. "Next gathering, I'm getting a taser gun." She said as she heard the Impala pull up and smiled at John. "Bet he's glad you didn't get the Volkswagen."
John laughed then. "Yeah I bet so. The last time a VW van was a chick magnet was 1969." He said. "Come on, head to the table, Dean and his guest will join us there. Sera, stop staring out the window. You're gonna make whoever it is nervous."
Sera moved away from the window and Sam moved to take her place. "Wow." He said and whistled lowly. "Okay, well… let's all head to the table like Dad says."
Robby looked around Sam. "Mom, break out the holy water. I think Dean's possessed." He called back.
"Robert, away from the window. Now." Mary said.
"He brought a girl home." Robby said as he moved away from the window and waited for the door to open.
"Sorry, we're late." Dean said. "Traffic."
"That's alright, we're just now getting the food to the table." Mary said. "Are you going to introduce us to your friend?" She was just as curious as the others, although the young woman was striking, she had to admit that. But she wasn't Dean's usual type.
All eyes were on Dean in that moment. Even Sera was silent as they awaited the introduction.
"You people are scary. Where is my family and what have you done with them?" He asked at their silence. "Fine. This is Laura. Laura, my mother Mary, dad John, brothers Sam and Rob, and pest Sera."
After the chorus of hellos, Laura smiled. "Hi." She said and made the rounds of shaking hands. They all looked a little shell shocked. Pleased, but shell shocked and she found that amusing. She could see where Dean got that expression from. That 'what do I do now?' expression.
Sam looked over at his brother. "So is this the young woman you … met in Maine?" He asked, hoping for some clue on what they were allowed to talk about around her. Had he introduced her to the family business, was she in the know… was she the ONE.
"Come on, cut me some slack." Dean said with a laugh. "Like I'd bring her here if she didn't have a clue? She knows everything."
"Mom. Holy water." Robby said.
"Robby, that's enough." Mary said with a laugh.
"And amazingly he answers the unasked question, without answering the question I was actually asking." Sam said with a smile.
Laura laughed. "Yes, I am the virgin sacrifice," she said, "that he found in Maine while dealing with a cult of lunatics who thought they could end the world by ending me. Fortunately for me, they failed on all counts." She looked over at Dean adoringly.
"Oh god… he's a hero. There is no living with him now." Sera said, rolling her eyes.
"Let's get to the table." John said. "Before the food gets cold and your mother loses her patience."
"Don't worry, they won't interrogate you too much." Dean said to Laura, as he guided her to the table. "That's Jessica, Sam's wife. How's married life? Want to return him yet? Because I'm pretty sure the warranty's run out."
"Nope sorry, I have to keep him now." Jessica said with a bright secretive smile. "Come on… " She said sliding an arm around Laura's shoulders. "Let me give you the low down on the family as we walk." She knew that Sam wanted Dean to be the first to know, so she was arranging to give the brothers time alone.
Laura walked away with Jessica, feeling comfortable with her already. That was a good sign as far as she was concerned.
Dean watched them go and looked at his brother. "Okay, why did Jessica kidnap Laura? I already saved her from one ritual sacrifice, you know." He said and examined his brother more closely. "Dude, something's up. Spill or I'm shaving your head."
Sam laughed, his eyes lighting up, and his dimples deeper with his broader than usual smile. "I wanted you to be the first to know." He began. "I couldn't tell people over the phone though… not something like this. Fortunately Dad's birthday was soon enough that it wasn't blatantly obvious or anything." He finally paused to take a breath. "We're gonna have a baby."
Dean stared at his brother as a smile spread over his face. "Seriously?" He asked. "Wow. Sam...Dude....a baby? That's....wow, that's awesome." He said, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "When is it due?"
"November." He said trying to reign in the smile but he couldn't do it. "November 2nd. It's a good thing I have a job lined up after I graduate this fall. It's all happening at once. Everything." He said. "So tell me… is Laura the one? Is that why you brought her home? Trying to find out if the family will scare her off?"
"Yeah, basically." Dean admitted. "She's definitely the one, so you guys better not scare her off, or I'm really going to get moody."
Another Dean, an invisible one, stood next to the brothers. He had to swallow past the lump in his throat as he looked at Castiel. "A baby?" He said, eyes bright and moist, even as he grinned. "God, a baby. You still their guardian angel or did you get reassigned?" He said, watching the rest of the family return to the room.
Castiel almost smiled. "Yes. I am still the guardian for your family. It's an assignment I look forward to." He said. "Even if it has expanded almost exponentially. Is this how you had envisioned your lives without the taint of the demon?" He asked, watching the display of familial affection as Sam made the announcement to the rest of the family.
Dean soaked in the scene. "No." He said. "It's better. I couldn't have envisioned this." He nodded as he composed himself. "I can go now. Everything worked out." He said as he looked at a beaming Jessica, his radiant mother, and his Laura.
Castiel nodded and extended a hand to Dean. He knew that the man before him was no saint, never would be. But he was a righteous man. They had not been wrong in that. Virtue wasn't always couched in soft gentle voices and warm smiles. Sometimes it was buried in the heart of a warrior. He was proud of his charge, even if the man had frustrated him more times than he cared to admit. He would miss this man. But he hoped that he would come to find the new version carried the same heart with in him.
Dean looked at the scene before him for a long moment before grasping Castiel's hand, a part of him clinging to the scene, but still at peace with going.
"Pass the potatoes."
"So if it's a girl, what are you going to name it? Or a boy? Maybe twins...."
"Bite your tongue before Jessica rips it out. I've read that pregnant women can often resemble possessed women..."
"Yeah, I was tracking down this werewolf outside of Norfolk....."
"This car came into the shop, totally cherry, or would have been if the owner wasn't a complete idiot...."
"I lived on salt and vinegar potato chips when I was pregnant with Sam. Completely got rid of the morning sickness..."
"What if the baby has Sam's forehead?"
"Sera!"
"Just asking...."
A/N
Thank you to those that have continued through to the end. I am sorry that I didnt get around to responding to those of you that reviewed. We appreciate all the reviews, and yes... we have pouted because we didnt get more. I must admit that we are feedback junkies in the extreme. So please feel free ( please please please ) to review the final chapter and tell us what you thought of the entire story.
Until next time :) Enjoy.