Chapter Twenty-Five

Sam's eyes snapped open inside the Impala. He could hear footsteps outside the car, and he grabbed the Colt and aimed it at the door, ready. The door was pulled off its hinges, and a man with black eyes stood there.

"Get back," said Sam. "Or I'll kill you, I swear to God."

"You won't," said the demon. "You're saving that bullet for someone else."

Sam cocked the gun. "You wanna bet?"

The demon smiled and blew out of his host, who collapsed. Sam dropped the gun into his lap, dropping his head back in relief.

"Oh my God!" said the man.

Sam looked over at his father, who had blood running down his forehead and was unconscious. "Dad?"

"Did I do this?" said the man.

"Dad!" said Sam. Giving up, he tried to turn his head to look at Dean, but he couldn't move his head that far. He couldn't hear anything from the backseat. "Dean? Dean!"

*********************SN**************************

Sam ran into Dean's hospital room, seeing Dean's comatose body on the bed. There was a breathing tube down his throat. Sam stopped at the door and stared at his brother's body, breathing heavily.

"Oh, no," said Sam.

The doctor entered the room. "Your father's awake. You can go see him if you like."

Sam looked at Dean and back at the doctor. "Doc, what about my brother?"

"Well, he sustained serious injury: blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidney. But it's the head trauma I'm worried about. There's early signs of cerebral edema."

"Well, what can we do?"

"Well, we won't know his full condition until he wakes up. If he wakes up."

"If?"

"I have to be honest, most people with this degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long. He's fighting very hard. But you need to have realistic expectations."

The doctor left, and Sam looked back at his brother's body.

*************************SN**************************

John lay in his hospital bed, his arm in a sling. He pulled something out of his wallet. "Here. Give them my insurance."

Sam took the card, smiling. "Elroy McGillicutty?"

"And his two loving sons," said Dean. "So, what else did the doctor say about Dean?"

"Nothing. Look. Dean's a transgenic, right? He heals fast. He'll be fine. And if not...then we'll have to find something."

John nodded. "We'll look for someone."

"Yeah."

"But Sam, I don't know if we're gonna find anyone."

"Why not? I found that faith healer before."

"Right, that was, that was one in a million."

"So what? Do we just sit here with our thumbs up our ass?"

"No, I said we'd look. All right? I'll check under every stone." John paused. "Where's the Colt?"

"Your son is probably dying, and you're worried about the Colt?"

"We're hunting this demon, and maybe it's hunting us too. That gun may be our only card."

"It's in the trunk. They dragged the car to a yard off of I-83."

"All right. You've gotta clean out that trunk before some junk man sees what's inside."

"I already called Bobby. He's like an hour out, he's gonna tow the Impala back to his place."

"All right. You, you go meet up with Bobby. You get that Colt, and you bring it back to me. And you watch out for hospital security."

"I think I've got it covered." Sam got up to leave.

John picked up a sheet of paper. "Hey. Here. I made a list of things I need, have Bobby pick them up for me."

Sam read the paper. "Acacia? Oil of Abramelin? What's this stuff for?"

"Protection."

"Hey, Dad? You know, the demon, he said he had plans for me, and children like me. Do you have any idea what he meant by that?"

"No, I don't."

Sam left, shutting the door.

********************SN****************************

Sam looked at the mangled car as Bobby stood next to him in the junkyard.

"Oh man, Dean is gonna be pissed," said Sam.

"Look, Sam," said Bobby. "This...this just ain't worth a tow. I say we empty the trunk, sell the rest for scrap."

Sam pulled his smashed laptop out of the backseat. "No. Dean would kill me if we did that. When he gets better he's gonna want to fix this."

"There's nothing to fix. The frame's a pretzel, and the engine's ruined. There's barely any parts worth salvaging."

"Listen to me, Bobby. If there's only one working part, that's enough. We're not just going to give up on..."

Bobby understood what Sam was saying. "Okay. You got it."

"I mean...I know if Dean were dying, then something would happen, right?" said Sam. "I mean, with the things we deal with every day...wouldn't his spirit be around or something? Bilocation, crisis apparitions, fetches...you know, the spirits of people close to death. But that's not happening...I don't think. So, he's gotta be fine, right?"

Bobby nodded. "You bet."

"Here, uh, Dad asked for you to get this stuff for him," said Sam, handing over the list.

Bobby looked at it, frowning. "What's John want with this?"

"Protection from the demon," said Sam. Bobby gave him a look. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just, um..." said Bobby.

"Bobby?" said Sam. "What's going on?"

"This stuff doesn't protect against a demon," said Bobby. "It summons one."

******************SN*********************

Sam stalked into John's room with a duffel bag, heading for the window.

"You're quiet," said John.

Sam turned, fuming, and hurled the bag onto the bed with a crash. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"What are you talking about?" asked John.

"That stuff from Bobby, you don't use it to ward off a demon, you use it to summon one. You're planning on bringing the demon here, aren't you? Having some stupid macho showdown?"

"I have a plan, Sam."

"That's exactly my point! Dean is in a coma, and you have a plan! You know what, you care more about killing this demon than you do saving your own son!"

"Do not tell me how I feel! I am doing this for Dean!"

"How? How is revenge going to help him? You're not thinking about anybody but yourself, it's the same selfish obsession!"

"You know, it's funny, I thought it was your obsession too! This demon killed your mother, killed your girlfriend. You begged me to be part of this hunt. Now if you'd killed that damn thing when you had the chance, none of this would have happened."

"It was possessing you, Dad, I would have killed you too."

"Yeah, and your brother would be awake right now."

"Go to hell."

"I should have never taken you along in the first place. I knew it was a mistake, I knew I was wrong." Sam and John looked out into the hall when people started running by. "Something's going on out there." John jerked his head, indicating for Sam to find out.

Sam ran down the hall, following the people until they led him to Dean's room. Monitors were beeping, and a doctor and some nurses were surrounding Dean, resuscitating him.

"All clear," said the doctor.

Sam huddled in the doorway, tears in his eyes. "No."

"Still no pulse," said the nurse.

"Okay, let's go again, 360," said the doctor.

"Charging," said the nurse.

Sam watched in shock as they shocked Dean with the defibrillator. After a moment, beeping began again.

"We have a pulse," said the nurse. "We're back into sinus rhythm."

Sam sighed in relief and sank back into the hallway, heading to John's room.

"What happened?" asked John, seeing Sam's pale face.

"It was Dean," said Sam.

"What happened to him?" asked John.

"He flatlined," said Sam.

"He what?" said John, eyes widening.

"They resusitated him, don't worry," said Sam, sitting down on the bed. "You think he's gonna make it? I mean, he's strong. He'll bounce back, right?"

John looked down at his legs. "I don't know, Sammy. I don't know." He looked up at Sam. "Sam...I promise I won't hunt this demon. Not until we know Dean's okay."

Sam nodded, leaving to go get some coffee.

***************************SN****************************

Sam walked into Dean's room that night, looking down at his big brother. The cuts appeared to be smaller and less red on his face, but he was still pale and asleep.

Sam sat on Dean's bed, looking at him. "It'd be nice to hear from you, man. It hasn't been the same without you, Dean." Sam looked down at his hands, sighing. "Look, you gotta keep fighting. I mean, come on, you can't, you can't leave me here alone with dad, we'll kill each other, you know that." He paused, putting his hand on Dean's flaccid one. "Dean, you've got to hold on. You can't go, man, not now. We were just starting to be brothers again."

Sam closed his eyes, turning his head down. He felt a twitch under his hand, and he looked up at Dean's face. Dean's eyes were twitching back and forth under the eyelids, and his fingers were clutching at the bedspread.

"Dean?" said Sam, leaning forward. Dean's eyes slowly slid open, looking up at the ceiling. He immediately started convulsing as he weakly grabbed at the tube. He started choking as he tried to rip the tube out. Sam grabbed Dean's hands, knowing his brother would hurt himself if he pulled it out. Sam turned his head toward the door. "Help! I need help!"

A nurse came running into the room. The nurse stood over Dean, looking into his face.

"I need to take the tube out, okay?" asked the nurse. Dean looked into her face, still choking. He quickly nodded. "I need you to blow out a big breath when I say three, okay?"

Dean nodded again.

The nurse tilted his chin up and grasped the tube. "One...two...three."

Dean let out a deep breath as the nurse pulled the tube out of his throat. Dean coughed as his hand went to his throat. Sam immediately grabbed the glass of water and put it to Dean's lips. Dean quickly drank the whole thing.

"Dean, you okay?" asked Sam.

Dean nodded, wincing.

"Are you in any pain?" asked the nurse.

Dean nodded again, and the nurse left to get his pain medication.

"What happened?" asked Dean hoarsely.

"You don't remember?" asked Sam. Dean frowned. "The demon...the accident..."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah." He looked out the window to see the night sky. "We finally get to the hospital, huh?"

"Dean, you've been in a coma for two days," said Sam.

"I have?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, the car accident gave you a good bump on the head," said Sam.

"The car accident..." said Dean. His eyes suddenly widened, and he looked up at Sam. "What about the car? Is she alright?"

Sam grimaced and looked down at his hands. "I'm not gonna lie to you...it doesn't look good."

"Oh, dammit," said Dean.

"Don't worry," said Sam. "Bobby's got her at his place. You can fix her up when you get better."

The nurse walked back into the room with some pills.

"I'm gonna go tell Dad you're awake," said Sam.

Dean nodded, and Sam left the room. He walked back to his father's room, but it was empty. Sam rushed back to Dean's room. He waited until the nurse left before rushing to Dean's bed.

"Dad's gone," said Sam.

"What?" said Dean.

"He's not in his room," said Sam.

"Well, where is he?" asked Dean.

"I don't know," said Sam. "He could be..."

"Sam?" asked Dean.

"Those supplies," said Sam. "Dad sent me to get supplies from Bobby, supplies to summon a demon. You don't think—"

"No," said Dean. "I mean, why would he summon a demon?"

"Well, I don't think he was thinking straight," said Sam. "I mean, the last news he heard on you was that you flatlined—"

"I what?" said Dean, sitting further up in bed.

"Hey, we got T-boned by a semi," said Sam. "What did you expect?"

Dean rolled his eyes, focusing on the matter at hand. "Yeah, he's clearly not thinking straight." He looked around. "He'd be somewhere no one would interrupt him." They looked at each other.

"The basement," Sam and Dean said.

Dean jumped up out of bed.

"Wait, Dean, what are you doing?" asked Sam.

"If he really is summoning a demon, you'll need my help," said Dean. "No complaints. I got pain meds, and I'm healing, so shut up."

Sam and Dean ran down to the basement, heading to the door of the boiler room. They sat John standing in front of a man...a man with yellow eyes.

"Dammit," muttered Dean. "What is he doing?" He spotted the Colt in John's hand. "Why isn't he shooting it?"

Dean quietly propped the door open, making sure they didn't see him. As he and Sam snuck into the corner of the room, they listened to the conversation.

"Good," said John. "Before I give you the gun, I'm going to want to make sure that Dean's okay. With my own eyes."

"Oh, John, I'm offended," said Yellow-Eyes. "Don't you trust me?" John shook his head. "Fine."

"So we have a deal?" asked John.

"He's making a deal with him," Dean muttered quietly to Sam. "He thinks I'm dying, so he's making a deal to save me." He looked back at Sam. "Wait here." Dean began to sneak around the room, approaching the wall behind John.

"No, John, not yet," said Yellow-Eyes. "You still need to sweeten the pot."

"With what?" asked John.

"There's something else I want, as much as that gun," said Yellow-Eyes. "Maybe more."

Dean blurred forward, snatching the Colt out of John's hand and pointing it at Yellow-Eyes. "Well, you ain't getting it."

Dean pulled the trigger, shooting Yellow-Eyes in the head. The demon crumpled to the floor, light shooting out of it. The yellow eyes faded as the demon died. John stared in shock at Dean.

"You're okay?" asked John, eyes wide.

"What the hell, Dad?" said Dean. "Life's looking a little down, so you start making deals with devils?"

"Well..." began John, still in shock that Dean was okay.

"What were you thinking?" said Dean. His adrenaline finally left him, and he collapsed to his knees on the floor.

"Dean!" Sam called as he rushed over to Dean. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just get me back upstairs," said Dean. Sam lifted Dean to his feet, helping him towards the door. "Wait, wait...something I need to do." Dean looked back at the Yellow-Eyed Demon. "That was for our mom...you son of a bitch."

John smiled as he helped Sam get Dean back up to the hospital room. They got Dean back in the bed.

"So, you're really okay?" asked John.

"Told you, Dad," said Dean. "Transgenics heal fast."

"I still can't believe it," said John.

"Well, I'll just be glad when I get out of here," said Dean.

**********************SN***********************

Four months later, Dean drove his shiny, fixed-up Impala up to Terminal City with Sam and John tagging along. They pulled into Terminal City, which no longer had a fence around it. It also looked like they'd been fixing it up to look like the rest of town. Dean walked into command central with his family.

"Dean!" said Max, coming up and hugging him. "How are you?"

"Better," said Dean.

"Tell me you got that demon," said Max.

"Oh, he's dead," said Dean.

"Thank God," said Max. "No one messes with my town."

"Or my family," said Dean with a smile.

"You got that right," said Max with a megawatt smile.

Dean frowned. "What's with you? You look like you won the lottery."

"Close enough," said Max. She looked back at Logan, her smile practically jumping out of her. She smiled back at Dean. "I'm pregnant!"

Dean smiled. "What?"

"Three months now," said Max.

"That's awesome, guys!" said Dean. He hugged Max again. He looked over at Logan and gave him an air high five. "Congratulations! Sounds like you guys have been busy."

"Well, other than that, there's been the reconstruction of Terminal City," said Max. "That's pretty much taking up most of my time. How's your summer been?"

"Well, we killed a bunch of vampires, demons kidnapped our Dad, we saved him, he got possessed, a semi T-boned the Impala, I got stuck in a coma for a few days, and then we killed the demon," said Dean. "All in a good day's work."

Max grimaced. "I think I like my life better."

"You should," said Dean.

Max looked at him. "I'm glad you're healed."

Dean frowned. "You mean, the whole torture incident?" Max nodded. "Yeah, I healed, like, four months ago, Max."

"Still, I didn't get a chance to say it then," said Max.

"Well, thank you," said Dean. "So, what's your plan? Buy a house, get a desk job?"

"Well, actually, we're getting married," said Max. "In three months."

Dean smiled. "Well, double congratulations."

"What about you guys?" asked Logan.

"Well, I'm gonna keep hunting with my dad," said Dean. "Small hunts, though. I don't wanna do this the rest of my life."

"What about you, Sam?" asked Max.

"I think I'm gonna go back to school," said Sam. "I'm not sure what I want to go into anymore, but...I'll think of something."

"Well, I wish you luck," said Max.

"You, too," said Dean. "Call me when you set a date. We'll be there."

Max walked back to Logan as the Winchesters headed back to the Impala.

"So, you're going back to school?" asked Dean.

"Maybe...eventually," said Sam. "I mean, that's definitely what I want to do with my life, but...not right now, you know?"

"Then what?" asked John.

"I think I'll stick around you guys," said Sam. "You know, family business or whatever."

Dean smiled. "Alright. Let's hit the road."

***************SN***************

Dean stood in front of the door, staring at the wood and shifting back and forth on his feet. He finally raised a hand to knock, but the door opened before he could.

"Dean?" asked Isabelle. Dean smiled at her as he stared. Isabelle looked at his hand, and Dean looked at it to see it was still in the air. He quickly lowered it. "What are you doing here?"

Dean took a deep breath. "I wanted to..." He took another breath. "I was wondering if..." He sighed, looking down at his feet. He began wringing his hands. "Would you like to-"

"I'd love to," said Isabelle.

Dean's head snapped up to look at her, a frown on his face. "What?"

"I'd love to go to dinner with you," said Isabelle, a blush creeping onto her face.

Dean smiled as he realized Isabelle had figured out what he had been wanting to ask. "Really?"

Isabelle smiled. "Yeah."

Dean smiled even wider, holding his hand out. "Shall we, then?"

Isabelle's smile also grew as she took his hand. "We shall."

Isabelle closed her door as she and Dean walked through the forest, hand-in-hand towards their new life together.

THE END