A/N: The battle is over and they won, but what was the cost? Thank you to the guests who have left reviews, I appreciate them. Only three more chapters and we will be ending the journey. Thank you to all who came along for the ride. Reviews make my day. NC


Chapter 51

The dark, ominous clouds seemed to be clearing as Sam lay there looking up at the sky and letting what had happened sink in. He watched closely as two cracks broke in the clouds to allow two shafts of sunlight to break through and shine down on Dean and him. He heard his brother groan softly but he didn't make any attempts at getting up. It was like God was saying thank you for what they did. As he studied the dispersing clouds, two more openings appeared letting two more rays of light shine through illuminating Castiel and Charlie as they helped each other up. Sam smiled to himself for a moment before an alarm suddenly went off in his mind. Something wasn't adding up. Something was wrong. Sam pushed up to a sitting position and looked around.

"Bobby?" he called out when he realized one of the group was missing. "Can you get up?" he asked his brother as he got to his feet and reached down to help Dean to stand on shaky legs and left him leaning against a headstone. "Bobby!" he called again but still didn't get a response. Sam started to make his way toward Cas and Charlie, but paused long enough to pick up the rings from the grass where they lay. "Are you two alright?"

"I think my wrist is broken." Charlie winced hugging her left hand to her chest. "Tried to break my fall..." she muttered.

"I can fix that." Cas said taking her wrist between his hands and letting his grace heal it.

"Wow, thanks." Charlie told him as she moved her wrist slowly finding it didn't hurt anymore.

"Cas? Are you okay?" he asked seeing a trail of blood down the side of his face.

"I'm alright." Cas assured him looking toward Dean who was barely able to stand. He hurried to his side and draped his arm over his shoulders and put an arm around him to help. He saw something glowing in the grass nearby and stopped long enough to pick it up and put it in his pocket.

"Bobby! Where are you?" Sam called again walking across the clearing to where Bobby had been. Panic began to set in and he hoped Bobby was only unconscious as he continued his search. He quickly scanned the area and finally saw a body laying deeper into the tombstones and stumbled that way, dropping down beside his still body. "Bobby?" Sam called to him as he carefully pulled him onto his back to check him out. "Hey, wake up..." Sam said tapping his cheeks before running his hands over his body to check for injury. His hand came back with blood on it from a head wound.

"Is he alright?" Charlie asked as she came to stand beside them.

"Cas..." Sam cried out as tears filled his eyes when he tried to find a pulse in Bobby's neck but couldn't find one.

"S'my..." Dean slurred grabbing a headstone to keep upright as he looked down at Bobby's limp, unresponsive body.

"He's gone Sam." Cas said sadly after laying a hand on his forehead and shaking his head. "I'm sorry..."

"No! No! Bobby wake up!" Sam begged in desperation. "Dean..."

spn

"Well I see you gentlemen got the job done." Death commented as he walked toward them through the tombstones. "I had my doubts, but it seems I was wrong. Guess what they say about you is true. You do figure out how to do the impossible."

"Bring him back." Sam growled out as he looked up at Death with a fierce determination on his face. "If it wasn't for him I couldn't've got Lucifer back in the Cage. It was a combined effort from all of us."

"I think you owe us a favor for releasing you." Dean said boldly trying to hold himself up and not face plant at Death's feet.

"I know you can. He didn't deserve to die, we need him." Sam pleaded one more time in hopes to sway Death.

Death looked down at the older hunter and up at the brothers for a moment contemplating their request before responding. "I guess it wouldn't hurt." he said with no emotion in his voice before raising his cane and pressing it into Bobby's chest for a moment before commanding, "Ad corpus tuum..."

Sam looked down at Bobby watching closely and saw him move slightly. "Bobby?"

Bobby drew in a short breath and coughed hard as his eyes started to flutter before opening and squinting at them as he tried to see those around him. Before he could say anything, Sam pulled him up into a bear hug not caring he was sobbing out loud. He was alive, he was breathing and he was talking.

"Sam..." Bobby grunted trying to orient himself to what was going on.

"I think you have something that's mine." Death spoke up, looking at Sam with arched brows.

Sam let Bobby go and stood to face Death as he reached into his pocket for his ring. He pulled it out, looked at it for a moment and then held it out to him. "Thank you." he said in a quivering voice not able to stem his emotions yet.

"I would be more careful. I might not be as generous next time." he said taking the ring and slipping it on his finger before turning to walk away.

"I get the feeling I'm missing a piece of the puzzle." Bobby said letting Sam help him to his feet and looking at the others. "I take it if we're all alive that you succeeded son?"

"We did. Michael and Lucifer are both trapped in the Cage." Sam told him as he wiped his face. "Dean!" he cried out when Dean suddenly went pale and dropped to the ground unconscious. Sam quickly stepped to Dean's body and dropped down beside him. He rolled him over and pressed two fingers into his neck to feel an erratic heartbeat. He laid a hand on his forehead feeling the heat coming off him. "We need to get Dean somewhere..."

"We can go to Missouri's. Her place is close." Bobby said after seeing the shape Dean was in.

"Cas can you help me?" Sam asked waiting for Cas to get on the other side to help get Dean up.

"Lass are you alright?" Bobby asked a pale Charlie who was standing just outside the circle looking lost and alone.

"I don't know." she whispered still shell shocked from all that had happened.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." he said putting an arm around her shaking body and guiding her after the others toward the Impala. He would have liked Cas to take them there, but knew Dean would never forgive him if they left his Baby here. He knew Missouri's wasn't far so that was a good thing.

spn

Bobby pulled up in front of a two story, well maintained house and parked. He got out as Sam and Cas got Dean out and headed for the front porch. Bobby followed with Charlie and started to knock when the door was opened by a short, coca skinned woman.

"Bobby Singer it's been a while." Missouri said and looked behind him to see the others. "My goodness get Dean upstairs and in bed." she ordered opening the door further. "He's not doing good at all." she commented to herself more than to any of them.

"Thanks Missouri, hated to barge in on you, but you were close." Bobby told her.

"Sam, you put him in the bedroom beside the one you usually use. It has a queen size bed in it."

"Thanks Missouri." he said as they carried Dean upstairs.

"And who might you be child?" Missouri asked laying a hand on Charlie's arm and guiding her inside. "What did those boys get you into?"

"Charlie." she said softly.

"Oh child, I'm so sorry for your loss. Why don't you come with me and let me get you some hot tea. It'll help sooth your nerves." she cooed. "I have coffee too Bobby."

"Thanks, but I'm going to check on the boys first."

"If they need anything let me know." she said. "Not sure how much help I can be, but I will try."

"I'll let Sam know." Bobby replied heading up the stairs to find the others.

spn

"In here Cas." Sam directed him flipping a switch by the door to turn on a light.

They moved to the bed and eased Dean down on it. Sam straightened his body before checking his pulse again to feel it beating weakly.

"Can you get me a damp cloth from the bathroom Cas?" Sam asked as he laid a hand on his chest to feel the shallow breathing.

"Of course Sam." Cas relied happy to help.

"How's he doing?" Bobby asked stepping into the room looking at both brothers.

"Not good." Sam said sadly working on getting Dean's jacket off and slipping off his boots. He took a blanket from the bottom of the bed and spread it over his brother's body.

"Here you go." Cas said returning with a wet cloth.

"Thanks." Sam said taking it to wipe Dean's face of the sweat beading up on it. "Can you check him Cas?"

Cas sat on the bed beside Dean and laid a hand on his forehead letting his senses move over Dean. He looked up at Sam with concern and sadness. "His soul is very weak. The exertion he used in the cemetery was more than his body could handle. I don't know if he is strong enough to..." he stopped not wanting to say the words.

"Is there anything you can do?" Bobby asked as his heart broke seeing Dean this way.

"Can you take his soul back from me?" Sam asked looking down at his brother.

"No, the two have already combined in you and I could not extract it without damaging your soul and possibly destroying Dean's."

"There's got to be something." Sam hissed as he began to pace the room, running his hands through his hair pushing it out of the way. He got his brain working on overdrive trying to come up with a way to help Dean. An idea popped into his mind and he sat down beside Dean. "I'm going to try something." he told the others. Sam took his hands and placed them on Dean's chest and closed his eyes as he concentrated on transferring energy to his brother. He could sense stirring inside of him and felt the power flow through him and down his arms and into his brother's body. Sam continued doing this for several moments before stopping to catch his breath, not realizing he wasn't breathing.

"Take it easy son. Don't need ya passing out on us." Bobby cautioned him as he steadied Sam's swaying body.

"I'm fine." Sam gasped, coughing and sucking in huge gulps of air. He looked down at Dean when he twitched and rolled his head before trying to raise his hand to his face. "Hey...Hey bro can you hear me?" Sam asked urgently grabbing his hand and waiting for a response.

"S-S'my..." Dean barely got out before being drawn under into the darkness again.

"Dean?" Sam mumbled checking his vitals again to find them stronger, but still weak.

"He needs to rest Sam. What you did helped him, but it took from you. I will stay with him so you can take care of yourself." Cas told him pulling a chair to the bed to sit down.

"He's right son, let's go down and see if Missouri has some spirits stashed away." Bobby agreed taking Sam's arm to steer him out of the room. He knew his boys and if one was hurting both were hurting and neither would take care of themselves until the other was better. "Cas will let us know if there's any changes."

Sam looked back one last time at his brother as he let Bobby guide him from the room. They both knew the dangers of doing what they did, but it still cut into Sam like a knife. He didn't want to lose his brother now, they had saved the world, but at what cost.