Sam sighed as he walked back to the main room, feeling too tired and drained.

Getting back to the bunker, one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding onto Jacks hand, was the easy part. Even once they got back home and everyone greeted them was easy.

They just spent the rest of the day together, relaxing, Dean cooked for all of them, and then they just hung out. They even had a picnic outside of the bunker, going to watch the stars once the sun set as well.

The hardest part was at night, when the rest of them had gone to sleep, leaving just him and Dean alone in the main room. Jack was put into his bed and Mary and Millie went to their room.

Sam was washing the rest of the dishes from the picnic and was putting things away when Dean came to him. Before he could say anything Dean crossed the rest of the distance and wrapped him in a tight, encompassing hug.

Sam stiffened, he had a weird association with hugs like this; it usually meant the end of the world or one of them was going to sacrifice themselves for something, but slowly relaxed into it, bringing his arms up to wrap around Dean as well.

"You were suddenly gone, and with everything else. With Nick, with Jack being kidnapped." Dean said, his voice heavy. "I didn't know what to think."

Sam swallowed and nodded, feeling a bit like a kid again as he buried his head in Dean's shoulder. "I know." he said quietly. "It all happened...so fast I didn't realize what was happening." he took a deep breath. "But our sister knew what to do."

"Yeah, guess she's a bit smarter than we are." Dean said, laughing slightly before he pulled away so that they could look at one another, his hands on Sams arms.

"Guess so." Sam said, shaking his head. "And Nick...I killed him."

"You did what you had to." Dean told him, tightening his grip on Sams arms. "Hey, c'mon." he led Sam to the table, getting him to sit on the chair. He left for a moment before he returned with two bottles of beer, opening both of them and setting one in front of Sam.

Sam took his bottle but didn't open it yet, just staring at it. "I tried to rationalize it." he said quietly. "I knew that there was no other choice, doesn't make it any easier."

Dean nodded, rubbing his thumb over the cool and slightly wet glass. "How'd you do it?"

Sam didn't want to answer but he reached out, easily now reaching to that part of his mind, feeling as if it was as easy as wiggling his fingers.

Deans beer came out of his hand and slowly floated to his hand, not stopping until he curled his fingers around it. His brother didn't say anything as Sam held it and then sent it back to him, still moving it with his mind.

"I snapped his neck." Sam said, leaning back in his seat. "It was the fastest and easiest thing, and it made sure that I knew he was dead. I burned the body just to make sure but...snapping his neck was the best thing I could do."

"Sam." Dean started to say.

"Back when I realized that Nick was alive, I kinda felt...happy." Sam said, ignoring his brother for a moment. "It almost felt like...I could talk to someone about it. About Lucifer and what he had done, talk to someone else that had been used as a vessel, as a being." He took a deep breath, swallowing the lump in his throat. "But turns out...Nick liked it. He wanted to continue it."

"He wanted to bring Lucifer back to life so that he could be his vessel again, so that he could go through that again. And it just..." he shook his head once more. "It was the exact opposite."

"Sam, Nick was sick, in a lot of ways." Dean said, his voice carefully. "He was fucked up, there was nothing anyone could do."

"I know, I know." Sam said, rubbing at his eyes. "But now that I think about it...I think that's it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well there's no one else that would want to hurt us, use us, or anything else." Sam pointed out. "Way I see it, there's nothing else that we need to worry about, outside forces anyway."

Dean was quiet for a moment, lost in thought. "You think that's it?" he asked. "Think we've gotten to the end?"

"I hope so, I just want to focus on us, our family, just...this." he gestured to the bunker. "Maybe...is this retirement?"

Dean moved his jaw from side to side. "If this is retirement," he said. "Then I'm more than happy for it."

Sam smiled and lifted his beer up, reaching over to tap his against Deans who also raised it. "Then I guess this is it."

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