Merry Christmas if you celebrate. Happy Saturday if you don't.

Christmas can be hard for us all—so can Saturdays—whether you're alone and don't want to be or are surrounded by people and want to be alone. If you're surrounded, tell them you need a bathroom break and come read this. If you're alone, I hope this chapter fills a little of the day for you.

I will be surrounded by people for part of the day, but I am 100% here for you if you need to talk. Here on FFnet, my PMs are open, and I will reply as soon as I can. If you have Tumblr, you can send me a message on there — my account is jadeys-world. If you have Twitter, I'm Jadeys_World and my mentions and DMs are open. We can talk about anything you want, or we can just exchange gifs of kittens or Irondad moments. Whatever you need, I'm here all-day UK time and I'll get straight back to you if I miss your time zone.

Epilogue

Sam felt heavy. His limbs seemed weighed down with sand, as though he had been buried. His head felt fuzzy, as if he was hungover or drugged. That was worrying, but the sense of his surroundings was calm and peaceful.

He could hear muffled voices, and they seemed familiar. One of them was a little harsh, but the voice that replied was serene and patient.

He focused on the sounds, his brow furrowing.

"Seriously, Cas, how much longer are we supposed to wait? How do we know he's not done himself some serious damage using that blade— Sammy? Can you hear me?"

"He's waking up, Dean," Castiel said, voice endlessly patient. "He'll be fine. Just give him time."

"Yeah, sure," Dean said, then addressed Sam with no hint of patience. "Wake your ass up, Sammy. I'm done sitting here watching you sleep."

Sam focused on forcing his eyes open, though it seemed like a battle he could not win as they were so heavy. Then they parted a crack and light burgeoned, dazzling him. He quickly closed them again then worked to open them fully.

The light was in fact dim, coming from the bedside table, and it lit Dean's strained face beside him. Sam looked right and saw Castiel standing beside the bed, smiling slightly.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice weak.

"You— You killed an archangel, Sam!" Dean said. "You grabbed the blade and stabbed Lucifer, and then you just… You glowed, man, then collapsed. Humans aren't supposed to use the archangel blade, dammit."

"I killed Lucifer…?"

"You did," Castiel said, smiling widely. "He will never trouble us again. And with him distracted, Jack was able to kill Michael."

"Yeah, then Cas said there wasn't anything to heal, but you slept for a damn week," Dean said, sounding angry.

Sam tried to sit up, but his body felt so heavy he didn't manage to get far. Dean quickly bent over him and eased him up as Castiel propped pillows behind him.

"I don't remember any of that," Sam said.

"You probably fried a few brain cells doing it," Dean said. "Don't worry about it," he grinned in relief. "You've got plenty to spare."

"You should tell Mary and Jack that Sam's awake," Castiel said.

Dean looked at Sam, seeming reluctant, then he nodded and said, "Okay, I'm going, but you've got to keep your ass awake, Sammy. I swear, if I have to stare at you sleeping again, I'm going to shoot you in the foot."

Sam snorted. "I'll stay awake."

Dean rose to leave, then bent and gave Sam a brief but crushing hug and hurried out of the room, his hand swiping at his face.

Sam stared after him and said, "So, what really happened, Cas?"

Castiel's smile faded. "What do you remember?"

Sam's brow furrowed. "It's all pretty mixed up and confusing, but… Did I lose Dean? Was Nick here?"

Castiel's lips turned down. "Nick was not here. That was just a nightmare. It never happened."

Sam wasn't sure he believed Castiel, but those memories did feel like a dream, and they were already fading. What he was left with was deep gratitude for his life and the fact he had his family with him.

As if the thought had summoned them, Mary rushed through the door, Dean following and Jack behind. Mary swooped on Sam and hugged him, praise and remonstrances slipping from her.

"You almost died, Sam. You saved us all. You could have left us. I'm so proud of you."

Sam laughed and managed to embrace her in return. Over Mary's shoulder, he saw Jack give Castiel a questioning glance and receive a nod and smile in return.

Whatever had happened, Jack knew about it, too. Sam felt no unease, though. The confusing memories, or nightmare, were already leaving him, and all he felt was peace.

Lucifer was dead. Nightmare Michael from the Apocalypse World was dead. Already he could feel his strength returning. And his family was all together.

Perhaps this was their happy ending.

So… This is the last installment of my last—written—SPN story. I will be back as I have too many ideas to set them aside, and there are so many people I care about that I've met through writing for SPN that I don't want to say goodbye to. However, I am still deep in my Irondad series and I have a Twilight story I promised I'd write next. One day, though, I'll be back to whumping on Sam and Dean as you know I love to do.

Thank you all for sticking with me to the end. Thank you MaggieMay19 for joining me on this adventure and making it great.

Until next time, and there will be a next time…

Jadey xxx