Chapter 42

The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, 30th March 2012

Dean smiled to himself. Today was the day he was finally getting married to Jo. He had never pictured himself as a married man, but here he was. He pulled the knot of the tie up to his white collar and smirked to himself. Not too bad Deano…

The past few days in the Burrow had been amazing. Easter Sunday was a lot of fun, with the whole Weasley family and the hunters devouring a large roast lamb. Ellen, Mary and Molly gushed over wedding plans. The excitement really seemed to increase since their impromptu trip to Diagon Alley. Sam and Jess officially started dating again as they became closer once more, away from the busyness of the castle, giving them more time to talk.

"Dean," Dean was pulled from his thoughts as he turned at the sound of his name to see Castiel standing in the room.

"Hey Cas," Dean replied after a moment after the threatening heart attack faded.

"You're getting married." It wasn't a question, just a blunt statement.

"Yeah," Dean replied. He shrugged the long robe on. It was plain black, with a small white flower pinned to it. "Cas, I told you… I sent you a letter, and I prayed to you." Dean frowned.

"It's to Jo, right?" Cas tilted his head.

"Of course it's Jo!" Dean replied, trying to hide his annoyance. Had the Angel been listening at all?

"Oh, of course…. My mistake." The Angel looked away from Dean. The hunter shook his head. The whole Cas situation could wait, he didn't want to spend his wedding day and honeymoon pissed.

"You look… nice," Cas said to break the silence.

"Well, don't you sound sure," Dean snorted. "Thanks, man."

"You're welcome."

There was a small knock on the door before it opened.

"Dean, it's almost time for you to go down," Sam said as he entered. He was Dean's best man. He couldn't think of anyone better, the one person who stood by him through thick and thin. Sam was also wearing a black suit, but his tie was a soft navy, striped with pale blue.

"Is Jo ready?" Dean replied.

"Yeah, she is. Ellen and Molly are just helping her to finish her hair," Sam replied.

"Is Jess with her?" Dean asked. His younger brother nodded in response. Ever since Jessica's return, Sam had been happier than Dean had ever seen him. Until her return, he hadn't realized how much Sam had loved Jessica. He smiled at the thought. Sam was happy and he had his girlfriend back.

"You okay?" Sam asked, looking between Cas and his brother. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he muttered, trying not to show how nervous he really was.

The door opened again, and John edged in.

"Hey Dad," Dean smiled.

"Hey boys," John replied. He was wearing a dark grey suit, with a white flower in the suit jacket pocket. Jo asked John if he would walk her down the aisle. It shocked John, but he had agreed eagerly. It seemed strange that Jo would ask him, but it dawned on John that her asking him was a hint of forgiveness on her part.

Sam looked at his father. His eyes held a need, and he looked at Dean with an air of purpose.

"C'mon Cas," Sam said, leading the Angel out of the room. John huffed out a breath.

"Here's the day," he said. Dean nodded.

"Yeah," Dean replied.

"You know I never expected to see this?" John said sadly. Dean looked up, giving his father a questioning look.

"I never expected to see either of you boys getting married. Years ago, when I heard that Sam was going to propose to Jessica, I was delighted," John said. "Contrary to what you may think, I wanted Sam to have a normal life. I was just terrified of leaving him alone unprotected… I couldn't do that. That was why I started that huge argument." John rubbed his hands over his face with a heavy sigh.

"Just with Sam? You didn't have any plans for me?" Dean asked.

"Of course, I did son," John replied, his hazel eyes locking with his son's green irises. John sighed again.

"Dean, all throughout your childhood, and even before I died, I was terrified for you two boys. I… I was half expecting a call from some hospital at one point, telling me that you or Sam was dead," he admitted, his eyes now cast down into his lap, tears beginning to shine in them

"Wow… I never realized how much you cared," Dean muttered. John inhaled.

"You boys and your mom are more important to me than anyone else," John replied. "Even knowing that I could lose you someday, with the way we live, I couldn't bear that. I just couldn't. You're my boys. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you. When the semi hit the Impala, and you slipped into a coma. I had never been more scared. Seeing you like that and the doctors, they didn't help at all. On the third day they told me you were going to die, and they… they left a DNR order in your room. I sent Sam to get the stuff for the ritual. After Sam and I had that argument, Bobby called. He knew what I was up to, and I told him I couldn't lose you."

The word DNR swam around in Dean's head. Do Not Resuscitate, that's what it stood for. So, the doctors had given up on him, huh? He didn't really care. He knew Sammy and Dad would never give up on him, and that was all that mattered to him.

John was lost in his memories of those few terrible days. The conversation with Bobby leaked through to the forefront.

"Why would you go and do a stupid thing like that ya idjit?" Bobby snapped.

"I don't know how much longer I'm going to be here Bobby. Sam needs someone to be here for him. Someone like his brother," he replied, looking into the hospital room, listening to the machines tracking Dean's heart rate and the noise of the ventilator breathing for him.

"I can't let my son die, Bobby. I've run my course with hunting. It's time the boys took over. I know they can finish this. Dean… God Bobby… he's in rough shape. He's not even breathing on his own," he whispered as his head lowered, leaning against the door frame.

John shook out of the memory as Sam entered the room again. He looked at the two of them, remembering how they looked the last time he saw them. It painfully reminded him that his sons were no longer children.

"Come on Dad, Dean. Time to go down," he said. Dean's heart rose as he smiled at John before leaving the room.

They walked out of the oddly shaped house and into the gardens around the Burrow.

"How in the hell is this place staying upright?" John muttered.

"Magic," Dean snarked sarcastically.

"Okay, because it's your wedding day, you can have that one," John rolled his eyes.

The garden was decorated beautifully. Flowers adorned the grass and the wedding arch. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron were sitting with the Order of the Phoenix members and the other Weasleys, Sirius, Remus, Kingsley and Tonks. The hunters were there, Mary, John, Bobby, Ellen, and Ash. Mary sat, smiling as she saw Dean, a free seat to her right. Jessica was on the other side of it, with another empty seat beside her, no doubt for Sam. Castiel sat on the other side of the empty seat. Dean smiled as he saw him, sitting just where he had pictured.

"I better go get Jo," John smiled. John walked back inside the castle. "Your ass better still be here when we get down here."

"No trouble with that John." Ellen glared at Dean. "He moves, I shoot him."

"You guys think that little of me? I'm hurt," Dean pouted. Ellen and John looked at one another and smiled. It seemed that the grudge of Bill's death seemed to be starting to heal.

Dean wondered idly if Cas could have brought William back, just for this moment with Jo. But he knew that it would hurt Jo more than it would help in the long run. Hell, if he thought about it long enough, he wished there were a lot of things he could have changed. For instance, Sam's gigantic goo-goo eyes hadn't left Jessica's face since she stumbled into the Great Hall. Why did she have to die at all in the first place?

One of his biggest regrets was talking Sam away from her. She didn't deserve to die. Especially not in the same way that their mother had died. It took Sammy a while to come around, but Dean didn't realize until recently just how much losing Jess had affected his brother. It was almost as if the past 6 years hadn't happened. Sure, she was a witch, so what? It's not as if Sam had ever dated a 'normal' girl before.

Dean looked at Sam and Jess sitting close together, seeing how right they were for each other. Then his eyes slid over to his mother and Ellen laughing, he was sure, at his expense. Seeing his parents together, like they had been all those years ago. It was better than Christmas.

Sam followed Dean up to the small arch, mouth in a grin.

"Are you ready Dean?" he asked. Dean smirked.

"I was born ready. By the way, you may wanna move another few rooms away tonight," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Dude…" Sam groaned. "Gross."

"Jo doesn't think so…" Dean said cockily. "God Sam… she does this thing with-"

"Dean!" Sam interrupted loudly. "Too much." His older brother just grinned in response. The music began and they both turned.

Jo was walking down the aisle, her arm linked with John's. Dean's eyes widened as he saw her. She was freakin' hot looking. Okay, so maybe not the best thing for a groom to say about his bride on his wedding day as she walks down the aisle, but this is Dean Winchester. Jo was wearing a beautiful white dress that trailed along the ground. It hugged her slim waist, with simple thick straps and a heart-shaped neckline. The dress was adorned with floral embroidery in the entire top half, and it glided down into small bunches after the waistline.

Jo approached Dean and Sam with John. John took her hand and placed it in Dean's. His father then clapped a hand on his shoulder and Dean was surprised to see tears in the elder hunter's eyes. John retreated to his seat between his wife and Jessica. Dean and Jo both turned, facing the small tufty wizard.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls, Dean Winchester and Joanna Harvelle." Dean looked slightly to his right and saw Sam smiling at him.

"Dean, do you take Jo to be your wife; to live together with her in the covenant of marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honour and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Dean said simply, smiling at his soon-to-be wife.

"Jo, do you take Dean to be your husband; to live together with him in the covenant of marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honour and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Jo smiled.

"May I have the rings?" the wizard asked. Sam smiled and stood in front of his brother. He handed Dean Jo's ring, and he slipped it onto her ring finger alongside her engagement ring. Jo took the other and slipped it onto Dean's ring finger.

"I declare you bonded for life," the wizard announced smiling. "You may kiss the bride."

Dean smiled at his new wife, pulling her close and their lips met. Jo felt her eyes slip shut as she kissed Dean. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she pulled back, smiling. As they kissed, the wizard waved his hand high over their heads and a shower of silver stars fell on them, falling around them. The golden balloons burst, and birds of paradise and tiny golden bells flew and floated out of them. Applause rained through the air as Dean and Jo Winchester turned to face their friends and family.

Mary, John, Sam, and Ellen were the first up to the arch. Mary pulled Jo into a hug, while Ellen pulled Dean into a similar embrace. John put his hand on Dean's shoulder.

"Congratulations son," he said and put his arms around his eldest son, hugging him close. He let him go to see Mary kissing Jo on the cheek while hugging her. Dean smiled.

"Squirrel, are you finally getting tied down?" a cool British tone clipped from behind the crowd. It dispersed at once to reveal the King of Hell himself standing with a smug grin.

"So, Dean," Crowley said, eyes narrowing as he saw the elder Winchester brother. "You're alive."

"Takes more than a stabbing to kill me, Crowley," Dean growled, unconsciously moving in front of Jo.

"Apparently, you Winchesters are like cockroaches," the Demon scowled. "Castiel." Angel faced Demon and both scowled at each other. The Angel blade slid out of Castiel's sleeve and into his hand.

"I won't let you, Crowley," Castiel glared, his blue eyes boring into the furious expression that the King of Hell had.

"Whatever, I know where I'm not wanted. Sayonara, Moose, Squirrel," Crowley smirked an ominous look in his eyes. Crowley vanished. Dean sighed in relief, in the back of his head wondering what that was about.

Then his blood ran cold.

"Sam!" a scream ripped through the air. All heads turned rapidly to see that Sam Winchester had collapsed. His eyes were closed, eyelashes casting a shadow on his cheeks. Dean dropped to his little brother's side. He saw as Castiel did the same. The Angel put his hand on Sam's forehead. Dean pressed his fingers to Sam's pulse, feeling it thrum under his fingers. He sighed in relief. The Weasley and Winchester families were flocking around them.

"The wall is gone," the Angel stated, and blue met horrified green as Dean stared in shock.

It wasn't long before they had Sam moved to the room he was sleeping in. Sam's chest rose and fell steadily, and he seemed fine, despite the fact he was unconscious. Dean knew it was the complete opposite. Dean sat by Sam's bed, head in his hands. The wall was gone. Sam might not ever wake up. He could die. He shivered at the thought. No, Sam would be fine, because he was always fine. Dean felt like fucking punching something. The contradicting thoughts swirled in his brain. One minute he was positive, the next negative. One thing was for sure. Sam could die here. He and his brother had been down roads like this before, with Yellow Eyes, Lilith, friggin' Lucifer. They both knew where this ended, one of them dying… or worse. Dean felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his wife looking at him with concern as she sat beside him. Jessica sat at Sam's other side and took his hand.

Sam's mind was in turmoil. First, he wakes up in some random bar. He hadn't a clue where he was, or even who he was. He came across a woman called Robin in a bar, and she agreed to help him find out what the fuck was going on. Sam eventually had some flashes of memories. Idaho, a motel, sitting with an older man in a baseball cap, and a man around his age with short hair and green eyes. The Thunderbird Inn. It was a few towns over, they discovered.

Robin offered to drive him and when they arrived, Robin was worried, even more so when Sam opened the door to his room with her credit card, and she saw the papers and other evidence of Sam's hunting occupation all over the wall. She was about to leave, when Sam dropped to his knees, seeing flashes of images. A woman coming to meet them. A castle, no magical school. They were teaching. He and the other older man that he remembered was his brother. His parents, friends. Sam tackled Robin to the ground just in time for them to avoid being shot by someone who he realized looked exactly like him.

Robin and Sam set off again, and in what suspiciously seemed like no time at all, they arrived at the grounds of an enormous castle. His doppelgänger turned up again, trying to shoot him. It was then he learned from his other self that he was really unconscious, and his mind shattered into pieces when Crowley 'brought the Hell-wall tumbling down.' The clone in front of him being the piece of him without a soul. His soulless self wanted to destroy him to regain control over his body. They fought, and eventually, Sam managed to kill this alternate version of himself. With his dying words, 'Soulless' Sam warned him there was another one, and he was worse, before falling backwards, dead. Sam then fell to his knees. Memories flashed through his mind.

That's when Robin dropped dead. He remembered now. His soulless self had seen her before. He'd killed her himself, to erase any leverage a demon had over him on a case. After some words of regret towards Robin, he was drawn into the huge castle, and eventually, ended in a room that he remembered as the Demonology classroom that he and his brother taught in. The furniture was covered with white sheets. There were candles almost everywhere, but the room was still almost dark somehow. A glimpse of moonlight shone through the window. He entered the room with his gun. He approached the teacher's desk. A figure was sitting there, enveloped by darkness.

"Hey. Hey!" Sam said, holding the gun in front of him.

"Oh. Hi, Sam," his own voice, yet weak, spoke back.

"So, which one are you?" Sam asked.

"Don't you know?" the other Sam asked. He stood, and his face was illuminated by the moonlight. It was covered in bruises. "I'm the one that remembers Hell. I wish you hadn't come, Sam," the other Sam spoke in a pained voice.

"I had to. I'm here, right? Out there in the real world, I'm in our room, aren't I?" Sam guessed.

"How do you know?" the other Sam questioned.

"This whole time, I've smelt nothing but Old Spice and whiskey. Figured if I could get back here, back to my body, I could… I don't know, I could snap out of it somehow," Sam replied.

"But first you have to go through me," the other Sam said softly.

"Why?" Sam questioned.

"Humpty Dumpty has to put himself back together again before he can wake up. And I'm the last piece," the other Sam said looking down.

"Which means," Sam began, lowering the gun as he stepped closer. "I have to know what you know. What happened in the cage?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know it," the other Sam insisted.

"You're right. But I still have to," Sam pressed. The other Sam stepped closer.

"Sam, you can't imagine. Stay here, go back, find that bartender, but don't do this. I know you. You're not strong enough."

Sam exhaled. "We'll just have to see."

"Why is this so important to you?" the other Sam scoffed.

"You know me. You know why. I'm not leaving my brother and Jess alone out there," Sam said as he saw the other Sam pulled out a knife. He raised his gun in defence.

"I'm not gonna fight you," the other Sam said in a monotone. He held out the knife, handle first. "But this is your last chance." Sam sighed, lowering his gun and taking the knife from him.

"Good luck. You're gonna need it," the other Sam said. Sam stabbed his other self. The other Sam groaned, falling to the ground, dead. A bright light came from his body and Sam absorbed it. He caught a glimpse of his bedroom, Dean sitting by his side as his own body began to convulse. Sam watched as Dean restrained his body and as it fell limp, everything went black.