Dean had just finished telling his brother he loved him and wanted Sam to tell him it was going to be okay when the lights in the barn flickered. A sobbing Sam looked up in confusion just as Cas suddenly appeared. He didn't even have time to gape in surprise at the angel's sudden resurrection before Cas grabbed Dean and started to heal him before pulling him off the rebar. Dean fell into his arms with a gasp and tried to adjust, to dial back the fear of dying again. He blinked at Cas in shock and before he could get a word out, Sam went down hard and fast, sounding like a wounded animal as he did so. Both Dean and Cas winced when something snapped but the latter leaned down to quickly heal his injury. "We need to talk," Dean warned him before he got down on his knees to talk to his brother, who turned to the other side and promptly threw up.

"Don't leave me," Sam pleaded when Dean started cleaning him up a bit, his brain still not caught up with the last few minutes, so sure he was going to lose his older brother.

"Cas healed me right up. Look, I'm back to normal." Dean grabbed Sam's hand and placed it on his back. "Good as new, huh?"

Sam nodded but couldn't find the words to say anything else, his whole body trembling with adrenaline and fear. He didn't think he could get back up on his own but managed to mouth 'thank you' to Cas. "You're welcome, Sam."

Then Cas whirled around to Dean. "Are you fucking kidding me? I sacrifice myself to save you and you nearly die a few weeks later on what is essentially a milk run?"

A chagrined Dean could only shrug. "Sorry? Not the way I wanted to go out either." He winced, still feeling some phantom back in his back. "But can you help me get Sam to the car?"

"Of course," Cas responded. He and Dean each grabbed one of Sam's arms and got him upright after battling with gravity for a few months - Sam's knees were trembling so hard they kept pulling him back down. It took a few minutes but they made their way to the Impala and got Sam into the back.

"Can you drive? I don't want him to leave him by himself," Dean explained.

Cas nodded and took the keys when Dean handed them over. They had a long drive home but that'd be okay, even though he desperately wanted to flee so he didn't have to have the conversation with the other man that he knew was surely coming.

"Don't leave me," Sam repeated over and over again to Dean for about twenty minutes. Cas wanted to pull him over and hug him himself but at least Dean had that covered, holding him and trying to calm him down.

Dean kissed the top of Sam's head. "We're safe, Sammy. I'm still here, baby, and I'm not going anywhere right now." They had both been through the ringer tonight, and his near-permanent death had brought up a lot of trauma for the kid he raised. He wasn't surprised Sam had fallen apart at the seams and couldn't get out of that mindset.

Sam shuddered and refused to let go of his older brother. "I love you," he finally said, surprising both Dean and Cas with the sudden switch.

"I know," Dean murmured.

When they finally made it home - after one stop to grab something to eat and go to the bathroom - Sam was like a robot. He refused to let go of Dean and didn't even acknowledge Miracle's existence. "Who is this?" Cas asked.

"Miracle. We found him after everybody disappeared and then adopted him." Dean smiled when the dog stood up to welcome them home. He quickly pet him before the three of them made their way to his bedroom. He didn't want to leave Sam alone so this was the logical location.

The two Winchesters sat down on the bed, Dean smiled up at Cas once they were settled in. "You ready for that talk now?"

Cas balked at him. "Now? Sam's right here and is a mess," he pointed out. "Shouldn't you be taking care of him?"

"Sam is absolutely my priority right now but you and I have some unfinished business. Talk now."

Sam looked between them in curiosity - he had pried but Dean wouldn't tell him what went down in his and Cas' final conversation. Miracle jumped on the bed and started licking Sam. He was so fucking tired but too terrified to close his eyes in case he woke up and his brother was gone. So he smiled at Miracle and quickly pet the dog.

Cas blew out a breath. "I already know what you're going to say, Dean, and it's okay."

"Actually, you don't know what I was going to say, so don't put words in my mouth. How are you out of the Empty?"

"Jack pulled me out, and we fixed Heaven together. We're no longer allowed to meddle in human affairs but Sam sent out a prayer so loud, so desperate that every angel - and mostly all of them are back - heard it. I didn't even think about it, and rushed back here to heal you." Jack wasn't going to be pleased but he'd just have to deal with it.

Dean nodded, processing it. Then he narrowed his eyes, smiling at the angel in front of him. "So you're in love with me." Sam's mouth dropped open, stunned to hear that Cas had finally said what everybody else already knew.

Cas bit his lip, a nervous chuckle escaping. "I am. But you don't have to say anything, Dean - nothing between us will change. We can still be friends - if you want, of course. I know you love me as family but don't feel the same way. I accepted it long ago."

Dean glared at him. "Shut the fuck up and stop putting words in my mouth. Cas, I was terrified of it for the longest time but what you said in the dungeon made me want me to be brave too. I started buffering when you said all that to me? I couldn't process shit in the moment but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. I'm in love with you - have been for a long fucking time. I just never thought an angel could feel something like that, like humans do so I never said anything."

Cas gaped at him. He had never expected this in his wildest dreams. "Wow," he finally breathed out.

"Sit down," Dean encouraged.

He got down on the bed and grinned when Dean wrapped an arm around him before quickly kissing him.

"Now we're just three guys and a dog cuddling in bed," Sam deadpanned with a broken laugh. All he wanted to do was curl up with his brother and cry himself to sleep. He really needed to get this out of his system but had a feeling he'd be shaken up for a while. This experience had rattled him so hard he couldn't find his way back up just yet.

"It's nice," Dean admitted.

"Very comfortable," Cas added.

"Just please don't fuck while I'm sleeping and traumatize me even more tonight," he joked.

Dean and Cas both glanced at him in shock before they started laughing. "No fucking tonight, I promise," Dean told him, his voice cracking. He ruffled Sam's hair and beamed at his little brother. Sam's smile back was worth every bit of pain, fear, and trauma they had been through tonight. "But can we think about retiring now? I got a job waiting in the wings that I can't wait to start."

"Semi-retirement maybe? I can't just sit back and let people get hurt but no more after tonight. We're done," Sam declared.

"Sounds perfect. I get to be with my little brother, my angel, and our dog. Nothing wrong with that." Dean's grin was so bright it practically lit up his bedroom.

"I'm sticking around now. Technically breaking Jack's rules but what difference does that make now? I want to be here with you. Team Free Will," Cas murmured before kissing Dean, in awe he actually got to do something like that now.

"Team Free Will," Dean echoed.

They had a lot of time left on Earth to do whatever they wanted now that Chuck was gone and nothing was going to stop that. And Dean absolutely did not cry a few years later when Sam and Eileen had a baby and named their son after him. He and Cas married, and they all moved out of the bunker together to live in their own house.

When Sam and Dean made it to Heaven together years later, their family welcomed them with open arms.