"So," Sam says. "That was it, huh?"
Dean stares out through the windshield, exhaling slowly. "Yeah, Sammy," he says quietly. "That was it." One last hunt for the road, just helping out with a nest of vampires that had taken up space not far from the bunker. It feels weird, handing over the reigns to the younger hunters, but it also feels right. He's tired, he feels older than he ever has in his life. Chuck is gone, Heaven and Hell are both quiet, there's really nothing left except for the standard saving people, hunting things, game, and he's pretty sure the newer generation can do it a lot better than he and Sam can anymore.
They'll still be around, helping out where they can, but not hands on, really, anymore. Sometimes Dean panics at the thought of it, unsure where his life'll lead without hunting to fall back on, hours and days and weeks spread out before him without his life's mission, without John's expectations heavy on his shoulders, but things have changed. He's changed. "Well, ready to head back?" he asks and Sam nods.
They still end up stopping at a hotel for the night, just because. One last hurrah, get all of the old greatest hits out of the way, and it still makes Dean chuckle to see Sam struggling to fit in a hotel bed, because yeah, things change but he's still the older obnoxious brother. "Shut up," Sam grumbles for the millionth time, tossing a wad of paper at him. "Jerk."
"Bitch," Dean smirks back, settling back with his arms crossed under his head. Thinks about all of the years spent, miles traveled, lives lost, and gained, and lost again, just to get them here. He sighs and closes his eyes, scratching absently at his arm. They'd been so young when they started off in this life, and all he can really hope is without Chuck around enciting supernatural things and making everything so much worse than it needs to be, others won't have to experience the sort of things he and Sammy had to.
He's not sure when he falls asleep, but it's one of the better nights of sleep he's ever had in some run down old hotel room. Wakes slowly to the sun rising and starting to bleed through the cheap curtains covering their window, leans up on one elbow and watches Sam sleep for a few moments. Sighs and makes his way to the bathroom, splashing some water on his face and handling his business before peeking back out to find Sammy sitting up, a sleepy look on his face that makes him look more like the young guy he'd dragged out of Stanford so many years ago. "Rise'n'shine, Sammy," he chirps, shaking the memories away. "Let's go get breakfast and get the hell outta dodge."
"Sounds good," Sam agrees, voice rough with sleep as he staggers up to get ready for the last bit of the ride home.
It takes a couple of hours- longer than expected because they come upon a pie place that almost makes Dean cry with how beautiful the small things still can be sometimes, like finding ridiculously good, warm apple pie just ready to be eaten at all hours of the day- before Dean finds himself fiddling with his keys outside of the bunker, resting a hand on the outer walls for a few moments, lost in thought as he stalls and enjoys the warm wind playing through his hair. He couldn't face this place easily for awhile, after, but things are different now. He squints up into the sun and exhales slowly, a smile playing at his lips before he walks inside.
Looks up at the soft sound of papers shuffling at the table and feels the last of the tension leaving him, the uncertainty always freezing him up for a bit before faced once more with how lucky he really has been with how everything's shook out. "Hey, Cas," he says quietly, smiling when their eyes meet.
Cas is on his feet immediately, striding over to where Dean waits. "Hello, Dean," he responds, hovering close to him. "The hunt went smoothly then?"
"Yeah," Dean says, smirking when Cas nods. "Just a bunch of nothing vampires, no big deal. Sam and I got rid of 'em quickly and got back home as fast as we could." He reaches out, feeling something deep inside of him settle when their fingers touch, curl lazily together. He can never find words vast enough to explain how, after everything, it feels to come back to Cas, to find him waiting for him. It all seems so normal, but so different, Dean isn't even sure where to begin on how it makes him feel, warm and settled in ways that he used to never think possible.
"Oh yeah," he says after a moment of quiet staring. "I brought ya something." He reaches back and tugs out a to-go box of some of the pie, handing it over to Cas. "This place is ridiculous, and it's just a few miles back down the road, so I think we're gonna have to start going to it more often-"
Cas nods along for a few moments, settling the pie carefully to the side before resting his forehead against Dean's, quieting him immediately. "Welcome home," he whispers, easing forward into a soft, warm kiss that still manages to rock Dean's entire foundation despite how many months it's been since Dean got him back and they finally faced things they'd been too uncertain about or lost in the war to really do anything about.
Ultimately, Cas doesn't really get to try the pie that sits forgotten on the table where all of their names are still etched into the wood, but that's ok. They have all of the time in the world to visit the pie place later, after all.