Dean slammed the trunk of the Impala with a satisfied sigh, reveling in the fact that they were finally getting out of here. Their bags were packed, the car was loaded, and nothing short of a demon dropping from the sky and landing in the middle of the street was going to keep him here for another hour. Finally, it was back to the open road, just him, Sam, and John Bonham.

Over on the sidewalk, a little in front of the Impala, Sam was saying his goodbyes, and as Dean went over to join him, he was a little surprised at the turnout. He'd expected Morgan and Sari to turn up, of course, but not for Maria Lane to come with them. The three of them had been accompanied by Bikky, who probably had ulterior motives, like dragging Morgan away before anyone could make them go home. JJ had come to continue his stalking, and apparently, wherever he went, Drake inevitably followed. Dee and Ryo stood a little off to the side of the throng, the former's arms wrapped around the latter. Ryo was blushing a little, but being close to Dee seemed to be more important than embracing his timidity right now, and for once, when Dean cast around for a joke, he came up with nothing.

Sam was deep in conversation with Morgan when he reached them—probably playing catch up, Dean thought wryly, thinking about how very much there was to catch up on. They stopped once he was in earshot, though, so it was fairly obvious exactly what they had been talking about, which was maybe why there was a snap in his voice when he spoke.

"Sam, hurry it up, I wanna beat traffic outta town."

"Dean, we're in New York. There is no beating the traffic," Sam replied, ignoring the tone.

"And drop that tone," Maria added, sounding so like Missouri Mosley that Dean blinked in surprise. "Believe you me, you are not too old for one of my dressing-downs, and certainly not above them." But even as she scolded, her arms reached out, and he stiffened when she hugged him tightly. "Your father was a wonderful man, and you are just like him. Don't ever forget that," she whispered in his ear, just before she let him go.

He was still staring at her, his mouth open a little in shock, when Morgan took her place and swung his arms around Dean, hugging him more rightly than Maria had. Dean snapped out of his surprise enough to hug him back—awkwardly; he was never getting the hang of this—but his eyes were still on the nun, who smiled serenely back at him as if nothing whatsoever had happened.

Well, maybe nothing had.

JJ came next, and Dean pointedly stepped back a pace and stuck out a hand to shake. Sam laughed aloud at that, and Dean glared at him formidably. JJ, however, didn't seem to notice the implied insult—he just beamed and said brightly, "Bye, stud! Be sure to come back and visit us!"

Dean's look must have been fairly comical, because Sam wasn't the only one to laugh at him this time. Even Drake got into it, and wasn't he supposed to play the jealous boyfriend in this scenario?

JJ laughed along with them, though, and that was just weird—did he have any idea what he was laughing at?

Apparently he did, because about five seconds later he abruptly stopped laughing and said, "Okay, I'm bored. Let's go, Drake." He leaned over and pecked Dean on the cheek, shook Sam's hand vigorously, then grabbed Drake's hand and bounced off without looking back.

"That is…the most disturbing man I have ever met in my entire life," Dean murmured, staring at JJ's back as they left.

Maria laughed. "Well, he may be a whacko, but he's our whacko," she said fondly. "Besides, believe it or not, he's so in love with Drake he can't see straight. He'd probably be quite horrified if you took him seriously. Anyways, I should probably get back to the kids—I left them alone at the orphanage. People could die…"

"Um…Mother, can we…?" Morgan asked tentatively, as Bikky tugged impatiently on his arm.

She looked at him in genuine surprise. "Oh, you're still here? Why?"

Morgan and Bikky being teenagers, this was more than enough for them. They booked outta there, with Sari jogging between them, holding each of their hands, Morgan waving a last goodbye behind them.

Dean had almost forgotten that Dee and Ryo were behind them until Sam went over there to say goodbye. Even when he reached out to shake hands, Dee kept one arm around Ryo, who leaned heavily against him, still a little pale but fairly steady on his feet, for a guy who had just checked out of the hospital AMA—very AMA.

"I know I've said it about a thousand times since yesterday," Ryo said, his voice hoarse and a little sandpapery. "But thanks…for everything."

"Yeah…thanks…" Dee said grudgingly, mostly just looking at Sam. "For, you know, not letting me kill my boyfriend…"

"Yeah, well, that's us—making the world a better place for dysfunctional couples everywhere," Dean replied, with only a touch of sarcasm.

Sam elbowed him, and despite his obvious exhaustion, it quickly became obvious that his strength was undiminished. "It was good to meet you guys. Crappy circumstances, but that's not your fault, right?" Dean grunted and pointedly looked at his watch, and Sam laughed. "All right, all right, you're right, Dean, we should probably go."

"Oh, well, that's such a shame, sorry we gotta go so quick—hazard of the biz, ya know," Dean said quickly, already headed for the car. Behind him, Sam laughed again, and turned back to Ryo and Dee, probably to continue with the polite conversational goodbyes.

For the love of God, Sam, don't take too long…

As if spurred on by his silent plea, Sam opened his door barely three minutes later and folded his long limbs inside. As the door thudded shut, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

Dean looked down in surprise as something was pressed into his hand, and saw that he was holding Sam's bottle of painkillers. "Sammy, what—?"

"I want you to hold onto them," Sam explained before he could finish the question. "I've been relying on them too much. I'm not addicted yet, but if I keep like I have been, it won't be long. Only give 'em to me right after a vision or before a fight, okay?"

Dean nodded, and tossed the bottle in the glove compartment before starting the car. "Sure thing, Sammy," he said, glancing at the rearview mirror before pulling out onto the highway. "So…uh…how're ya doin'?" he asked casually after a few minutes of silence.

Sam shrugged and looked down at his knees, picking at an invisible spot on his jeans. "I'm…fine, I guess. You know…considering." He was silent for a moment, then said, "Dean…I remembered something about last night."

Dean didn't so much as glance at him, much less reply, but his jaw tightened with tension.

"I only remembered this morning, but it's been bugging me since yesterday."

"Well, what was it?" Dean asked impatiently.

"Anger," Sam said abruptly. "I felt anger. A lot of it. And…I don't know how, but I know it didn't come from that demon. It came from…me. Or…something in me, at least. And it didn't even seem to…belong to me." He clenched his hands into fists, his knuckles going white. "Dean, I'm scared, man. I'm scared…"

And no matter that he was Sam's brother, the one who was supposed to protect him, to calm his fears, to chase away his nightmares—Dean had no answer for that.

XXX

Meanwhile

The 27th Precinct

Berkley Rose stared, slack-jawed and wide-eyed, at the computer screen, from which a giant picture of Dean Winchester looked penetratingly at him.

"…HOW COME NO ONE TOLD ME WE WERE HARBORING A KNOWN CRIMINAL?!"

AN: Well, there it is! That's the last of it! Many, many thanks to my reviewers:

Raven Black

Winchester13

Freya

Calliope Della Corte

Minkster

friendly

I really did appreciate them! I do hope you'll come back for more!