CHAPTER NINE

Dean was fighting a losing battle against the waves tossing him around and dragging him down like a ragdoll. Castiel had ordered three men to pull Dean out of the sea before he vanished into thin air.

"Bekleyin, efendim! Biz sizin için geliyor!" Dean heard one of the three men in the boat call out to him but he was delirious with shock.

"SAM!" Dean gurgled, flailing his arms to remain above the thrashing waves. If anyone asked why he was crying, he'd blame it on the sea spray, "SAMMY?"

Dean spotted two fingers above the water slip beneath the surface. He took a deep breath and sank below the churning sea, ignoring the agonizing sting of the salty water as he watched a large, dark shape sink further and further. There were no bubbles rising from Sam's head. Dean fought against his lungs screaming for oxygen as he struck down to his brother. He was vaguely aware of the little speedboat circling where he had vanished overhead.

A moment later, he heard a loud splash but all he could focus his brain cells on, starved of oxygen, was getting a hold of Sam. Sam was at least twenty feet below him and quickly being consumed by the shadowy floor of the sea. His long brown hair was swaying around his peaceful face, his entire body was limp. Dean stretched both of his arms out vainly, veins popping in his forehead. Right before he lost consciousness, he felt something yank on the back of his leather coat.

When his head broke the surface, Dean gasped hungrily for air. The other two men in the boat helped tug both Dean and his rescuer out of the water. Dean collapsed on the floor of the boat, trembling from head to toe in the agonizingly cold air.

"What happened?" he said thickly with his teeth chattering together, "Where was I?"

"Rab Teşekkür ederiz!" all three of the men cheered while the one at the very back steered the propeller back towards the shore.

Dean gave a violent shake, "Where's Sammy?"

The man who had saved him from drowning gripped Dean's wrist, "Þu an güvenli. Bu tamam."

Dean blinked up at the man and repeated feverishly, "Where's Sam?"

"Dinlenme, su içmek," said the man sternly, handing Dean a wine bottle filled with water.

"Where's Sam?" Dean repeated, deaf to all else but the answer to that question.

The man shook his head and said with a heavy accent, "Fall killed him. Like hitting stone. I am sorry."

Dean glared up at him and lunged for the edge of the boat, still a few hundreds of feet away from the dock. Two of the mean, including his rescuer, latched onto his slippery leather coat to keep him from diving back into the treacherous ocean.

"SAM!" Dean roared at the water, trying to peal the men off of him. He then whimpered, "Sam! No, let me go! He's my brother! I can't leave him! I can't leave him! Sammy, I'm so sorry! No, Sam! Forgive me, please."

Over seventy feet below the surface of the raging sea, Sam's body rested softly on the muddy sea floor.

Dean was pulled from the water before he could drown from exhaustion. He is forced to accept the fact that Sam was gone. In spite of how much pain it inflicted on his heart, Dean resisted making a deal to drag his dead brother back to him. On the anniversary of Sam's sacrifice, Dean would return to the beach and sit in the sand for hours, watching the sun set. He'd talk to the tide like he was talking to his brother. He confessed it all, as though it would make up for all the lies and deceit between them while Sam was alive. After fifteen long years dragged by, Dean passed away in his sleep. Death by a heart broken one too many times.

Dean's last words were,"Sam, my brother, didn't die human and he didn't die a monster ... he died a hero."

Sam died defeating Lucifer, halting the climax of the apocalypse. While the brothers are revered as saints by the religious and heroes by the non-believers, Sam and Dean have gone to a special place in the universe where all the people they've lost are waiting for them. Dean found himself walking along the sidewalk coiled around an apartment complex, searching each dorm he passed for a certain student enrolled here at Stanford University. He found it and was about to push open the window but he heard the door creak open. He took two steps at a time up the stairs and didn't hesitate at all while leaping over the threshold. There was one person waiting for him inside, the one he missed the most.

There stood Sam, twenty-two-year-old-mop-headed-bean-pole Sammy. When Dean spoke, he realized he had the voice he had when he was twenty-six. The voice that hadn't quite grown deep yet. It didn't have that growl that had strengthened with each person they had lost.

"Well, now I know I'm in hell." said Dean. When Sam furrowed his soft brows, Dean explained with a grin, "Hello, there's no pie!"

Sam's lips parted into the warmest, most contagious smile Dean had been missing for so long. Dean rubbed his eyes, even though he didn't feel tired. Now that he thought about it, he felt like he had an everlasting amount of energy.

Dean looked up at Sam, "I wish I just left you here this night. I wish I just stayed the hell away from you."

Sam shook his head and took a step forward, "I don't."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Bitch."

"Jerk," said Sam.