SUPERNATURAL

THE PARCAEX RITUAL

Epilogue

Two weeks later

Ellen was almost in tears. "You boys, I cannot thank you enough."

All it had taken was thirty men, two weeks and truckloads of supplies, and the Harvelle Roadhouse looked better than ever. Its new wooden frame, coated in a fine brown paint glinted in the sunlight above.

Jo arrived in Bobby's truck, her mouth agape as she stared up at her former and future home, brilliantly rebuilt. She ran from the truck and threw herself into her mother's arms, the two of them crying on one another's shoulder.

Ellen had spent the last week and a half in hospital, in a stable but bad condition. It had only been two days since she had been let go, and she was as healthy as ever. A slight limp in her left leg was a small price to pay for what they had been given.

"No problem, Ellen," Dean nodded, "You deserve it."

Sam laughed, "You know Ellen, this really is a big feet for Dean."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, this is the first time that he's actually kept a promise to a woman."

Ellen laughed, and Dean rounded on him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jo punched him playfully, "Give it up Dean, we both know it's true."

Dean laughed awkwardly, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Sam watched as Jo looked up at Dean, a longing in her eyes, and cleared his throat, "Hey Ellen, how about we show you inside, yeah?"

She nodded, and they left Jo and Dean on their own. The mood was light and happy, and even Bella had shown up for the opening of the roadhouse.

Ellen – hands trembling – opened the front door and stepped inside, allowing her eyes to adjust before looking about with utter amazement. She had desired this for so long, and now that they had given it to her, Sam knew that it was all worth it.

Tears of immense happiness streamed down her face, and she examined every inch of the place. It looked almost exactly the way it once had, with a few added hospitalities. After a few minutes, Jo walked in with her arm around Dean, who looked pretty pleased with himself.

Sam smiled at the two of them, and Jo let go of Dean, walking forward to look upon her home once more. It was an emotional moment for both the Harvelle girls, and the moment was soon broken by the arrival of a final truckload.

They all ran outside to see Bobby pull up, delivering the Roadhouse their first supply of drinks and hot food for everyone.

"Free drinks on the house!" Ellen yelled, and everyone started helping to unpack crates of alcohol, carrying them into a small room behind the bar.

After a few minutes, everyone had settled down inside the Roadhouse, catching up with one another and sharing different sides of their story from the past two weeks.

Sam noticed Bella sitting by herself, staring up at the ceiling in her own world, and walked over to her.

"Do you mind some company?"

Bella looked up at him and smiled, "How are you, Sam?"

"If it weren't for you, I'd probably be causing destruction and havoc across every state in America by now, so I say I'm doing quite fine the way things have turned out."

She nodded, "I'm glad."

"I've been meaning to ask you," Sam fumbled for the right words, "I'm not sure how to describe what happened in that graveyard, and I'm curious to find out how, even after what Dean has told me. But what I really wanted to ask is… why?"

Bella sighed, "Because of what you boys have done for me, I've found myself amongst a pile of unanswerable questions, and what was once lost I've found in myself again. I can be selfish at times, – well, most of the time – but you boys saved my life. More than once, I might add, and I hate owing a dept to someone."

"How did you learn of this stuff, all that Tria Fata?"

She smirked, "I know many things that you don't. As you know fully well, I am no hunter, but a collector. There are many things to be collected, and the power of Tria Fata is something that not everybody has the power to control."

"Then, why you?"

"My family can be traced back, hundreds of generations to the Roman royalty's of ancient times, who were believed to be descendants of the Roman Goddess Nona, one of the 'Three Fates'."

"So they were those items you've been collecting this whole time, those little stones?"

She nodded, "I'd traced their heritage back to their current owners, and followed them up from there. I've owned one of the Fates for a long time, and found another with Gordon Walker, though he wasn't a descendant, but apparently he'd taken it from a vampire he had killed. Most likely it was the Vampire's heritage."

"And the other?" Sam questioned further, "You got from the demon, Xelas?"

She nodded again, "Once more, that rock was not with its rightful owner either. When I found the last descendant who had been killed, I went on a hunt for the one who killed him. I found Xelas and struck a deal, which of course you know all about.

"At first I had planned to use the Fates to get myself out of that accursed deal, but I was too late to find the final piece, even though I knew who had it."

"Sammy!"

Sam looked up at Dean, who beckoned him over to the bar. "Do you mind?"

Bella shook her head, standing up, "I must be off now, anyway."

"Oh? Where to?"

"Wherever my job takes me."

Sam smiled, "Good luck with that."

"Thanks. We'll meet again, I'm sure of it."

He nodded, "Just don't get in our way again."

Bella laughed, "I'll try, just don't get in mine."

She turned on her heel and strode out towards the door, stopping for a quick farewell with Dean, and closing the door behind her as she went.

"Do you reckon it's gonna get easier from here on in?" Dean asked as Sam approached.

Sam laughed, "Easier? Our lives are never easy, man. We're far from at peace yet, I assure you."

He threw Sam a beer, "Sit down, and drink with us."

Sam sat in the stool beside Dean and pulled off the bottle-cap.

Ellen stood up on a wooden chair stacked behind the counter and raised her glass. The room fell silent watching her.

"This is the greatest gift I could ever have asked for," She fought back tears as she spoke, "This roadhouse had been my home for sixteen years, and when it burnt to the ground, I felt as if I had lost a part of me. It had become not only my home, but also a refuge to me, and all those who regularly stopped by on their way through.

"I would like to thank you all for rebuilding my home and my hopes, and to Dean for keeping his promise."

"Cheers, Ellen," Dean raised his own bottle.

"You boys," she looked down upon Sam and Dean, "You really have no idea of the impact you make, do you?"

The two looked at each other, and then shook their heads and Dean replied, "Nope, not really."

Ellen shook her head, then spoke again, "To the Winchesters," she raised her glass, "For bringing hope back into our futures."

A clanging of glasses followed, and the smiling brothers drank to their own praise.

"Gosh, I'm hungry," Dean stated, rubbing his stomach and looking around for some hot food, "Ellen, any chance you could bring me some-"

Ellen threw something to him, "Pie!" Dean exclaimed.

She laughed at his enthusiasm, "So you boys will be off soon, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah," Sam revealed, "We've just got to figure out where we'll be heading off to next."

"What've you got planned?"

Dean smirked, "The true terror may be gone, but there's still plenty out there to hunt."

Ellen nodded to him, and then pulled open the first of her crates and began to unpack, "You boys better watch yourselves."

"Don't worry, we'll stop by as often as possible," Dean assured her unconvincingly.

"Sure you will,' Ellen laughed. 'So what happens now?' Ellen asked, 'You have nothing left.'

Sam shook his head, glancing over towards his brother. 'Don't be like that,' he answered, 'We still have each other.'

Dean nodded, tearing another piece of pie off with his teeth. 'Yes,' he said, 'We do.'

And that's enough.

Thanks a lot for reading!! Cuddygirl18, especially, thanks for the reviews - I hope you enjoyed it ^_^