Author's Note: I can't even handle what happened on the latest episode. Nope, my heart can't take it. Anyways, let's focus back on Dean and his guilt. Please enjoy this final chapter!

"Maybe there's more we all could have done, but we just have to let the guilt remind us to do better next time."

― Veronica Roth

You can't really process what is going on anymore.

You've saved Sam, sure, but you've lost Cas and what's more, Lucifer is out and wreaking havoc all in the name of good supposedly. This was never supposed to happen, but it has and now you have to deal with the ramifications.

Starting with Sam first.

Your little brother is bandaged up—bruised ribs, a mild concussion, and various cuts and bruises all over—but it's not the physical injuries you're worried about most now. It's the invisible scars, the trauma hiding just under the surface, waiting to explode at a moment's notice.

You don't know what exactly your brother experienced while with Lucifer again. Sure you have a pretty good idea, but you can't ask him about it though, Sam has to want to open up about that kind of thing. If you press him too hard, he will shut down and he'll internalize the pain and be a good little Winchester and take it out on something stupid, like beer or a dangerous hunt.

So you watch and you wait.

Because Sam will want to talk about it—he always has been more in touch with his feelings than you, ever since he was little—and you will be there to listen. You'll reassure him that the choice Cas made isn't his fault and that together, the two of you can fix this fucked up situation.

But you're not sure if you can do that this time. The Darkness is bad enough but having Lucifer out in the world again? The last time you faced down the Devil, Sam threw himself into Hell. What would it take this time? What kind of sacrifice would you or your brother make?

Can you really watch Sam die, if it comes to that?

"I should've finished the Trials." Sam says, his voice barely above a whisper and your heart skips a beat as the terror from relieving that moment when you burst into that church consumes you.

Sam had been on the brink. He'd been ready to die, willing to die, and you pulled him back.

"Sam—"

"If I had just died," Sam mutters dully, his eyes devoid of any emotion. "None of this would've happened."

He's caught in one of his shame spirals, induced by whatever Lucifer said to him as well as Cas' crazy decision.

"If you had died," You say each word deliberately, trying to emphasize each syllable. It pains you that you even need to reassure Sam that his being here—alive—is not a mistake. But then, Sam has always suffered like this, always so ready to take the blame and use it to hurt himself.

But not today.

"If you had died," You start once more, "and you sealed the gates of Hell, do you really think it would've made a difference?"

Sam meets your gaze then, somewhat surprised by your question.

"What?" He murmurs.

"Think about it, you die and seal the gates, but would that really have been the end of it?"

"Of course!" Sam interjects, voice rising.

"No, Sam," You retort, "Crowley would've found a way out."

"You don't know that—"

"—and you'd have died in vain!"

"You don't know that!" Sam shouts, voice tinged with rage, syllables colliding into each other. He stands before you know, fists clenched, eyes burning with fury and he seems so little, so lost, like a child who doesn't know how to express what they feel.

"Sam."

"Cas is . . ." Your little brother huffs out a dark chuckle. "Cas is gone and why? Because I—"

"Because you what, Sam?" You challenge. "Because you said no? Because you somehow got Cas to say yes?" You shake your head, willing him to see what he's saying, to understand where you're coming from. "Sam, Cas made his choice. It was a stupid one, yeah, but it was his to make. Not yours. Not mine. His."

"But if I had just stayed—"

"His choice, Sam," You repeat, trying to get your little brother to put his big brain to use and realize the truth. "There was nothing you could've done. How could you have predicted this? Hell, I was with him and I didn't even see this coming!"

Sam weighs this for a moment and you can almost see the wheels turning in his brain as your little brother tries to find a way to still blame himself for what Castiel did.

For the longest time, there is silence. The fight seems to drain out of Sam, replaced by a weariness that you haven't seen in awhile. The kid is still hurting—Lucifer did toss him around and did God knows what else to him—and you need to take care of him.

That's what you do, after all.

You're there to pick up the pieces, to try and keep Sam from losing his marbles. You're his big brother and you will always be there for him.

"We'll get him back." Sam finally says and a soft smile graces your lips.

"No doubt about it."

"We'll stop Lucifer."

"We did it once, we can do it again."

"And we'll stop Amara."

"Of course, Sam."

Sam finally smiles at you and it feels like sunshine after a long storm, warm and full of peace. Words aren't needed to convey how the two of you feel. You've always been the one who's good at letting your actions do your talking for you, but for Sam, you've learned how to express yourself.

You have to believe you can set things right, for Sam's sake. Even though the odds are stacked against the two of you, even though the last time you faced Lucifer Sam paid the price for it—despite all this, you have to have faith. You and Sam, you've overcome a lot of obstacles. This is just one more.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

And when Sam embraces you, you can't help but grin.

This is what you fight for. This is what you would die to protect. You don't know what Cas was thinking when he agreed to let Lucifer in, but you do know how determined you and Sam are to fix things.

Together, the two of you are unstoppable.

Author's Note: There will be two companion stories, one from Sam's POV and one from CAS' POV. The first is from Sam and will be entitled, "A Brief Respite" and will be posted within the next couple of days. Please review if you have a moment. Thanks!