We were back, we made it. Somehow, we made it. Appearing at Central park after something big went down.

And now we were back at Bobby's, looking for her. For Annabell. If we were brought back, then she's gotta have somethin' to do with it. Even if Cas' said she was dead... If we were back, she's gotta be back too.

The three of us split up, her car was still here. I went inside, to her room to see if there was anything in there to tell us where she might be. But as I entered, I froze.

In her room, on her bed, was an envelope. "No... No. No. No. NO!"

The letter was in my hands before I knew it. It wasn't addressed to anyone. Wasn't even sealed. I barely noticed the pair of feet tramping up the stairs. And Sammy's hand rested on my shoulder.

"Dean?" I didn't have to turn around to know he had that look on his face. He knew too.

I opened it, read it. And nodded. The paper being taken and read by Bobby and, Sammy too would want to read it again.

.

'Hey,

If you're reading this, it means we won. We averted the apocalypse.

And somehow, if your one of the family, I want you to know it'll be alright. That I love you guys. Don't go trying to bring me back okay, I done this for you and we made a promise, remember that?

Go live a normal life, you deserve it.

Love Anna.'

.

Dean was frozen, he didn't want to not help her. Heck, she fixed his mess up, if anyone deserved saving it was her. Not the mess that was Dean, or so he'd think. They brought Sam and Bobby back, but they didn't have to bring him back. The who cased this mess.

Maybe if Cas could bring her back, like he had done with Dean, things would sit easier on Deans mind. Hell, he better or Dean might gank his ass.

"DEAN!" Sammy snapped, bringing him out of whatever trance he was in. "We'll bring her back."

"She doesn't want to be brought back, Sammy." Dean gestured to the note. "It was basically her dying wish."

He just gave Dean one of his bitch faces, knowing that his brother would blame it all on himself. Carry all the blame and expect no one to notice. Hold it all in until he explodes. But he would never do that, he was the older brother. Meant to save Sam, and anyone else he cared for, from everything. But especially Sammy. "I don't care, she done all of this for us. We brought her into this, Dean. We gotta do something."

Dean opened his mouth to speak, but nothin' came out. He knew his brother was right, but there was nothing he could do. With Cas all mojo'd up again, he... Well he may not help. He'd be a dick like when they first met. "Can't we just stop? Like she asked. Just not do any of this?"

Bobby looked at Dean like he'd grown two heads, Sam him a strikingly familiar look. Why couldn't they understand, she knew what a normal life was like, so did Sammy. Why couldn't he just agree with Dean this one time. He wanted something different, something safe for what remained of his family. He'd lost to much. They'd already lost their mother, father, Ellen, Jo... And now Annabell.

It was just a ripe mess that nobody could fix. So why did Dean feel like there was something missing still, like he'd see her sooner if he went out there and started to kill every evil S.O.B he could find?

Only to realise he'd be going to hell, not heaven. Where he surely knew she would be. After all, she did sacrifice everything to save the world.

"Boo Hoo!" Bobby mocked, locking eyes with the older Winchester. "I know you're hurting, we all are. But pretendin' it didn't happen wont fix it."

Sam looked from the man to his brother, "He's right Dean. We can at least ask Cas' about it. He can talk to her and ask if she wants back in."

Dean looked at them as if he were a rat trapped in a cage. Then his stony expression came back, not showing any emotion. Not going to have any chick flick moments. "Why would anyone want to get 'back in'. I mean, c'mon Sammy. She's probably havin' all sunshine and rainbows, and we're down here in Resident Evil."

While Dean knew it wasn't quite as grim as that film, it was close. Nowhere was safe. But what they did made it safer for others who didn't know what went bump in the night. And perhaps the others knew that too, for they didn't say anything else at first. They just looked at Dean, knowing it hit him more than them. Even though Sam had been closer to her, Dean still suffered more. No more was meant to come of it. He went to the cemetery, to stop it. But he failed. And now they'd never see her face again.

Cas' chose that moment to flutter on in. No one jumped upon his entrance as they once had. He put it down to the fact that they were use to it, but that was not the reason. It was the sullen mood that had overtaken the room.

And once Cas noticed it, he wished he hadn't come at that moment. He had news that they wouldn't want to hear. News that, if revealed, could snap them in two. So, he elected to tell them a lie.

He cleared his throat, gaining their full attention. Piercing the veil of tension that had settled since his arrival.

"Heya Cas." Dean mumbled in a feeble attempt to sound like his usual self.

"Hello." The angel responded.

Dean licked his lips, then looked at the angel properly. Seeming to be searching for something, only to have disappointment fill his features. "You better have some good news." The Winchester warned.

Castiel didn't think this piece of information he gave would indeed be counted as good or not. So he just watched the trio, waiting for something else to be said.

"What have you got for us Cas?" Sam asked, giving his brother another one of his bitch faces.

" I'm not sure you want to hear this." He didn't want to tell them she hadn't want to come back. That he hadn't found her in heaven, that she was on earth. She wasn't dead. But how could he break all he knew to them.

"Spill." Bobby spoke, impatience burning at the angel. But Castiel didn't understand the meaning, tilting his head to the side. Pondering over the meaning of the words.

"Tell us what you know." Dean elaborated with the roll of his eyes. One day he'd sit the angel down and get him to read, watch and catch up on every ounce of pop culture.

"I found Annabell..." Castiel was cut off by the brothers.

"Is she safe?"

"Where is she?"

"How is she?"

"Is she coming here?"

"Shut up Sam, let the man speak."

"I could say the same Dean."

"Will both you Idjets shut up!" Bobby hissed. Finally gaining their silence.

Castiel looked hesitantly between the three, making sure he would have no further interruptions. This was the part he would have to lie about. He couldn't make them aware of her state of living. As in, he was going to tell them, she was in fact, dead. "She is in Heaven. And I cannot bring her back, it would be against her wishes."

Dean gave his brother a smug look, knowing this would happen. But Sam, he just didn't understand. Why wouldn't she want to be brought back. But then he took a hard look at Castiels face, and knew that there was more to it. That he was hiding something. "You're lying." He tried to call him out on it.

"I'm sorry." Castiel said sincerely. And that was no lie, for he was apologising. For his lie, that Sam had so obviously caught. But that seemed to seal the cake for Dean.

He knew then that she wasn't coming back. That apology made it all the more real. And he left the room, tears starting to wind their way down his face.

Then it broke Sam, for he was hoping beyond all hope that it would be more than an 'I'm sorry.' Instead he was answered with something so simple that it made him believe the lie.

But without anything to burn, or bury, it didn't seem real to them. They had no real way to say goodbye. Other than to torch her car. Which they would never do, it was all they had left to remember her by.

...

Bobby watched over the boys as he had always done. Helping them with cases. Which he was surprised they continued on with. They had taken a few months off, due to Dean at least wanting to try stick to her request.

But then he snapped. Saying how he had missed the open road. The hunting, bonding with his brother. All of it. The ups and downs of it all. It was the only thing he had that connected him to what he had lost over the years. And it gave him hope, in some crazed way.

Annabell wove through the tables of an old diner in some backwater town. It was the end of her shift, and she was hanging up the apron she had to wear.

"Take care, Christy." Her boss called as she walked out. Annabell didn't know why, but that name never sat right with her. As if it wasn't her real name. Christy was short for Christina, the nickname she picked up in high school. Or that where she thought it got picked up.

It wasn't a closing shift, she was thankful for that. Something strange had been going on in town lately. And she didn't know what. All she knew was that it wasn't natural.

If she really knew what was out there, she may have taken more note of what was going on around her. And the fact that a 1979 Impala drove past her to the nearest hotel in town.

But she didn't. She just hurried home, made sure all the doors and windows were locked, and grasped the amulet around her neck.

The only thing that gave her comfort was that necklace. As if it were the only thing that could protect her, not even the closed doors and windows gave her any comfort. It must have been some of her old life coming through. Because she sure as heck didn't remember an ounce of it.

Just a strange dream she had about how she saved the world.