Episode 11: Gimme Shelter (Finale)

That night was a dark time at the bunker. Ares had returned to Hades' tower, and he and his men had taken their fallen marauders and departed from the battlefield. He'd given a solemn nod at Dean and Sam before disappearing into the night. Athena had departed for Mount Olympus, promising to return to update everyone on the situation within a few days. She looked sadly at Mina's body as she prepared to go, still wrapped up in Sam's arms, encircled in her own devil's trap.

She looked on, at Sam's unseeing eyes, glazed over. She turned to Dean. "I'm sorry. It shouldn't have turned out like this."

Dean sighed. "Yeah, well, that's what happens, right? You win some, you lose some." He spat the words out harshly, kicking absently at the ground.

"If those two guards hadn't been in the room, Hades wouldn't have found her." Athena looked at the ground. "They were unexpected. He sensed their deaths."

Dean shrugged. "Shit happens." He looked sadly at his little brother. "Unfortunately, now Sammy has to pay for it. And Mina paid the ultimate price."

"Mina is extremely brave." Athena laid a hand on Dean's arm, and was gone.

While Cas was unable to heal Mina, he was, in fact, able to resurrect Garth. Charlie let out a sigh of relief as she saw her friend sit up, look around in wonder, and throw his arms around Castiel's neck in a humongous embrace. Cas took a few moments before returning the hug awkwardly. Then, still peering at the live feed, she saw Cas telling Garth something, and Garth becoming very sad. He hid his eyes behind his hand. Cas had told him about Mina.

They arrived back at the bunker a few minutes later, melancholy, dirty, and tired. Dean stalked in and put Pandora's Jar in a lock box, then went about mixing up cement to fill it with in the kitchen. Once he was done with that, he was going to sledgehammer up part of the floor and bury it there. Forever. No record. But that could wait until tomorrow.

Sam carried Mina's lifeless body to his room, laid her on his bed, and left, closing the door behind him. He retreated to the small living room, where he sat in silence.

Once Dean was done with the cement, he approached Sam, and stood behind him for several minutes. Sam finally sighed. "It's time, isn't it?" He said, more of a statement than a question.

Dean wiped a tear away. "Yeah man, it is. You need to say anything to her, now's the time."

Sam shook his head. He smiled sadly. "She knows." He turned to his brother. "She knows everything I could ever tell her, Dean. I don't have any words... I can't."

Dean nodded solemnly. "Do you mind if I... say my goodbyes?"

Sam seemed a little surprised, but shook his head. "No, no of course not." He put his face in his hands. "I'll be here." He breathed out a ragged sigh. "I need a drink. To be honest, Dean, I have no idea what to do."

Dean put a hand on his shoulder. "I know, Sammy. I know." He poured Sam a scotch, then rethought it and just brought him the bottle. Then he made his way down the hallway to Sam's room. Charlie was just coming out of it, her eyes bright with tears. She bumped into him on her way out.

"Sorry, Dean, I didn't see you." She looked down, wiping the back of her hand across her face. She looked up at him, a familiar ache behind her eyes. "I can't believe we lost her. I had to see for myself. She's actually gone."

Dean pulled Charlie into a hug. "Yeah, kid, she is." He said, resting his head on the top of hers. They stayed that way for a while, Charlie crying softly into his shoulder, and him steeling himself for what he had to do next. She finally pulled away.

"I'll let you say your piece." She said, retreating back to the library and the safety of her computer.

Dean took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door.

Only the dim bedside lamp was on, and it barely illuminated anything. Mina lay on the bed where Sam had placed her, her hands by her sides, palms up. Her head was turned slightly to the side- thankfully so that the bullet hole wasn't visible. She was already pale with death- the moss green flannel she wore contrasted with her graying skin. Blue already tinged her lips.

Her veil was still on the desk chair. Dean smiled despite himself as he saw the broken remnants of cheap plastic sex-shop handcuffs half kicked under the bed. At least they'd had a good last night together, he thought to himself.

He gingerly moved the veil and placed it on the desk, and took a seat in the desk chair, pulling it closer to the bed. He took one of Mina's cold hands in his. Her wedding band glinted in the dim light. His breath caught in his throat.

"Jesus, Mina. This wasn't supposed to happen. You were marrying my brother yesterday." He stopped, closing his eyes. "I know Sam can't think of anything to say right now, but he will. In the days and months and years, and, let's be honest, decades, that follow, he'll think of everything he ever wanted to say to you. And I know you already know how much he loved you. But I'm here to tell you what he hasn't found the words for yet- he's in too much grief. And what you can't know because you haven't been around his entire life to see how he was before you came along. You made him happy, Mina. You made him so happy; stupid happy. The Sammy I've seen with you is the Sammy I prayed to see my entire life. Because if I could do one thing right in this life, it was to make sure my brother got what he deserved. And he deserved you." Tears were silently pouring down Dean's face now, and he wasn't a crier, but he didn't care. He knew she was gone and couldn't hear what he was telling her, but he didn't care. Certain words needed to be spoken. The universe itself needed to hear them.

"I'll take care of him, I promise. I'll make sure he stays alive. But he's never going to be the same. He'll never be whole again. You were a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Hell, even I could see that." He chuckled. "He got so mad at me when we first showed up on your case because I kept commenting on how you were hot... Sorry about that." He paused, squeezing her hand, sniffing back some of the tears. "You saved the world, Mina, and you saved my brother. I can't ever thank you enough for that. You were one hell of a hunter. And you were more than that. You were family." He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "Watch over Sammy. And wait for him." He stood slowly, placing her hand back on the bed beside her, and left to begin building a funeral pyre. Mina Miles- no, Mina Winchester had saved the world. Mina Winchester was getting the Hunter's Funeral she deserved.

In the very early morning hours, the pyre was built high enough for Deans standards. He admitted he may have gone a bit overboard, but this was his sister-in-law, Sam's wife- she deserved nothing but the best send off. Charlie and Garth had wrapped her in the best sheets they could find. Sam had sat in the living room drinking heavily and silently. He'd tried summoning Crowley, and Crowley hadn't come.

Sam insisted on carrying Mina to the pyre himself. His heart heavy, he lifted her body and moved her out into the woods beyond the bunker, placing her gently on the stack of wood that Dean had built. He felt sick; he felt lost. He felt like he was out in a stormy sea and that there was no way back to dry land.

Sam, Dean, Castiel, Charlie, and Garth all stood in a circle around the pyre. They stood for a long while. They soon realized they weren't alone. Looking around, they saw Athena appear, then Poseidon and Ares. Ares' marauders began to show up, and following them, to everyone's surprise, was Zeus. Dean started, and gave a suspicious look at Zeus, who simply held up his hand in a show of peace. Dean calmed. Sam elbowed his brother and made him turn around. Behind them, strange people had begun to appear. Castiel saw the raised eyebrows and whispered to his friends. "Angels... there were a few who were hoping for us to win." A few turned to dozens.

More vessels began showing up, these standing farther away, hanging back among the trees. They had black eyes. Demons. They all held their hands up, as if to say they meant to harm. They too were there to pay respects. Their homes had been saved as well. Soon the funeral pyre was surrounded by beings, there to say farewell to the woman who had taken her own life, removed herself from the equation and Hades' manipulations, and thus saved Heaven, Hell, and Earth. It was almost too much for Sam to handle. He pushed back tears, leaning drunkenly against a tree.

Dean turned to Sam. "Do you want me to do it?" He asked his brother. Sam nodded.

"I can't light my own wife on fire, Dean."

Dean stepped up to the large mound, and, as ceremoniously as he could, began to pour lighter fluid on the wood. A familiar voice behind him made him stop on a dime and spin around.

"I wouldn't do that, love. She'll be pretty pissed if she wakes up covered in lighter fluid. Or even worse, on fire."

Sam and Dean's eyes both searched the crowd, and Crowley stepped out from behind a small copse of trees.

"What, you thought I'd decide not to show up? I love a good funeral."

I couldn't figure out how I got there, but I was suddenly eighteen and in the front yard of my cousins' house in Kansas. It was the first time I had ever seen fireflies, and I was mesmerized. My cousins, all younger, were laughing and playing among the lightning bugs. I sat on the stoop in the hot July evening. How had I gotten here? Where had I just been?

My mother's voice pulled me out of my daydream, and I followed it. It was coming from inside the house. I opened the front door and went through. But instead of finding myself in my cousin's front room, I was now in my small apartment in California, the one I'd shared with my first love, a young man named Chase.

He was packing boxes, and pushing past me. I watched out the window as he loaded them into his car. I remembered this fight. This breakup. This was the last one for us. I'd been 27. He'd walked out of my life and never walked back in. We'd been playing this game for years, but this had been it. I felt like I should have been more upset at the moment, but the reality was, I'd thought about this heartbreak too many times over the years. One more time wasn't going to change anything.

"You're just going to leave then?" I heard myself say. Going through the motions. "Just like that? Over something stupid I said?"

"You're always saying something stupid. I can't take it anymore." He threw his hands in the air. "We've tried this. Over and over. It doesn't work. I can't live like this." He picked up his last box. As per the memory, I followed him out the door. I remembered that last ditch effort to try to get him to stay. Only this time, when I walked through the door, I wasn't in the front of our apartment anymore. I was in the girl's restroom at my elementary school.

Something really weird was going on.

Layla Scheider lit up a cigarette. I looked around. We were all about 11 years old. We passed it around, choking on the fumes. Gina Torkney giggled.

"I hope we don't get caught." Jessica Wade said, looking suspiciously over her shoulder. "My mom will kill me if she finds out."

Layla shrugged. "My mom won't care." I remembered how I'd thought Layla's mom was so cool at that age. Now I realized how neglectful her mother had been. How viewpoints changed once you were grown and looked back.

I took a puff on the cigarette and immediately decided to never smoke one again. It tasted like dirt. Suddenly we all heard a noise outside the door.

"Crap!" Gina whispered. I threw the cigarette down the sink drain, and we all darted into stalls. Once again, as I ran through the stall, a door, I was in another place.

This time I was in the living room of the bunker. Sam stood over the ancient record player. His back was to me as he was switching records. "Babe, you want Etta James or Billy Holliday?"

"Do they have any old Patsy Cline?" I asked. I remembered this too. This was only a few weeks ago. I looked around. I was sitting on the sofa, looking dreamily at Sam. He was wearing an off-white and tan plaid shirt and his hair was tucked behind his ears. It was a little dirty from hours spent researching and absentmindedly running his hands through it. I'd pulled him away to relax.

"Yeah, I think I saw one... here it is." He put the record on the machine and put the needle to it, and "Crazy" began to play. He came over to sit with me, but I stood. I circled my arms around his neck. He raised his eyebrows. "What are you doing?"

"Dancing with my man-giant." I smiled at him. He laughed.

"I don't really dance." He said, though his hands had encircled my waist anyways and he'd made no move to put an end to it. He smelled like Old Spice and faintly of beer. I drew in a deep breath.

"You do right now." I whispered into his ear, closing my eyes and resting my head on his shoulder. "Live a little." I said. As soon as I said it, my eyes flew open.

Realization hit me.

That's what this was.

It was my life flashing before my eyes. Something had happened, and I was dying.

The lights dimmed, and as hard as I tried to hang onto Sam, I felt him slipping away, until I was left with nothingness. I was in the same room, but there was no music, and no Sam. There was no scent of Old Spice and beer. There was no warmth of his body near mine.

The fire was still lit in the fireplace. A voice behind me startled me and I turned around.

A tall, gaunt man in a dark suit and tie stood before me. "Mina Winchester. Pleasure to finally meet." He spoke eloquently. When I didn't say anything, he continued. "They call me Death."

I nodded. "I just figured it all out. I'm dying."

Death gave me a stoic look. "I really wasn't planning on seeing you so soon, to be perfectly honest. But even I don't know everything." He took a seat on the sofa and gestured for me to also sit.

I obliged. "What happened?" I asked. "How did I die?" Then a horrible thought struck me. "Is Sam okay?"

Death nodded. "Sam is very much alive, but he is grieving for you. I came to you myself, out of respect for Sam Winchester." He paused, as though he didn't know what to say, which I found odd because I would have thought he'd had this whole "you're dead, let's go" conversation at least a few times over the years. "You took your own life, Mina. Hades was getting into your head. It was only a matter of time before you opened Pandora's box at his bidding. You shot yourself."

Fuzzy memories began flooding back. The revolver. I'd kept it after the werewolf hunt. I'd packed it just in case. I closed my eyes. I was never going to see Sam again. Not alive anyway. My heart sunk, and I began to feel sick. I felt like a huge hole had been torn out of my chest.

"You saved all of us. Myself included. For that I am eternally grateful." Death cleared his throat. "But now comes the tricky part."

"How so?" I asked. "Aren't I dead? Don't we just, go into the light or something?" I didn't want to go into the light. I wanted Sam. I wanted life. I wanted Old Spice and beer and lazy Sunday mornings. But I'd made a decision. And these were the consequences.

He pursed his lips and sighed. "Technically, Mrs. Winchester, that's not what I'm here for. I'm guiding you, but where I'm guiding you is rather unorthodox for me."

"God dammit, Crowley, you came to gloat?" Dean glared at him. "Haven't you done enough?"

"Help save the free world? I armed your nuke. And this is the thanks I get?" Crowley looked around. "Not surprised." He approached the pyre. "I'm here to retrieve what's mine."

Sam stepped between Crowley and the pyre. "What's that then?" He asked.

"Oh sod off, Moose. I'm not taking your girlfriend." He looked down at Sam's ring finger. "Oh, sorry lad, your wife. Congrats, by the way." He hooked his thumbs in his pockets and looked up at Sam. "That blood I loaned her is only good for one lifetime. Came to get it back."

"Over my dead body." Sam growled.

"That can be arranged." Crowley stared him down. "It's just three drops. But I think it's in your best interest to let me have it back."

"Why would we let you do anything to her body, Crowley?" Dean stepped up next to his brother. "That's just messed up. Even for you."

Crowley shook his head. He reached out a hand towards Mina's body, and then turned it over and opened it. A small vial appeared in it, with three drops of blood. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" He asked. Sam lunged at him. Dean stopped him.

"Why exactly is it in our best interest to let you have that back?" Dean asked. His curiosity was piqued.

"Because, as I said, this is good for one lifetime. Only. " He turned, making his way to leave. "And when I take it back, it resets." He peered back over his shoulder.

"It resets?" Sam stammered. "What resets?"

Crowley raised his eyebrows at Dean. "And he's the smart one?" He turned to Sam. "She resets." He shook his head.

"Why should we believe you? Why would you do us a solid, Crowley?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. You didn't come earlier when I summoned you." Sam set his jaw and looked menacingly at the King of Hell.

Dean turned to him. "You summoned Crowley?" Sam nodded. "Dude! No! What the hell?" Sam shrugged. Dean gave him a horrible look.

"What the hell else was I supposed to do Dean?" Sam shouted.

"Maybe not sell your soul to that dirt bag?" Dean responded in kind.

"Well he never showed, so I didn't! And Mina is still dead. Happy now?" Sam raged back.

"Gents, I'm still here. Can you have your little battle later?" Crowley frowned. "And to answer your question, I'm not 'doing you a solid.' I'm doing Mina a solid. She saved Hell. And that's the way the blood works. Of course I could have let you burn her body before she came back. But what use would that be? And what kind of scum do I look like?" He winked at them. "The devil you know. Never know when I might need some help from her again. Waste not."

Sam lunged at Crowley again, Dean once again restraining him with Castiel's help.

"Well, it's been fun, boys, but I've got to go. Things to do. People to torture." Crowley began to walk away. "Give it a few minutes, and boys, don't light her on fire." Then he was gone.

"What the fuck? Could she really reset?" Sam asked out loud. He was afraid to even hope.

"Is he playing us? What's he talking about?" Dean looked to Castiel for answers.

"I do not know. This is all new territory." Cas admitted.

"This is confusing as hell." Dean groaned angrily.

Suddenly there was a huge gasp from behind them. Everyone turned around towards the pyre.

"What the fuck? Someone get me out of this thing!" Mina was sitting up, struggling with her funeral dressings, and swearing like a sailor.

"Oh my God!" Sam tore towards her, pulling his knife and slicing through the sheets, pulling Mina out and into his arms. "I thought I lost you."

"If we aren't going towards the light, where exactly are we going?" I asked Death. He was still sitting across from me on the sofa. He looked very uncomfortable.

"I'm leading you to a different door." He cleared his throat. "I've never taken anyone to this particular door before." The firelight played with the fine lines on his gaunt features.

"Where... where does it go?" I was beginning to worry. I was hoping it wasn't hell.

"I'm taking you back." He finally said. "You see, I'm Death. I don't take people back."

No wonder he was uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"I see." I said. I really didn't see. So I wasn't dead? I asked him this. He shook his head.

"No. It seems that... circumstances regarding your death have somehow reset themselves."

"Oh my God. No one sold their soul to a crossroads demon did they?" I asked in horror.

"Not to my knowledge, no." Death shook his head.

"Thank God."

Death gave me an odd look, and I remembered that God hadn't been in the building for a long time. I shrugged. He finally stood up. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you where you need to go."

We made our way out of the living room, and up the stairs, through the front door of the bunker. This time, when we went through, it led us out onto a beach. It was night, and the sky above was full of thousands of stars. The waves crashed in the distance, and sitting out on the sand, I could see the Impala. I looked at Death curiously. He pointed at it. "It's the last door." He told me.

As we approached across the sand, I began to hear something. It was the radio, a voice spilling out into the night from the rolled down windows. Getting closer, I realized that the voice belonged to Dean. I stopped. I listened. I looked at Death. "What's that?" I asked.

"He's talking to you. He's paying his respects." Death looked solemnly. "Dean's a good man, despite what he thinks about himself. He cares deeply for his brother, and thus, he cares deeply for you."

I stood by the car, the wind gently blowing my hair, and listened as the radio began repeating itself. "Jesus, Mina. This wasn't supposed to happen. You were marrying my brother yesterday. I know Sam can't think of anything to say right now, but he will. In the days and months and years, and, let's be honest, decades, that follow, he'll think of everything he ever wanted to say to you. And I know you already know how much he loved you. But I'm here to tell you what he hasn't found the words for yet- he's in too much grief. And what you can't know because you haven't been around his entire life to see how he was before you came along. You made him happy, Mina. You made him so happy; stupid happy. The Sammy I've seen with you is the Sammy I prayed to see my entire life. Because if I could do one thing right in this life, it was to make sure my brother got what he deserved. And he deserved you."

My heart felt like it was breaking. I could almost see Dean, bent over my body, crying for his brother. I sunk down into the sand and kept listening. Dean's voice continued to pour out over the radio. "I'll take care of him, I promise. I'll make sure he stays alive. But he's never going to be the same. He'll never be whole again. You were a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Hell, even I could see that. (Muffled chuckling, followed by a small sniffle) He got so mad at me when we first showed up on your case because I kept commenting on how you were hot... Sorry about that... You saved the world, Mina, and you saved my brother. I can't ever thank you enough for that. You were one hell of a hunter. And you were more than that. You were family. Watch over Sammy. And wait for him."

Tears ran down my face. I turned to Death. "How do I get back?" I studied the Impala. I had to get back to Sam. I had to get back to him right now. Was I supposed to drive back?

"Just get in the car."

"Which door?"

"Any door." He told me. I nodded. "Oh, and Mina." I turned, and looked back at the pale man standing before me on the beach. I saw what I almost could call kindness in his eyes. "I don't expect to see you again for a good long while. Keep those boys out of here, too."

"I'll try my best, sir." I told him, opening the passenger door to the familiar black car. "I'll try my best."

I awoke, smothered by shrouds. It reeked of lighter fluid. I couldn't breath. "What the fuck? Someone get me out of this thing!" I shrieked, clawing at the fabric that was bound tightly around me. In horror I realized that I was about to become part of a Hunter's funeral.

Suddenly strong arms surrounded me, the fabric was cut away, and Sam's face loomed over me. I was quickly pulled to his chest, tightly against him, so tight I could hardly breathe. "I thought I lost you." He murmured to me, holding onto me for dear life. He reeked of scotch, and the familiar scent of Old Spice. My muscles were cramping, but I stretched my arms and encircled them around his waist. Tears began pouring out of my eyes as I remembered everything from the fight with Hades, and my time with Death; my time on the beach listening to Dean tell me everything I would ever need to know about Sam. I felt hot tears falling on me from Sam's eyes. We just stayed that way for a long time. I don't know how long. No matter how tightly I held on, I didn't feel close enough.

As the sun began to rise behind the trees, I became aware that we had an audience. There were people in the forest. People we knew, but mostly, people we did not. I slowly pulled myself up and, still holding closely to Sam, looked around. "Sam, who are all these people?"

Sam wasn't letting go. I felt his hot breath in my ear, ruffling my hair. "They're angels and demons, and gods. They all came to pay their respects."

"Why?"

"Because you saved the world, Mina, and they all know it."

As if on cue, they all began to retreat, until it was just us standing on the unused pyre, with Dean, Cas, Charlie, and Garth on the ground below. I looked down at my friends. They all looked up at me. "Welcome back." Dean said, smiling and reaching up a hand to help me down.

In the next few days, things were explained and began to return to normal. Hades had been bound to the Underworld for at least twice as long as I'd ever live, ensuring that he couldn't try this shit again. Sam and Dean had spent a day taking a sledgehammer to the floor of the file room of the bunker, burying the jar, and re-cementing the floor. Garth took off the next day, for parts unknown. Charlie, in a rare moment by ourselves, informed me that a wise woman once told her that "you aren't a real hunter until you've died and been brought back again."

Try as we might, we couldn't fully comprehend how Crowley's blood had "reset" me, but, to be honest, we didn't really care. Sam and I had each other again, and that was all that mattered. I was with the love of my life. We were even planning a honeymoon for a few weeks out. We were going to go to Hawaii, courtesy of Castiel Teleportation. My Teleportation abilities and extreme strength were gone, but my original skills were still there. Having the King of Hell be my unlikely savior was a strange end to this part of my story, but the whole chapter of my life was strange.

On a Tuesday night, not long after, Sam, Dean, and I had pulled up beside a lake, opened the cooler, and were sitting on the hood, drinking a beer after an easy basic salt-and-burn. Sam had wandered down to the lake. I turned to Dean.

"Dean, when I was dead, I heard what you said." I told him. He looked at me, looking slightly embarrassed.

"What? How?"

"My way back... my doorway back. It was the Impala. And you were on the radio." I took a sip of my beer. "I wanted to say thank you."

"For what?"

"For telling me what Sam couldn't. And for promising to take care of him. And for accepting me as family." I looked down at the waterline. Sam had turned around and was beckoning me to him. Me heart swelled as I looked at him. "I really love him, you know. More than anything."

Dean smiled. "I know you do. Promise me something?" I raised my brows. "Don't you let him go. You guys are too good for each other. I'm not one for this mushy "Notebook" crap, but you answered my prayers for Sammy. You take care of him."

I nodded. "I promise, Dean." I leaned over and gave him a hug, then got up, making my way to the water, to my man giant, and to my future.

"Carry on my wayward son,

There'll be peace when you are done,

Lay your weary head to rest,

Don't you cry no more."

And Dean, Sam, and Mina lived on to fight the Good Fight for many, many years to come.

The End