Gabriel sat beside Chuck quietly, almost peacefully if his wreck of an existence could qualify as peaceful. Chuck put a hand on Gabriel's shoulder, and the archangel almost flinched. It wasn't that Chuck was a threat or anything, it was just...Gabriel could still feel Sam. He could still feel him even though...

"I want to read something to you, if that's okay," Chuck said softly.

Gabriel nodded blankly. He didn't really care. He didn't care if Chuck read him something or if Raphael knew where he was or if Heaven could sense him. He didn't care if his cover was blown, if anyone was looking for him. All his care was far, far away.

"On April 21, 1967," Chuck began, "The hundred-millionth GM vehicle rolled off the line at a plant in Janesville, a blue, two-door Caprice. There was a big ceremony, speeches, the lieutenant governor even showed up. Three days later, another car rolled off that same line. No one gave two craps about her. But they should've."

Gabriel wasn't sure he wanted to hear about the Winchesters' car. He wasn't sure about anything, really. Just pain. Terribly cold pain.

Chuck continued, "Because this 1967 Chevrolet Impala would turn about to be the most important object in pretty much the whole universe."

Gabriel attempted a chuckle. "You're giving a lot of credit to that car. It was really the army man that..." he said, trailing off as he remembered what had just happened.

Chuck smiled softly and said, "I know. There's a reason for it. Humor me."

Gabriel nodded, trying desperately to forget and also remember every single detail simultaneously.

"She was first owned by Sal Moriarty, an alcoholic with two ex-wives and three blocked arteries. On weekends, he'd drive around giving bibles to the poor. Gettin' folks right for Judgment Day, that's what he said. Sam and Dean don't know any of this, but if they did, I bet they'd smile," Chuck read aloud.

Gabriel stiffened at Sam's name. It was all he could think about, all he could feel, but it was still the last thing he wanted to hear. Sam's soul shrieked from where it was, and Gabriel couldn't do a single damn thing to stop it, and Chuck was just sitting there wanting to read him something about the boys' precious car. Honestly, listening to the words Chuck had written was probably the only thing keeping Gabriel sane.

"If it hurts to hear, I don't have to read you this. I just thought it'd be nice to get your opinion," Chuck said.

Gabriel said quickly, "It's fine. I'm fine. Keep going."

"Alright," Chuck said softly, regarding Gabriel with concern, "After Sal died, she ended up at Rainbow Motors, a used-car lot in Lawrence, where a young marine bought her on impulse, that is, after a little advice from a friend. I guess that's where this story begins. And here's where it ends."

Gabriel turned away from the computer screen Chuck was reading from.

"You're sure you're okay?" Chuck asked.

Gabriel nodded. He said, "I just didn't know that this was what you wanted to read me."

"I don't have to read it, I mean, it's okay, we can just-"

"No, it's fine," Gabriel said, "I'll just need a drink or ten." He snapped his fingers, making a bottle of whiskey appear in his other hand. He took a large swig of it and motioned for Chuck to continue.

Gabriel didn't know the boys' side of the story. He just knew his.

If he had known Sam and Dean's plan, maybe he would've done things differently.

Before listening to Chuck read, while the end of the world was still raging on, before everything that happened, happened, Gabriel was just trying to find a way to help the Winchesters. Aside from fighting his brothers, which wouldn't actually help anything since they were much stronger, Gabriel really didn't know what to do.

Well, he had an idea. It was just a really, really stupid idea.

But then, Gabriel felt Sam drinking demon blood. It was strange. Gabriel had been feeling Sam being nervous and agitated for weeks, but feeling the kid power up like that, feeling the blood clear out the nerves from Sam's head, that really got his attention.

And that decided it. Stupid idea was better than no idea at all.

Gabriel walked out into the hallway of the apartment complex he was loitering in. The lights flickered above him, but Gabriel paid no mind. He knew it was his own power causing it. But it wasn't enough. His power would never be enough to save Sam. At least not without help.

A woman stepped outside her door and locked it behind her. She adjusted the bag on her shoulder, and Gabriel slammed her into the wall. The woman let out a terrified shriek.

"This is going to hurt. I'm sorry," Gabriel said quietly. He reached his hand into the woman's chest straight to the soul he could see shining so brightly within the human.

Gabriel paused. Could he really do this? Could he really consume a human soul just to stop his brothers? If he did, he'd finally be the monster Sam always feared he really was. But what choice did he have? This was the only way to defeat Lucifer and Michael, and Gabriel knew it. Gabriel took hold of the soul tightly, a gurgled scream ripping from the woman's throat. He could do it. He was the Trickster, damn it. Love for Sam or not, love for humanity or not, this had to be done.

"Gabriel," a voice snapped, "Let her go."

A shiver ran down Gabriel's spine at the sound of that voice. He retracted his hand immediately and stepped away from the woman as she ran down the hall, crying.

"Death," Gabriel said evenly.

The thin, dark-haired man stepped towards Gabriel. "I warn you, do not take souls that are not yours to take," Death said, "I will stop you if I must."

"What else can I do, then? Stand by and watch my brothers destroy everything? I have to do something," Gabriel said.

Death said quietly, "The desperation that you're feeling to stop this is the same desperation humans feel when trying to stop me. It is unbecoming of an archangel."

"Unbecoming?" Gabriel snapped, "Being anything like humans is an honor. They are not beneath angels, Death. Feeling human is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me, so don't you dare tell me that I should stop feeling desperate to save humanity. They are the best of my Father's creations. Don't tell me to lower myself to the level of an archangel when I'm trying to do better than that."

Gabriel was fairly sure that Death was going to reap him right then and there for insubordination if nothing else.

Instead, Death smiled. "Good," he said, "I'm glad you feel that way. The humans deserve to have one of Heaven's finest on their side."

Gabriel wasn't going to question Death's change of heart on the subject of humanity. There wasn't the time. He was probably just testing him anyway.

"Please, what can I do to stop my brothers?" Gabriel asked.

Death held up his hand. Gabriel noticed a stark emptiness where Death's ring normally stood.

"You've already done all you can," Death said, "And it was a job well done."

Gabriel grimaced at the memory and took another gulp of whiskey. Sam was screaming. Frost and fire devoured Sam, coursing through his soul. Gabriel could feel it. He turned back to Chuck's screen, trying desperately to focus on something else, anything else. If Death had been more helpful, more willing to let Gabriel end the apocalypse himself, maybe...

"The Impala, of course, has all the things other cars have, and a few things they don't," Chuck read out, glancing at Gabriel out of the corner of his eye, "But none of that stuff's important. This is the stuff that's important. The army man that Sam crammed in the ashtray, it's still stuck there. The Legos that Dean shoved into the vents, to this day, heat comes on, and they can hear 'em rattle. These are the things that make the car theirs, really theirs. Even when Dean rebuilt her from the ground up, he made sure all these little things stayed. 'Cause it's the blemishes that make her beautiful. The Devil doesn't know or care what kind of car the boys drive."

"I never noticed the legos before," Gabriel said quietly.

"What was that?" Chuck asked, turning towards Gabriel.

Gabriel said, "I saw the army man plenty of times. I saw their initials carved into the floor in the back. But the legos. I never noticed those. I heard the rattling and just thought the car was old."

"Does it bother you that you didn't notice?" Chuck asked.

Gabriel gave Chuck a look and said, "I agreed to hear you read not let you psychoanalyze me."

"Fair enough," Chuck said, "But for the record, it shouldn't bother you. Not knowing everything about the Winchesters makes them no less important to you."

"Just read," Gabriel said with a sigh. He took another sip of whiskey from the bottle as Chuck continued with what happened to Sam and Dean when they confronted the Devil in Detroit.

Gabriel only wished he'd been there.

Instead of being with Sam and Dean in Detroit, Gabriel had been in Lawrence, Kansas. He was still searching for answers, some solution that hadn't been thought of yet. What better place to search for answers than the place where it all started?

Gabriel stood in the yard of the house where Sam and Dean should've grown up. He could feel the history of the place from where he stood beneath the tree.

He could see John and Mary. John showing Mary the house, showing her the keys to the front door. Mary jumping into John's arms, excited. John and Mary kissing happily in the front yard.

He could see them cooking dinner. John marvelling at how he could've gotten so lucky. Mary loving how normal and domestic and natural it all felt.

Gabriel could see a brief incursion with Anna, Uriel, and Michael using John as a vessel. That didn't yield any answers, though. Michael wanted the apocalypse to happen. What else was new?

He could see John and Mary bringing home a baby. Dean. Young and defenseless but still full of attitude and spunk.

He could see another baby coming home. Sam. So innocent and fragile, nothing like the man he would become.

Gabriel could see fights and laughter and drinking and happiness and everything a dysfunctional household usually had.

He saw the fire.

He saw the poltergeist and the sacrifice of Mary's spirit to save her sons.

There was so much history, so much life.

And there was life within now. A family was getting ready for bed. A mother tucked in her young son and her daughter. Nothing was amiss. They were happy.

They had no idea of the apocalypse looming on the horizon.

Gabriel felt a cold tendril of fear flow through him, but it wasn't his. Sam. It came directly from Sam.

Gabriel turned away from the house in Lawrence, focusing on Sam, listening for the first time in a while.

"So, he knows. It doesn't change anything."

"Sam."

"We don't have any other choice."

"No."

"Yes," Sam said.

The 'yes' echoed through Gabriel's ears. No.

The connection Gabriel felt between him and Sam grew cold, icy cold. No, no, no.

Gabriel flew as fast as his wings could carry him towards Sam. No. This couldn't be happening.

Lucifer flooded into Sam, a white, raging light slamming into Sam's soul.

Gabriel screamed. His grace felt like it was being ripped in two.

The archangel plummeted.

Sam pushed back against Lucifer, but it was no use. No.

Gabriel caught himself before hitting the ground, struggling to breathe, making sure no human could see him. Fuck. Sam, no. Sam. Why? Why would he-

Sam became nothing more than a small, flickering pulse in the back of Gabriel's mind. All he could feel now was Lucifer.

Gabriel stood and flew straight to Detroit. He didn't even stop when he felt the shockwave.

It wasn't the shockwave that would end everything, Gabriel knew it was just Lucifer flexing inside his true vessel, but it was still catastrophic.

The pulse of energy surged from Detroit to everywhere at once. A 7.6 earthquake in Portland, 8.1 in Boston. Earthquakes in Hong Kong, Berlin, Tehran. And there would be tidal waves, hurricanes, tornadoes. And that was only the beginning. Already, Gabriel could feel the screams of the humans as they died, lost to Lucifer's small opening act.

Gabriel landed in the apartment where Lucifer had so recently been. Dean was gone. Sam was...Sam was somewhere. Gabriel could barely feel him, but he seemed to be talking to Lucifer. The tiny pulse that Gabriel knew was Sam was filled with rage and hatred and fear. He'd tried so hard to stop this from happening.

Gabriel dropped to his knees, feeling the cries of the doomed humans. So much pain. It was only going to get worse, and already so much pain. The icy tie that he felt to Sam and Lucifer only grew colder, gripping Gabriel's chest in an icy vice. This was the end.

There had to be something he could do.

Chuck cleared his throat, looking at Gabriel, concerned. "Are you sure you want to keep going? You look awful," he said.

Gabriel took a deep breath, trying his best to ignore Sam's screaming.

"Yes, keep going. I'm fine."

Chuck said, "You know, I could-"

"No," Gabriel said quickly, "It's fine. I can handle it. Read."

Chuck sighed and kept reading. "In between jobs, Sam and Dean would sometimes get a day, sometimes a week, if they were lucky. They'd pass the time lining their pockets. Sam used to insist on honest work, but now he hustles pool, like his brother."

Gabriel never got to play a game of pool with Sam.

"They could go anywhere and do anything. They drove 1,000 miles for an Ozzy Show, two days for a Jayhawks game. And when it was clear, they'd park her in the middle of nowhere, sit on the hood and watch the stars for hours without saying a word."

There would be no more stars for Sam. No sitting on the hood. No spending time with Dean. Sam would never have any of that again. A tear sprang loose from Gabriel's eye and traveled down his face. Sam had deserved so much more than fate had given him.

Chuck looked over at Gabriel but continued, "Maybe they never really had a roof and four walls... But they were never, in fact, homeless."

Chuck paused, and Gabriel looked at him.

"What?" Gabriel asked.

Chuck said, "That's a good line, right? I think it's a good line, but after I wrote it, Dean called and started talking to me about stuff, and I'm pretty sure it's good line, but I'm not really sure, at least not as sure as I was, and-"

"Yes, it's a good line. It's so good, in fact, that I want you to just keep reading and stop pausing every five seconds to ask me what I think or if I'm okay," Gabriel said.

Chuck gave Gabriel a soft smile and continued on.

Gabriel had stayed in the apartment in Detroit for hours. Part of him was content to just lay there on the floor forever. Lucifer had made Sam kill a bunch of demons that Sam knew from his life. Sam hadn't been willing but also kind of found it cathartic. Gabriel had kind of wanted to puke through the whole thing.

There had to be something he could do, but he'd run out of options. Fighting Lucifer had nearly gotten him killed. Fighting Michael would only amount to the same. Talking to Lucifer had been like talking to a brick wall. Death wouldn't let him take any souls in order to have a shot against his brothers. He could only think of one thing he hadn't tried. Begging. And that probably wouldn't work either.

Still, Gabriel flew back to Lawrence, to Stull Cemetery, to talk to Michael. Unfortunately, he got there just in time to see Michael get hit with a holy fire Molotov cocktail. Really? A holy fire Molotov? That seriously wasn't something Gabriel had seen coming. Instead of landing, Gabriel pressed on, following Michael's true form deep into the woods of Kansas.

A glowing wavelength of Michael's angelic self reached into the dark earth and pulled up a shaking and bewildered Adam Milligan. Adam took one look at Michael's bright magnitude and stuttered out a terrified, "Yes."

Gabriel didn't want to know what his brother had done to that kid to get that kind of a reaction.

Michael slipped back into Adam's form and turned around to face Gabriel. "Brother," he said. Gabriel felt Sam shout as Lucifer killed Castiel.

"Michael, please, don't do this," Gabriel said, "It takes two to fight. Just walk away. Please."

Michael narrowed his eyes. "Funny. Lucifer just tried selling me the same line. He said we should just walk off the chess board," he said.

"Lucifer is right," Gabriel said. He felt Sam cringe, growing weaker by the minute as his body obeyed Lucifer and threw Dean against the Impala's windshield.

Michael closed the distance between him and Gabriel with menacing speed. "You're siding with him?" he hissed.

Gabriel said, "Think about all the people that are going to die if you do this."

"Think about all the people that will die if I let Lucifer run free," Michael snapped. Lucifer broke Bobby's neck, and Gabriel tried to ignore Sam's cries.

"Michael, brother, please," Gabriel said, "I can't-"

"You can't what?" Michael said angrily.

"I can't lose any more family. Not you, not Raphael, not the fledglings, not even Lucifer. We've lost so many of us already," Gabriel said. Sam screamed, railing hard in his own mind, as his hands pulled Dean off the hood of their car and punched him hard across the face.

Michael slammed Gabriel into the nearest tree. He shouted, "Family?! Family! You're going to try to pull the family card? Really, Gabriel, that is low even for you. You left us. You abandoned us for a bunch of fake pagan leeches, and you think you can manipulate me into thinking you care? Dad left us. Lucifer was gone. I needed what was left of my family, and you were gone, too. I need my family now, and you're still against me."

"Michael," Gabriel tried. Sam shouted for Dean, begged Lucifer to stop, to listen.

"Lucifer wants to walk off the playing field, Castiel threw holy fire at me, and now this? Do I have any loyal family left?" Michael snapped, "You're right, Gabriel. We have lost enough family. It is for that reason alone that I'm letting you live. But I am a loyal son, and I have to kill Lucifer."

Michael released Gabriel and extended his wings, ready to take flight. Lucifer punched Dean repeatedly across the face, and Gabriel felt Sam cry out with each one.

"Michael," Gabriel said, desperate to make his brother see reason, "Dad told us to love humanity over all else, even Him. That is the primary mission for all angels, and you know it. How can you justify killing half of the humans for this?"

Michael said quietly, "By saving half of them from Lucifer's wrath."

A light glinted off the Impala, attracting Sam's attention away from his broken brother.

Gabriel froze. The tiny pulse in the back of his mind was fixated by something. Gabriel could feel Lucifer pause in confusion, too, fist held high for another punch.

Michael looked at Gabriel curiously. "Gabriel?"

Sam was focusing intently on the army man that he'd jammed in the ashtray in the back of the Impala all those years ago, remembering he'd put it there to be a lookout for the others, remembering how Dean laughed at him when he couldn't pull it back out. Dean. Sam was clinging to his memories of Dean.

Michael studied Gabriel's face closer. "Gabriel, what's going on with you? You don't seem like you're fully here."

"Sam," Gabriel said.

"Sam?" Michael asked. But then, he focused on the battlefield, too.

Sam remembered Dean shoving the Legos in the air vent. Dean and Sam carving their initials in the floor. Sam giving Dean crap for still having a cassette tape collection. Sam and Dean leaning on the Impala, sitting in the Impala. Dean waking Sam up. Singing together in the Impala. Sam waking up with a spoon in his mouth. Dean playing drums with the steering wheel. Sam startling Dean awake in the passenger seat. Sam and Dean in SWAT gear after the job with the shifter at the bank. Dean pulling his gun out of the glove box. Dean singing before a job, singing before going to Hell. Talking in the car. Driving in the car. The good times in the Impala, the bad times. The good times with his brother, the bad times with him, too. Everything they'd been through together culminating in the hug Dean had greeted Sam with after selling his soul to save Sam's life. Sam remembered the love he had for his brother. Sam remembered love.

And he was back.

Sam came screaming back to life inside Gabriel's head as Lucifer became a quiet, cold background noise.

Holy shit, Sam Fucking Winchester. Just when he thought that kid couldn't surprise him anymore.

"Way to go, kiddo!" Gabriel shouted with a laugh. He'd never ever been more proud of that kid. Holy crap.

Michael looked at Gabriel. "How do you know what just happened? What just happened?" he asked.

"Sam is back in town, bro!" Gabriel said, grinning.

"How can you tell just by watching and listening?" Michael asked, searching Gabriel's eyes intently, "I can't even see him because of his angel shielding, and you're telling me that you can just-are you connected to him?"

Gabriel didn't answer.

"You connected your grace to his soul! How could you? You know he's been meant for Lucifer since the beginning! How could you do something so-"

"Hey," Gabriel said, holding his hands up innocently, "It was Dad. I didn't-"

"So, Sam really is in control," Michael said. He took off flying towards the battlefield.

Gabriel muttered, "Oh, for fuck's sake." He took off after his brother quickly.

When Gabriel landed, Michael was yelling at Sam and the cage door was open.

"It's my destiny!" Michael shouted.

Sam looked at Dean, sitting on the ground, bloody in front of the Impala.

Sam closed his eyes. Gabriel wanted to scream, to call to him, to talk him out of this.

But it was the only way to save the world.

Gabriel turned himself invisible. Just in case Sam opened his eyes, Gabriel didn't want to be the reason why Lucifer was still out of the box.

Michael lunged for Sam, but Sam grabbed him and threw him off balance. Gabriel rushed forward, but stopped. It was too late. There was no saving anyone from the cage without jumping in and joining them himself.

The hole burst with a bright light and coughed up the Horsemen's rings.

And they were gone.

Dean cried, having lost his brother to Lucifer's cage. Gabriel stood, stunned and invisible, having lost two brothers and the love of his life to Lucifer's cage. There were not words to describe the loss that was felt.

Dean knelt by where the hole had been, bleeding and crying, staring into the spot where Sam fell.

Gabriel knew he couldn't keep quiet for long. He couldn't find words, he couldn't muster tears, but there was a scream building in him that he'd never be able to the stop. Dean needed to leave. If Dean knew Gabriel was around, he'd try to get him to hop in the cage to save Sam. The fact that that was already on Gabriel's mind would make it incredibly hard to say no to Dean. Dean really needed to leave.

Gabriel waved a hand and created an illusion of Castiel.

Cas appeared next to Dean. Slowly, Dean looked up.

"Cas, you're alive?" Dean asked.

"I'm better than that," Cas said. He reached forward and healed Dean's injuries.

What.

Gabriel could barely spare the energy from controlling his grief to stare at Cas with wide eyes. Gabriel made an illusion, nothing more. In order to heal somebody, you needed grace. Gabriel couldn't create grace. Not only that but this Cas felt like Cas. He was the real Castiel. Gabriel couldn't resurrect other angels. The only person who could was...Dad?

Cas healed Bobby, bringing him back to life. Within minutes, the three of them got in their cars and left.

Gabriel's shock had worn off enough that he felt the weight of his loss with renewed vigor. He looked at the place in the ground that had swallowed up his family. He couldn't hold it back anymore.

Gabriel dropped to his knees, slammed his fists into the ground and screamed. His cry reverberated around him, running along his wings through each feather, his release of power making the grass quiver. But his scream slowly dissolved into sobs. He'd lost Sam and two of his brothers. Nothing could've prepared him for that.

A hand rested on Gabriel's shoulder. Gabriel jerked back and looked up at Chuck.

"Chuck?" Gabriel asked.

Chuck smiled warmly at Gabriel and said, "Sure, you can call me that, but I also accept 'Dad'."

Gabriel stood up, eyes wide. "Dad?"

Chuck nodded, something sad playing in his smile. He looked over at where Sam, Lucifer, and Michael had fallen into Hell. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Gabriel wondered if his Father meant that apology for him or for his brothers.

Chuck looked at Gabriel and said, "I can take the connection with Sam away if you'd like. I'm sure you wouldn't like to feel what's going on down there."

"No," Gabriel said, "No, it's okay. It's...it's all I have left."

Chuck nodded, understanding, and said, "Come on. Let me show you something I just wrote."

"Endings are hard," Chuck said, glancing over at Gabriel yet again.

Gabriel sighed. That was a fucking understatement.

"Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch, there's always gonna be holes. And since it's the ending, it's all supposed to add up to something. I'm tellin' you, they're a raging pain in the ass."

"Did you really write that?" Gabriel asked.

Chuck said, "Yep. Right there. I'm hoping it gets me some sympathy, because these readers are intense, and this is the last book that's gonna get out there."

Gabriel nodded, trying hard to feel like that mattered at all while Sam was screaming and burning in the Pit.

Chuck read off some more about Dean and Cas in the car. Gabriel wondered if that line about choosing between peace and freedom was something Cas actually said or something that Chuck came up with.

"Is Dean really going to hunt you down?" Gabriel asked.

Chuck laughed and said, "He can try, but he won't be able to find me."

"Are you leaving again?" Gabriel asked slowly.

Chuck turned away from his computer and faced his son. "Yes," he said, "This book might be enough for Dean to connect the dots. I doubt it, but Dean has shocked me a few times now. You can come with me if you want."

Gabriel said, "Don't get me wrong, having a dad could be nice, but it's a little-"

"Too little, too late?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah, and you did just let everyone I care about get stuck in a cage in Hell. Mix that with close quarters, and I might start siding with Dean about you."

"So, what are you gonna do?"

Gabriel sighed. "I'll probably get very drunk and have a lot of sex," he said.

Chuck smiled and said, "Glad to hear it. I hope you have fun."

Gabriel again felt the ice and fire torturing Sam's soul. It was going to be a long eternity. He leaned his head on Chuck's shoulder. "You gonna keep reading?" he asked.

Chuck continued, "This is the last Dean and Bobby will each other for a very long time. And, for the record, at this point next week, Bobby will be hunting a rugaru outside of Dayton. But not Dean. Dean didn't want Cas to save him. Every part of him, every fiber he's got, wants to die or find a way to bring Sam back."

Gabriel knew the feeling well.

"But he isn't gonna do either," Chuck read, "Because he made a promise."

"Lisa? Really?" Gabriel said, "C'mon, Dean has to know the only reason Sam even said to go to Lisa and not be happy with Cas was because Dean's so far in the closet that-"

Chuck gave Gabriel a look.

"Yeah, I know. Dean's in the closet. He wouldn't even think about having a life with Cas. I get it," Gabriel said.

Chuck laughed softly and continued, "So, what's it all add up to? It's hard to say. But me, I'd say this was a test for Sam and Dean, and I think they did alright. Up against good, evil, angels, devils, destiny, and God himself, they made their own choice. They chose family, and well, isn't that kinda the whole point?"

Gabriel looked at the screen and saw the words 'The End' where Chuck had stopped.

"So, what do you think?" Chuck asked.

Gabriel took a deep breath. What did he think? Chuck had written a nice account of the man he loved jumping to his demise in a hole to Hell. He looked at his Father.

"What do I think?" Gabriel said, "Why does it have to end there?"

"It has to end somewhere," Chuck said.

"But why there?" Gabriel said, irritated at the wetness in his eyes, "It could end years from now. You could give Sam a chance to be happy. You could-"

Chuck put a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. Suddenly, the screaming stopped, the pain stopped. Gabriel blinked. Where was Sam? He couldn't feel Sam.

Gabriel looked up at Chuck. "Put it back," he said, "Put the connection back."

"No," Chuck said softly, "I can't."

"Yes, you can. Please, Dad, please," Gabriel said, tears beginning to fall steadily.

Chuck pulled Gabriel into a hug. At first, Gabriel pushed against him, but he stopped and let his Father hold him.

"I'm not going to let you spend the rest of forever feeling that kind of pain. I can't let you do that to yourself," Chuck said.

Gabriel hugged Chuck back and sobbed into his Father's shoulder.

Chuck rubbed Gabriel's back. He said softly, "I know. Endings are hard. But then again, nothing really ends, does it? Sam and your brothers will always be with you in one way or another."

Chuck's attempt at comfort fell on deaf ears. Gabriel didn't want comfort. He wanted Sam back. But he hoped his Dad was right. He hoped that nothing really did end.