Author's Note:

Last chapter, guys! Thank you for all your support! Especially those of you who made a point to tell me regularly that Sastiel wasn't your thing, haha. I didn't really get it until recently, so this was an experiment, since Rose0 asked for an angel's integral involvement, and I thought Castiel fit the story better than Gabriel. The epilogue is kind of a series of snapshots following chapter 9 to give you an overview of other things that happened in this version of reality. Enjoy!

Thanks to ncsupnatfan, ToxicTenshi, yuffb, and SPN Mum for their reviews on chapter 9!

Chapter 10 - Epilogue: Snapshots

Predictably, Bobby smacked the back of Sam's head and then promptly pulled him into a hug once he'd gotten the whole story from Dean. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, boy, you hear?" He growled fiercely.

Chuckling lightly and unable to keep the smile off his face, Sam hugged him firmly back and nodded against the older man's shoulder. "Promise, Bobby. Sorry."

"Damn idjit," Bobby muttered as he pulled away. "It's a wonder I'm not bald with all the hair pulling I do 'cause of you two."

Dean grinned at that from where he was leaning against the doorway. "I guess we aren't working hard enough then!" He chimed in, teasing.

Bobby groaned low under his breath and turned around, heading for the kitchen. He pulled out the coffee maker and a bottle of whiskey, rolling his eyes when he caught the look Sam was giving him. "Hey, if I want my joe to have a kick, then I damn well will."

"C'mon, Sam," Dean needled him, pushing past to help Bobby with the coffee. "It's five o'clock somewhere. Get the stick out of your ass. Or get Cas to help, whatever floats your boat."

Sam turned bright red and left the room, only returning when Dean had stopped chuckling and the beeping noise indicated the coffee was ready. Once Dean had gotten over the initial "weirdness," as he'd termed it, he'd started to take great relish in embarrassing Sam as much as possible. It was a source of great irritation for him that Castiel had no shame, and therefore couldn't be embarrassed.

"I think I will have a little jack in my coffee," Sam admitted wryly, ignoring Bobby's snort.

The Castiel and Sam thing was weird. Dean had gotten over his initial surprise, putting it on the back burner until he was sure he didn't have to worry about Sam making any sudden decisions to disappear and try and end his life again. They had had a brief conversation where Sam explained his own feelings, and Dean had given Castiel a talk about not hurting Sam, which the angel took almost more seriously than Dean had intended, and that had been that.

It was still weird though. Dean wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but he'd kind of figured that Sam and Castiel would be like anyone else Sam had ever been with. It wasn't like that though. Sam and Castiel weren't a couple-y couple. They were almost almost in contact, but it wasn't ever sexual, at least not that Dean witnessed. He'd never even seen them kiss. He'd seen Castiel kiss Sam's forehead, but that was as steamy as it got, no matter how lewd Dean was with his teasing implications. They were always touching though. Holding hands, sitting too close, and Castiel often had his arm around Sam.

It took Dean a while to figure out that however Castiel was touching Sam, it was always in some kind of protective manner, and the second he did so, Sam seemed to lose any weight on his shoulders and relax entirely. It had been years since Dean had seen his brother that relaxed, and for that alone Dean was in approval.

They weren't getting separate rooms or going on dates or anything, but Dean figured that they didn't need to fall into any of his pre-conceived notions of what a relationship was supposed to look like. After all, it was Sam and Castiel. They weren't ever going to fit into a normal box anyway, even if they tried. So, Dean left it alone, and appreciated how much it seemed to benefit both his brother and best friend.

Still, it was a little weird.

It turned out that with the proper motivation, namely, being reassured that everyone actually wanted him, Sam could be more determined and productive than the rest of them combined. He'd taken Castiel with him when he went to track down Gabriel, but Castiel maintained that it was Sam that had managed to convince the archangel to get his head out of the sand and come help them.

Gabriel was later heard complaining that Sam was essentially an obnoxious rat terrier when he wanted something, and it was only out of deference to Castiel that Gabriel didn't turn Sam into a dog out of sheer irritation. For all his whining, however, Gabriel seemed to warm to his new companions, and eventually stopped egging Dean on every chance he got.

Apparently, Gabriel had known how to get Lucifer out of the picture all along, and he reluctantly informed them that the horsemen's rings would re-open the cage. As Dean eloquently pointed out, "Shoving someone immortal in a hole is a hell of a lot easier than trying to kill them."

The problem was figuring out how to get Lucifer in the cage. As time went by and they acquired the remaining rings, the last of which involved the most bizarre conversation Dean figured he'd ever have (because really, who eats lunch with Death?), the problem of how to actually get Lucifer in the cage became more pronounced.

Sam told Castiel his idea about jumping into the cage first, and he really shouldn't have been surprised when Castiel's expression grew dark, and he promptly flew them to Dean and made Sam repeat his idea. He wasn't surprised at all that they both gave a resounding no.

"Even I think it's a bad idea, kiddo," Gabriel told him. "Although, you get brownie points for the self-sacrificing martyr thing. We'll find another way. You think I want to deal with these two if you get trapped in the cage?"

So, that was that. They were going to find another plan. Sam wasn't optimistic, but he also underestimated the motivation both Castiel and Dean seemed to have behind their search. No one was willing to let him go to Hell to stop Lucifer, and he had to admit that that fact gave him hope.

In the end, it was a spell. Gabriel had been the one to find it, but the concept had been Castiel's idea. Dean, being Michael's true vessel, would have to cast the spell, and Sam was on guard duty, to make sure no demons got to Dean before he finished. Gabriel would distract Lucifer, and Castiel would keep an eye out for any angelic interference. None of them trusted Michael or Zachariah not to get involved.

The spell would lock down Lucifer's vessel for just long enough for Gabriel to literally push him into the cage. That was it. It was the simplest plan of any they'd thought of, but also the only one Sam thought might actually work. Hope was a powerful thing.

It didn't go smoothly, but they won, which made it all worth it. The biggest issue ended up being Lucifer mentally attacking Sam as a distraction, but Sam had been practicing. Once they'd found Gabriel, he'd given Sam some pointers on building up his latent abilities to be able to fight of Lucifer's advances. After that, Sam hadn't seen him during the day at all, and if he had come at night, Sam was nearly always able to kick him out of his own head. Lucifer only had the upper hand for a split second before Sam's mental push back had caused a physical stumble, which Gabriel immediately capitalized on.

After that, Sam had only had to take out three demons before Dean finished the spell, Lucifer froze, Castiel opened the cage, and Gabriel pushed Lucifer in. As soon as the cage closed, it was deathly quiet for a solid minute before any of them let themselves believe it was over. After that, they allowed themselves to breath.

Castiel held Sam's hand as Dean did a brief victory dance and pulled them all into quick hugs, too high on success to care. He did pull back immediately after hugging Gabriel though, to make sure the archangel hadn't done anything to him.

"Don't worry," Gabriel reassured him. "I have to behave like an adult now."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked curiously.

Gabriel looked resigned, but glanced upwards. "Someone has to keep an eye on Michael. Far be it from me to imply that Castiel leave Earth, so I'm going to go play responsible archangel for a while and make sure there aren't any more impending wars."

"Thank you, brother," Castiel told him solemnly.

"Eh, don't worry about it. Have a drink on me and celebrate." Gabriel snapped his fingers, and suddenly the Winchesters and Castiel were seated in a booth at a bar, each holding a cold beer.

Dean was furious until he got outside and realized they were just down the block from the building they'd tracked Lucifer to, and therefore the Impala. Relaxing, he headed back inside and took his seat. "Doesn't hurt to celebrate a little," he acknowledged.

A few months after the apocalypse ended, Dean opened the door to their motel room of the week to find Sam and Castiel kissing gently in the center of the room.

"Finally!" Dean blurted, shuffling awkwardly when both Sam and Castiel immediately turned to look at him with annoyance. "It's just, you know, I was starting to doubt that either of you even had a libido."

Castiel looked confused, but Sam rolled his eyes. "Just because you'll go after anything that breathes," he shot back with a smirk.

"Bitch," Dean snarked.

"Jerk," Sam replied with a grin. The comradarie between them kept improving, and it was a wonderful feeling to have their bond restored.

Castiel smiled at the exchange, thankful that the brothers were stronger than ever. Being able to touch Sam, know he was safe, and hear the banter between him and Dean made everything they'd gone through worth the fight.

Sam had caught him thinking, and tapped his forehead to get his attention. "What's got you so focused?" He asked teasingly.

"I find more reasons to be grateful that we saved humanity every day," Castiel replied simply, smiling at Sam's cheerful expression. He'd found himself growing increasingly addicted to the sight of his hunter happy.

"Oh, me too," Dean agreed, holding up the bag he'd walked in with. "The chick at the diner gave me extra pie because she thought I was cute." He grinned broadly, clearly proud of himself.

Sam and Castiel both chuckled at him, and moved forward to take a seat at the small kitchenette table with Dean. As the pie was served, they looked over at other and smiled. This was what made every struggle worth it.