Epilogue

A few months later, Dean stabbed Dick Roman through the throat with a bone washed in the three bloods of the fallen and wound up in Purgatory.

He spent the first few days wondering if Sam was trapped in Purgatory somewhere, too. Dean knew Sam hadn't been standing as close to Dick as he and Cas had, but he'd wondered. And he looked for him. Everywhere. After a while, when he was pretty sure Sam hadn't wound up in Purgatory with them, Dean felt overwhelming relief. The relief was short lived because, if Sam wasn't here, maybe he was dead.

Or maybe he was alive. Topside. Having just witnessed his brother and Castiel be blown up in a splatter of black goo. The thought left Dean numb because he wasn't sure Sam was mentally capable of handling something like that. Yeah, things had been better ever since they'd worked the case with Garth. Sam had said he felt better and had seemed better, but somewhere along the way, Dean had realized his brother was still more fragile than either of them wanted to admit. The damage was deep and serious.

All he could hope was that Sam had memorized Arla's phone number. All he could hope was that his brother would call her.

Months passed and everything faded. All he could think of was survival.

Dean didn't have his brother and he didn't have alcohol. All he had left was the anger and it wasn't very long before the anger took over everything.

Even with Castiel and a thousand monsters on every side, Dean was alone.

Dean had stabbed Dick Roman through the throat and Sam had turned away to shield Kevin. When he looked back Dean and Cas were gone.

Sam had fought not to have a panic attack. It had been months, months, since he'd experienced one, but in that moment, standing in an empty room surrounded by black goo and having no idea what had happened to his brother and Castiel, Sam had nearly lost the precious control he'd fought so hard to regain.

He'd tried at first. He'd tried to hunt Crowley down. Tried to research the lore; find out what could have happened to Dean and Cas. But with every day that passed, he felt himself slipping. There were times he wasn't sure if anything had been real. Times when he was afraid this was just another scene from the devil's never-ending collection of torturous hallucinations.

One desperate night, his flighty thoughts had turned to the Penders and he'd pulled out his phone. But he couldn't remember their phone numbers.

Months passed and everything faded. All he could think of was death.

Sam didn't have his brother. All he had left was the hopelessness and it wasn't very long before the hopelessness took over everything.

Even with Amelia and a dog, Sam was alone.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their labor:

If either of them falls down,

one can help the other up.

But pity anyone who falls

and has no one to help them up.

Well, here we are. At the end. The very end. :( I'm so sad to have this story come to a close because I've had such a great time writing it and being on this journey with all of you and the boys.

Endless thanks to each and every one of you who have been reading and reviewing along the way. Thank you for sticking with this story even though it grew way longer and more involved than I ever meant for it to! :)

I have several upcoming projects including a tag to Red Meat. I also do have plans for another story featuring the Penders...tentatively set in S12. :)

Hope you'll stay tuned! Thank you again for reading! Have a wonderful weekend!