He awoke to beeping. Heart monitor. He wasn't in hell. Unless of course someone had redecorated since Alistair's death. Who knew? Who cared? He took a deep breath and he heard Sam all of the sudden.

"Dean! Dean!" Frantic. Panicked. Distraught. He didn't know his brother could sound like that anymore. But then again, if this was hell, if they hadn't saved the last seal, then this could be a demonic version of his brother trying to get him in his comfort zone only to slice and dice him emotionally once he felt safe.

"Sammy?" he tested.

"Oh God." Sam swallowed. "Thank God." Dean rolled his head towards Sam.

"You okay Sammy?" Sam let out a choked laugh.

"Am I okay?" he repeated. Dean struggled to sit up. And Sam put a hand on his shoulder. "No. No. Don't move. You need to stay put. You just got out of surgery yesterday."

"Bobby. Is Bobby okay?"

"He's fine Dean. We're all fine. Everyone is fine." Dean lay back down against the pillows.

"You hurt Sammy?" he repeated again.

"Dude, I'm fine. I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Sam smiled and sat back down in the chair beside the bed.

"Always worry about you Sammy. That's my job. Look out for my pain in the ass little brother. Always.." Dean's eyes drifted shut and he whispered. "Gotta protect….gotta save….love…. all I have…."

"Go back to sleep Dean. Go back to sleep. You saved me." Sam said and rested his head against the mattress next to his brother's hand. "You saved me Dean. I always knew you would."

"So, Sam, what happened?" Dean asked several days later as he was scarfing down his hospital food in which he had proclaimed tasted disgusting, yet, he ate every single scrap of it.

"What part?"

"The part after I was stabbed?"

"Well, you went down, I took care of Ruby."

"What kind of taking care?"

"Mind stuff."

"Did you destroy her?"

"Yes I destroyed her."

"Good."

"I saw her plunge the knife into you. Watched her. It about killed me Dean. I hadn't been following her for weeks, not since you and I…"

"Did the death dance?"

"Yeah. That night broke the spell she had over me, broke my…my….trust of her. I…" He shrugged. "Anyway, once she was gone, I went to you and you told me to finish it. I had to stop it. I was surprised you trusted me." Dean said nothing, just continued to shovel pudding into his mouth, eyes trained on Sam, waiting for more explanation. "I had read, not too long ago, that the blood of the righteous could save the last seal, so I soaked my hand in your blood, read the ritual, and spread it over the seal. This blinding white light came over everything and vaporized every demon in the area."

"Apocalypse averted?"

"Yes."

"Bobby?"

"In a separate room. He has a broken leg."

"Otherwise he's fine?"

"Yeah. Dean, he's fine." He nodded.

"Do I wanna know what they did to me?"

"No. I don't think so. But, you'll have a very nice scar from the surgery."

"Awesome." He smirked.

"Cass?"

"He said for me to tell you good bye. Said that he was intrigued by your strength and courage. He says to tell you that both fathers would be proud of you. That you are in fact the man they thought you were." Dean nodded, licked his lips.

"You okay Sammy?"

"For the five hundredth time Dean." he said with a smile. "I'm just fine."

"Okay. Good. How about…uh….you know.'

"Us?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry for betraying you."

"I'm sorry for not protecting you."

"Thank you for saving me."

"Thank you for sticking it out." Dean cleared his throat. "Okay. Enough of this chick flick garbage." He sat up a little straighter. "I want out of here."

"Dean, you just had major surgery."

"I don't care. This place is boring."

"Dean. Come on man. Stop. Don't you dare try getting that IV out of your hand. Stop it. Dean! Come on man. Stay in bed. For me."

"Oh God Sam! Turn off the puppy dog eyes. I'll stay I'll stay. Can you at least go and get me a bacon cheeseburger or something?"

"Dean!"

"All right. All right. You are no fun."

Castiel smiled to himself listening to the brothers fight and make up. The anger and sadness that filled them both was gone. Both were on the mend, physically, mentally and spiritually. His work was done.