Well, we're at the final day of Whumptober. I have had such a blast writing and sharing all of these with you guys this year (definitely look forward to doing it again, next year XD) and again, I just want to thank you all so much for the support and the reviews!

Now, let's have some hugs...

Embrace

Five Times Dean gave hugs when they were needed. Once he received one.

1

Kevin's head ached. He'd hit another roadblock in the translation of the tablet and he was just incredibly tired. But when the safety of the world was on the line, how could he justify taking a break?

Still, all he really wanted was to see his mom, but he couldn't risk leading demons or angels to her. It was just all too much. Everything was too much.

He buried his head in his hands, feeling his eyes getting wet.

"Hey, you good, kid?"

He jerked upright, seeing Dean standing on the other side of his desk. He quickly dashed a hand across his eyes. "I—I can't do it anymore."

"Sure you can," Dean said, not unkindly. "You just need a break. Come back to it with a fresh head."

"I don't have time for a break!" Kevin cried, standing up and clenching his hands in his hair. "I feel like the whole fricken' world is on my shoulders right now! How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"Hey," Dean said gently, stepping around the desk and settling a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "Trust me, I know what that feels like. But remember, Sam and I are here to do the dirty work. You just have to translate that tablet, and you're doing good. Hell, better than I expected. So what if you need a night off? Get some sleep, watch some Netflix—hell, eat something. I'll go get whatever you want."

"But, I…"

"Hey," Dean said, smiling slightly. "The world's not gonna end tonight, okay? Because I'm not gonna let it. You're gonna sleep, and you're not gonna look at that tablet until tomorrow."

Kevin sagged, some relief flooding through him.

"Come here, kid," Dean said affectionately, and to Kevin's shock, wrapped him in a hug.

Kevin sagged against the elder Winchester, feeling some of the tension wash out of him. Dean was right, the world wasn't going to end that night. Maybe a break was a good thing.

2

The dream had been horrible, and Charlie sat panting in the chair for a long minute after she and Dean had been pulled out of the djinn's hold. It was almost worse, having finished the game in the dream, having been forced to let her mother go.

Tears fell down her cheeks in both relief that it was over, and terror at knowing what she was going to have to do next.

"Hey, Charlie."

She looked up, blinking back tears and sniffling as she met Dean's eyes. He was crouched in front of her, concern on his face, one warm hand wrapped over her wrist.

"It's over," he coaxed, handing her a handkerchief, which she snatched and wiped her eyes with before blowing her nose noisily.

"No, it's not," she said. "I—I have to let my mom go. For real. I know I should, but I can't…I can't…"

She bent over and buried her face in her hands.

"Hey, hey," Dean said gently, reaching out to rub her back. "It's gonna be fine. I promise. It might hurt for a while, but I think it will be for the best in the long run as hard as that might be to think about."

Charlie hiccupped a sob and finally nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right."

"Come here," Dean said as he stood up and pulled her from the chair, directly into his arms. Charlie melted into his warm embrace, pressing her face against his chest as her shoulders shook. Dean held her tight and his lips brushed her forehead before he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I'm sorry, kiddo," he murmured. "About all of it. If there's anything I can do…"

Charlie shifted to look up and him and forced a small smile through her tears. "You've already done enough. Thanks, Dean."

He smiled back and held her tightly again and for that moment, Charlie felt truly safe and loved.

3

Castiel stood at the edge of the abandoned factory, looking out to see the dying sun. He felt horrible, for everything. His body psychically, and his being mentally, for saying yes to Lucifer, for helping to cause most of this…he could no longer be relied upon for anything. The Winchesters would do well to cut him loose. Honestly, he had been hoping to avoid all of this. He hadn't expected surviving being Lucifer's vessel, after all. The after hadn't occurred to him, and it was harder to bear than he had ever imagined.

"Cas, you okay?"

The footsteps stopped a couple paces behind him and Castiel couldn't stand to face Dean. The fact that the elder Winchester—who had once been a friend, a brother, to him—was even speaking to him now was a miracle in itself after everything he had done.

"I ruined everything," he said stiffly. "I was stupid."

Dean huffed slightly. "You know well enough we've all made stupid mistakes, Cas."

"Not like me," Castiel replied bitterly. "I should never have said yes to Lucifer."

"I started the apocalypse."

"That wasn't your fault."

"And you were just doing what you thought was the right thing too," Dean said and came over to stand shoulder to shoulder with the angel. "Look, I know part of it was because you're going through some self-worth issues—and trust me, we're gonna have a talk about that—but I also know that another part of it is because you didn't want Lucifer to take Sam. And I would never trade either of you, you know that, right?"

Castiel pressed his lips into a thin line, but a small flare of warmth starting in his check.

"I guess what I'm saying is that, despite the stupid act, I know your heart was in the right place. And at the end of the day, in our lives, that's all that really matters."

Castiel hung his head, a lump forming in his throat. "Dean…" he couldn't decide what to say. Whether he was grateful, or even more ashamed that Dean had understood his motives so thoroughly.

The hunter's hand settled on his shoulder, making Castiel tense.

"You're our brother, Cas, I want you to know that," Dean said sincerely. Castiel finally dared look at him, his own eyes pricking as he saw the honesty in Dean's. "Never forget that you're our family. I'm glad to have you back."

And then he simply pulled the angel into an embrace, the kind he and Sam shared when one of them had been in peril or come back from the dead. Firm, lingering, and full of relief. Castiel was stiff at first, but when Dean didn't let go, he sagged, allowing himself to enjoy the comfort as he eventually hugged Dean back, head lowering to rest on the hunter's shoulder.

Dean let out a long breath as if he had been waiting for Castiel to return the embrace and Castiel thought, that, perhaps, he could learn to have more faith in himself again, if the Winchesters still did.

4

Everything was just so overwhelming. First Sam had let his brother go sacrifice himself to defeat Amara, then he'd been taken and tortured by the insane British Men of Letters, only to be rescued by Dean who wasn't dead after all. And then there was the fact that their mom was back from the dead as well…

It was a lot at the moment; after a couple days of torture and grief, and Sam was shutting down. It was just too much for him to take in at the moment.

"Hey."

He looked up, startled to see Dean standing in the door of his room, a beer in hand.

Sam looked up from where he sat on the bed, attempting a smile, but it didn't make it, wavering on his lips as he fought to hold in his emotions.

"You okay?" Dean asked, though his eyes said they knew they truth.

Sam looked down at his hands, swallowing hard. "I thought you had died," he said simply. And everything else…" He stopped, throat closing, eyes blurring.

But he didn't need to say anything else either. Dean knew exactly what was going through his head. He didn't even try to say anything, simple walked into the room, sitting down on the bed beside Sam and turning to pull him into his arms.

Sam sagged against his brother, shoulders heaving in a silent sob as Dean gripped the back of his neck, holding him close. Sam felt safe like he always did, always had. His brother was his refuge in whatever storm he happened to be weathering, and he was so, so grateful that he hadn't lost him.

He couldn't put that into words at the moment, but he didn't need to. Dean understood, and simply held his tighter.

No words were needed.

5

Jack sat on his bed, arms wrapped around his knees as he tried to sniff away the tears. He couldn't do anything right. His powers were too hard to control and he would never get the hang of using them. Cas and Sam had both tried their best with his training, but he could tell they were wearing thin. And he didn't blame them. He was sure he was a difficult student.

He heard footsteps outside in the hall before they stopped in front of his door, followed by a soft knock.

Jack quickly scrubbed his face free of tears as the door opened and Dean stepped inside.

"Hey, rough day?" he asked.

"No." Jack replied quickly, trying to put on a false bravado. "I'm fine."

Dean smiled as he came in and sat on the side of the bed. "Cas and Sam said they were worried about you. Said you took training kind of hard today."

Jack looked away as more tears welled in his eyes. "I…I have all these powers and I'm not good at them."

"Sure you are," Dean said.

"I don't want to hurt people anymore," Jack whispered, hugging his knees closer to his chest.

Dean sighed. "Jack, look. You're really powerful. And you've got to learn how to use those powers, but you don't have to beat yourself up about it. We're training you so you don't have to feel scared about hurting people. Like when I taught you how to use a gun, remember? You treat it with respect, not fear, and when you do that, it's just a tool. You don't have to be afraid of your powers, you just have to learn how to use them with confidence."

Jack sniffed. "It's just so hard."

"It is, but remember, we're not expecting the world from you, kid. We're just here to help you."

Jack glanced up. "Really?"

"Yeah," Dean smiled and leaned forward, cupping the back of Jack's head. "C'mere."

Jack was shocked when Dean pulled him in against his chest in a hug. He'd never gotten one from the elder Winchester before. It felt good, warm and safe.

"Come on," Dean told him after he pulled away, squeezing Jack's shoulder. "Let's go get some popcorn and we'll watch a movie. I think you earned it after today."

Jack smiled, and felt better than he had in a long time.

(1)

He felt tired and sick. The exhaustion from having Michael in his head for weeks, not sleeping, hardly getting any rest, had worn on him, and now that it was over, and the archangel had gotten free, decimating the majority of the hunters who had been living in the bunker, and forcing Jack to burn off his powers to save them, it was just too much. Dean felt like he was finally collapsing, his world was collapsing, and he didn't know what to do.

He didn't realize he was literally collapsing until strong arms caught him.

"Hey, Dean," Sam's voice murmured in his ear as his brother lowered Dean onto the steps that led into the library. "You're good, you're good."

"No, I'm not," Dean forced out.

"You will be," Sam insisted, still holding onto him, a solid presence as Dean's head swam, still reeling from his possession. He leaned instinctively into his brother, shamefully seeking any comfort he could get. Normally he would be embarrassed, but he couldn't find it in himself to care right now, even when Sam began to rock him gently, soothingly.

"Dean, Michael's gone, everything will be fine." That was Cas' voice and Dean felt another figure settle on his other side, another arm wrapping solidly over his shoulders. "It's over."

Dean wanted to believe it, and hell, he was starting to. But…

"Jack," he murmured. "He…"

"I'm here, Dean, and I'm okay."

The kid's voice trickled through Dean's reeling mind and Dean felt a third pair of arms wrap around his waist, and all three of them, his family, were holding onto him, keeping him together, almost physically, when he couldn't seem to manage that by himself.

He didn't know how long they sat there, and frankly, he didn't care. He just knew that being enveloped by the embrace of his family made him feel whole for the first time in forever.

Made him feel like he might be able to get up and keep fighting.

If you enjoyed Whumptober I love reviews and coffee! I have a Ko-Fi if you want to provide me with a coffee (you can find me on there as LadyWallce) ^_^

And I'm curious to see which of the stories you liked most this month. I may consider extending some of them into full-fledged stories at some point, but I wanted to see which ones you guys enjoyed most first.

As for what's next, I have a Raising Hell one-shot coming on the 4th, and the next official Raising Hell fic "Pandemonium" will start on the 11th!