Author's Note:

Oh my gosh, this is the last chapter!

It has been a wild ride, writing this for you guys and reading the comments y'all have posted! Thank you so much for hanging in there. I am deeply sorry for how long it's taken me to get it all up here!

Now, without further ado... The finale!

Disclaimer:

I don't own anything related to Supernatural or Criminal Minds. If I owned any of these boys, I think I would like *die* on the spot...! But I don't. :( So sadly, I'm still living vicariously through fanfiction.

Reid was lying in bed that night when his cell phone rang. He had been staring at the ceiling for twenty minutes already, so he was glad for the distraction. His heart sped up when he realized it was Dean's ringtone sounding.

He answered it quickly. "Hello?"

"Hey, little man. Guess what? Sam kept my phone."

He smiled when he realized nothing was wrong. "Hey, Dean."

"So um...I thought I'd call you now that I've finally gotten a moment alone."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Dean quickly replied. "I just wanted to see how you were really doing. We haven't really had time to talk about you yet."

Reid grimaced.

He pulled his pillow up against the headboard and got comfortable, considering what he could say to that. Finally, he settled on honesty. "It's been a rough couple of months."

"I know," Dean said. "I'm sorry."

"I kind of...I didn't do so well with Sam or Bobby."

"You did fine, Spencer."

"I couldn't help Sam. He wouldn't even talk to Bobby anymore, and he refused to come and see me. I couldn't make him take care of himself. I heard it in his voice sometimes that he was..." Reid swallowed. "He wasn't taking care of himself."

"But he talked to you," Dean said calmly. "It was you who kept him grounded. You made sure he had at least some contact with the family."

"Some good that did..."

"What do you mean?"

Reid couldn't tell him about Ruby. He wasn't technically sure that she was the one Sam was spending time with. "Just...nothing."

"Weird much?"

"He wouldn't really say anything," Reid argued, instead of admitting what he had really been thinking. "We barely talked about anything important."

"He told me he appreciated your calls."

Reid sat up straighter. "He told you that?"

"Yeah. You did good, kid."

"It didn't feel good." He closed his eyes at the memories. "I felt more like I was losing my whole family. Sam was off doing whatever it is he's been doing for four months." (Reid shuddered, and hoped Dean didn't hear the hesitation in his voice.) "Bobby was drinking more. They weren't talking to each other, and I couldn't come and see them. Barlow went up a few times, but he couldn't do much. Then Bobby called me one night, drunk, ranting about—"

"Spencer!" Dean cut him off. "I meant it when I said you did good. You held them together. Sure, they're a little worse for wear, but you didn't let them fall apart completely."

Reid wasn't so sure about that, but he really didn't want to argue with Dean. Not now.

He was tired.

"So tell me how you're doing. I know Sam and Bobby had a rough couple of months. What's been up with you? Had any really bad cases recently? Any good ones?"

He let out a deep breath, almost wanting to pretend he was falling asleep and ask Dean to call him later. But it was Dean, and he couldn't hang up. He couldn't let him go.

"Spencer?"

"Yeah, Dean. I'm still here."

"You been sleeping okay?" he guessed.

"I'm doing fine."

"Then why does your voice sound all defensive now? You been having nightmares?"

"Maybe," he mumbled.

"Well you can let go of those now, little man. I'm back. I've found Sammy. We're gonna take care of Bobby. So you can stop worrying now."

Reid smiled tiredly. "That sounds good."

"Okay. Now how about this? If you have another nightmare, you can call Sammy and whine to him. Then you girls can chitchat and cry together. How's that?"

Reid laughed, unable to stop himself. It was the first real joke Dean had made to him so far. He couldn't even find it in himself to be annoyed that Dean had made it at his expense.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that..."

Dean sighed. "And you know, kid, you can call me. Anytime you need. I'm gonna be here for a long while yet, okay?"

He smiled. "Okay."

"Okay. I'll let you get to sleep now. But be good until Saturday. And call me if you need to."

"I'll talk to you later, Dean. And thanks."

"Anytime, bro. G'night."

Dean hung up before he could say goodbye. For a second, Reid froze, annoyed, but then he realized maybe it had been on purpose. Dean didn't want to say goodbye again anymore than he did.

He closed his phone and stared at it for a long moment, replaying the conversation in his head. Then he smiled, and settled himself back in bed.

"'Night, Dean..." he whispered at the ceiling. "Goodnight, brother."

This time he found little difficulty in closing his eyes and drifting off. For the first time in months, he didn't worry about nightmares coming to meet him in sleep.