Supernatural One Shots

The Aftermath

Coda to The Born-Again Identity

"I don't know. I mean, we can't just leave him." Sam feels awful and not just from the aftermath of the hallucinations and major lack of sleep. He feels horrible for abandoning Castiel. He may have made mistakes, hell, if it hadn't been for him, Sam never would've ended up in that mental institution in the first place. No. Cas saved him, time and time again. He would be dead right now if Cas hadn't shown up. They owed him everything. Leaving him is wrong.

"Well, we can't bring him with us. Everything on the planet's out for us, okay? Word gets out, we can't protect him. Not really." Dean has a point, but still. There has to be a way, but he can't manage a fall-on argument right now. "This is safer." The two reach the car, each on one side, and talk over it. "Every demon who knows about Cas is dead."

"Not everyone," Sam says, referring to Meg. "Look, Dean, this whole 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing feels kind of like a demon deal."

"It's not a deal. It's –"

"It's what?"

"Mutually assured destruction. Look, man, I get it. She's not out friend. We don't even have friends. All our friends are dead." Dean gets in the car, leaving Sam in silence. "You comin' or what?" he asks through the cracked window.

But Sam's been awake for days and he's barely been eating. Cas taking on his hallucinations didn't heal his body. Sam puts a hand on the car, trying to steady himself, but it's all too damn much. "Dean, I don't think –" He drops to the ground.

"Crap." Dean opens his door and jogs to the other side of the car. He knew it was only a matter of time. He kneels next to his brother and looks around, checking to see if there's anyone there; no one is. He doesn't even bother trying to wake Sam up. There's a little blood already pooling under Sam's head, but not a worrying amount. Dean checks Sam's pulse just to be sure; it's fine. Dean opens the car door and hauls his Hulk of a brother inside. Dean takes off his own jacket and slips it under Sam's head, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.

Once Dean himself gets in the car, he shines his flashlight in Sam's eyes, checking for signs of a concussion; there are none. The best thing now is to get Sam back to the bunker and let him sleep.

• • •

Sam wakes in a soft, warm bed, covered in blankets. He feels better than he has in a long time. He opens his eyes and looks around the room, expecting Lucifer to be there somewhere. Sam laughs a little, relieved when he isn't. He lays there for a minute, basking in the silence. But then his stomach growls and his head aches, demanding pain killers. He must've passed out and hit his head. He decides to get up and find his brother.

Sam finds Dean in the kitchen, making food. Dean glances up from the frying pan, over to his brother. "Mornin', sunshine. Well, more like afternoon."

"I only slept for twelve hours?" he asks, surprised

"Uh, try sixty. Food'll be done soon. I bet you're starving. Sit down," he orders. Dean resumes cooking. Sam goes to the chair and sits down. "How's the head?"

"Hurts, but I'll live."

"Yeah, thank God."

"More like, thank Cas."

"Well, he was God for a hot minute," Dean says bitterly. Sam still doesn't feel like arguing, so he lets it slide. "Doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're okay." Dean turns around and leans against the counter, looking Sam over. "You are okay, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm good."

"Good." Dean gets out two plates and sets them beside the stove. "We're still taking a few more days off because you still don't look too hot and you have a healing head wound." Dean puts the food on plates and sets one in front of Sam. "Eat up, and then you go back to bed." Sam doesn't argue, because he's already on his second bite of food by the time Dean finishes the sentence. "Slow down. I don't want you throwing up the first real meal you've had in a week." Sam does. When he's done, Dean gives him the rest of his food. By the time he's eaten everything, he's tired again and can barely keep his eyes open. "All right. Let's get some pain pills in you and then you can conk out again." Sam nods.

Sure enough, Sam's out like a light fifteen seconds after laying down. "It's over," Dean thinks. "It's finally over." Yeah, the Leviathans are still out there and Cas has been tapped out of the game and Sam is still healing, but he is healing. His brother will be okay and that's all that matters in the long run, isn't it?